Downtime Guide

For a variety of reasons, we have made a change to the way in which the Winter in the Willows game is run. When we started this game, we planned to run two events per IC year: Downtime II would be directly followed by Winter. However, we have decided that we wish to increase the number of games running per IC year, and so, Event III will occur before Winter, not after it.

Event III will not only run before Winter, but directly before Winter. Immediately after the Event, Winter will hit, and Player Characters will have no choice but to go home and settle down while the snows fly and the wind bites. As such, characters will receive no Downtime Actions during Downtime III.

There will, as usual, be opportunities for characters to acquire any IC resources they require via uptime methods, at Event III.

Characters will still receive XP for attending Event III, and will be able to spend them during Downtime III.

We also hope to add a couple of extra events to the story arc because of this change.

• The Downtime Submission System is CLOSED at http://witw-dt.dyndns.org.

Downtime Submission is now open at the address above. You can access your character's Downtime page through the link at the bottom of their Character page in the database.

Please also be aware that you can now transfer Items to other characters using the Inventory system at the same address.

Where possible, please submit Locations with map references or Location numbers, as this helps us immensely.

Please send IC letters through the address witwhedgehogpost@gmail.com. It is important that you do this, as we (the Refs) need to know what deals are being made and who has what information in order to properly physrep your beloved NPCs and write your beloved Plot.

The Downtime system is relatively new, and is a substantial update from the method used in DT1. A few points:

• Please avoid using words where the default value of the box is a number, as it objects to this!
• If you want to leave the page but have not finished, PLEASE hit the Save Changes button at the bottom, as this will ensure no data is lost. You can then come back to the page at your leisure. Partially finished Downtime submissions at close of DT will be printed out and used to feed the Plot Rabbits.
• Please do not hit Submit DT until you are happy with your Downtime, as this will lock it to changes.
• If you have any OC problems or queries, please do not hesitate to contact us at firecat.masquerade@gmail.com

1. Introduction
2. The Land
3. Surviving Downtime
   1. Food
   2. Winter
4. XP, Teaching and Learning, and Character Advancement
5. Downtime Actions
   1. Acquisition Actions
   2. Claim & Building Actions
   3. Raid Actions
   4. Craft Actions
   5. Using Buildings
      1. Using Rabbit Slaves
   6. Species-Specific Actions

• Downtime is the period between events where your character continues to have a life and livelihood between the Country Fayres.
• Our online Downtime submission is the system you use to tell us what they do in this time.
• After each event, we will announce on the Firecat Masquerade website when Downtime is open for submissions. You will have a limited time-period in which to submit Downtime Actions – this is likely to be a month. In most cases it should be possible to complete this online Downtime submission in as little as 5 minutes.
• Following Event III and every third Event, you will NOT receive a Downtime form. The Downtime following every third Event is Winter - if you don't have Meat and Fur by the end of Event III, you're in trouble. However, we do ensure that there are always methods of acquiring these resources in uptime, at every event (in the simplest sense, other PCs are Meat…).
• You can do a variety of things in this time but remember that survival is the most important – so you should consider how these actions will help your character obtain essential food and goods.
• If you have Rabbit Slaves you will also have to decide how (or if) to keep them alive during this time.
• The time-period for your character between Country Fayres will not be the same as the real-world time between events.
• Time in Downtime is represented by Actions - each Action is assumed to represent an in-character week between games. Country Fayres take place at 4-month intervals, giving your character 16 Actions.
• Depending on what you want to do in Downtime, it may take a certain number of actions. You may also need other items, such as Carrots or Rabbit Slaves, in order to accomplish your task.
• Some actions in Downtime can only be done if you have certain skills, abilities or items, and some actions in Downtime can be done faster or better if you have certain skills, abilities or items.
• Other characters can help you – or hinder you – in Downtime. Some actions (such as Raiding) automatically bring you into conflict with PCs and NPCs at a Location.
• When submitting a Downtime action, you must specify where you are performing the action by naming the Location Name, Location Number, or Grid Reference.

The Map displayed above is a commonly used representation of The Land, devised by the Burrow Council in order to dissect it into 3x3mile “Territories”.

Most Player Characters must consume 1 Meat per month of Downtime to survive - that's 4 Meat in total.

The exception to this is Rabbit Player Characters, who must consume 1 Sack of Carrots per week of Downtime to survive - that's 16 Sacks in total.

Without this food, Characters will lose Downtime Actions and may begin the following game severely weakened. For each Meat (or 4 Sacks of Carrots) that your character does not eat during Downtime, they will start the next Event with 1 fewer body hits, to a minimum of 0.

NPC Rabbit Slaves are less hardy than Player Characters, and will die at the end of Downtime if not fed enough.

While it is possible to kill NPC slaves and turn them in to Meat, the work-force of Rabbits do not make for good meals – The Meat of an NPC Rabbit will only feed a Character for two Downtime weeks if killed and skinned for food. To turn these slaves in to a more protein-rich meal, you require a Slaughterhouse.

Player Character Rabbits still provide 1 Meat when killed. Other Cultures provide even more protein-rich meals – feeding for 2 months. The flesh of Badgers is the most protein-rich of all, feeding for all 4 months of Downtime.

Winter follows every third Event. Player Characters cannot take actions or operate resources during Winter and cannot influence events in any way. However, they are still required to fulfil the following conditions:

Characters and Rabbit Slaves have the same Food requirements and penalties during Winter as during other Downtimes, and will be required to stockpile Food, as they cannot Farm, kill Rabbit Slaves, operate Slaughterhouses or take any other action. They are hibernating, or something very close to it.

In addition, Player Characters are required to provide warmth for themselves and their Slaves during Winter, or they will begin the following game severely weakened and may suffer permanent penalties. Any Rabbit Slaves not kept warm will freeze to death during the Winter. There are two methods for keeping Rabbit Slaves and Player Characters warm.

Furs: Every Player Character will need to acquire 1 Fur by the time Winter arrives. Player Characters will also need to supply 1 Fur per Rabbit Slave to keep them alive.

Coal: Instead of Furs, a Player Character or Rabbit Slave may use Coal to keep warm. If you intend to use Coal, then you will require 5 sacks of Coal per Player Character or Rabbit Slave per Winter to keep them warm. There are Devices which can reduce this by using Coal more efficiently.

• Your character gains 2XP per Event they attend.
• You may spend these immediately or save them up.
• You can be taught skills, but there are limits to this.
• You may not buy Advantages with XP. You may not buy Elder Lores unless you have passed your Rite of Passage.

After every game, each character gains 2 Experience Points, which they may spend on learning new skills. You should specify which skill your character is learning in the relevant section of your Downtime Return.

The points cost for learning skills remains the same as at Character Generation.

If a skill is not normally available to your Culture, then you will definitely require a teacher for the skill. The XP cost for learning the skill is doubled in this instance. Most skills will never be available to your Culture: for example, characters with Nature: Wild Wood will never be able to learn Tech-use skills. Edge cases will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

You may decide to spend 1 Experience Point on teaching another character a skill your character already knows – effectively giving them 3 Experience Points. Characters may only receive 1 Experience Point from a teacher per Downtime, and characters may only ever have one teacher per Downtime. The exception to this is Hedgehogs, who may choose to spend 2XP teaching skills to two separate characters.

Badgers, on the other hand, cannot spend long enough around other characters to teach them. Badger characters cannot donate XP to other characters.

What follows is not an exhaustive list of possible Downtime actions. Others are included in specific Extended Cultural briefs and other briefing materials, or may be granted by particular Items or Devices, skills or abilities, or in-character actions or discoveries. These are, however, all of the ordinary actions available for everyone to see.

P.S. One or two details have been changed for clarification and to fix small cracks in the V1 Rules. Please email us if you think we've missed anything in the update, or if you have any specific questions about downtime actions.

• You can spend a week Exploring a Location.
• You will receive the Location Description for that Location.
• You will see other characters who are in that Location at the same time as you.
• You may Explore Off-Map: if you wish to do so, please email the Refs.

You may spend a Week Exploring a Location in order to gain its Description. This will contain: What Claims, Buildings, Mole Tunnels etc. are there, What the local Hunting/Fishing is like, Whether there are any local resources, such as Herbs and Weeds, What the local Trade is like, Other interesting facts about the Location, Current events in the Location.

Some Locations have secrets. In the case of these Locations, you may submit an Investigate This Location Further action to try to discover what's going on. These Locations are signposted as such: please don't submit an Investigate Further request for a Location which doesn't have a note on it saying that this is possible, not unless you have a really good reason, which you should email to the Refs.

Most of the time, you have a chance of spotting other characters in a Location if they are there at the same time as you. This varies by Location, according to various factors, including the relationship between your characters. When you are Exploring a Location, you are much more likely to see other characters, and depending on context, you may be much better hidden - you aren't, for instance, trading.

You may submit an Explore Off-Map request, specifying the square at which you wish to leave the map. It is noted by many scholars that wandering off into the Wild Woods on your own is monumentally stupid, and unless you have a firm purpose set in mind, you run a serious risk of getting lost in there. You have no chance of getting lost in the Drowned East End, but that's because you won't have time before the Foxes get you.

For example, at the start of May, Peter Rabbit submits an Explore action in the Countryside. He learns that there is no Claim on the Location he is Exploring, no Buildings, no Mole Tunnels, nothing worth Hunting, some Fishing in a small stream, Weeds in the stream, a single travelling Ferret saleswoman, and the fact that there is a huge chalk Rabbit carved into the hillside. He spots his Mistress, who is there at the time, and her enemy. His Mistress notices him, but he hides from his Mistress' enemy, who does not see him.

• These actions give your character stuff.
• These actions must be performed in specific Locations.
• Attempting to perform them elsewhere will result in failure and the Default action will be used instead.
• There are plenty of skills, items, and other modifiers for these actions.
• Some Locations have secret characteristics.

These actions represent your character spending time acquiring resources in Downtime. Because of the nature of the Winter in the Willows game setting, most of them are solitary actions.

They can only be performed in appropriate Locations. Any attempts to perform them in inappropriate Locations, such as trying to Hunt/Fish in an Urban Location away from the River, will result in no return, and the Default action will be used as your character gets bored and goes back to doing what s/he knows best.

Naturally, there are exceptions to this, as some Locations contain secret resources.

For example, Test Ferret Bob heads into Whitehall to try to Gather Herbs. As there are no Herbs in Whitehall, his Default Action (Raid) is implemented. After picking a few pockets, he is quickly chased out by angry Weasels, and only just survives.

• You may Gather Herbs, Mushrooms or Weeds in a number of Locations.
• You must have the relevant Lore skill to Gather Ingredients.
• Yield is mainly affected by the abundance of the Location.

Your character may attempt to Gather Ingredients during Downtime.

Herbs grow mainly in Countryside Locations, Mushrooms around the entrances to Mole Tunnels, and Weeds grow in the River and in marshy Countryside Locations.

The skill Lore: Cultivation increases your character's Gathering ability - you will be supplied a lore sheet for this lore.

Over-farming will dramatically reduce the Yield of a Location.

For example, heavy-drinking Badger Jacob Creek has his house on the edge of the Wild Wood, in a relatively cultivated Location. He harvests Herbs for sale at market, in return for rare books. He only harvests every two weeks, to keep the strain on the land down, and this returns him a Yield of 8 Herbs in one Downtime.

• You may hunt for food in any Wild Wood or River Location.
• Yield is affected by the abundance of the Location and a number of factors:

Tribal modifiers such as Claims and Totems can actively detract from non-members' Yields.

There are a number of other items which aid Hunting and Fishing, but these are the most common.

• You may spend Weeks trading in Downtime.
• You can only Join a Market being Led by another character.
• Joining another character's Market adds bonuses to their Trading score.
• The Market you have joined is in competition with any other Markets in the same place at the same time.
• Trading is best on the Roads and Rivers, and in some parts of London-That-Was.

During Downtime, you may spend Weeks Trading in a Market being Led by another character.

You must specify the name of the character whose Market you wish to Join and the Location you expect the Market to be at. The Leader of the Market will gain the spoils and will be expected to share them in uptime.

You will automatically be competing for Trade against any other characters Leading a Market in this location. However, your attendance significantly increases the Market's presence. Whoever's Market is more impressive will get more Trade. Some Skills or Merits will allow you to raise the Trade factor in a Location. Some Locations can be made more productive by establishing a Claim there. Some Locations can be made more productive by establishing a Countryside Totem in them.

If you are searching for a specific item, you should state this in the Action box. Your returns are likely to be lower, but your chance of finding that specific item is increased.

Rabbit Slaves can be used to promote Markets. If you specify a number of Rabbit slaves to assist you in Leading a Market, then they will scour the Location, setting up advertisements and notices to draw in crowds, and they will assist you in running the Market itself.

You will only be able to acquire bulk resources if you use Rabbit Slaves or a vehicle with cargo space.

• You may spend Weeks trading in Downtime.
• You are in competition against any other characters submitting the Lead Market action in the same place at the same time.
• Other characters may submit a “Join Market” action to join your Market.
• You will only acquire bulk goods if you use Rabbit Slaves or a vehicle to carry them.
• Trading is best on the Roads and Rivers, and in some parts of London-That-Was.

During Downtime, you may spend Weeks Leading a Market. You may run a Market in one Location per week.

You will automatically be competing for Trade against any other characters Leading a Market in this location. However, you can significantly increase the Market's presence by co-ordinating with other characters: if you wish others to join your side in running a Market, they must submit the Join Market action, specifying your character's name and the location of the Market they wish to Join. You will acquire all the results of this Market and will be expected to share out the spoils of the Market in uptime.

Whoever's Market is more impressive will get more Trade. Some Skills or Merits will allow you to raise the Trade factor in a Location. Some Locations can be made more productive by establishing a Claim there. Some Locations can be made more productive by establishing a Countryside Totem in them.

If you are searching for a specific item, you should state this in the Action box. Your returns are likely to be lower, but your chance of finding that specific item is increased.

Markets provide a random return of Items – Ingredients, Luxury Items, Machine Parts, Brews, Weapons and Armour or Tech, or bulk resources such as Coal, Carrots and Meat.

Rabbit Slaves can be used to promote Markets. If you specify a number of Rabbit slaves to assist you in Leading a Market, then they will scour the Location, setting up advertisements and notices to draw in crowds, and they will assist you in running the Market itself.

You will only be able to acquire bulk resources if you use Rabbit Slaves or a vehicle with cargo space.

Some Locations, such as River and Road Locations, have better Trade opportunities than others. Sometimes, through nothing but bad luck, there will be no Trade in a Location at all.

• You may Scavenge for Luxuries in any Urban Location or Location with a Mole Tunnel.
• Yield is affected by the abundance of the Location and a number of factors:

Gang modifiers such as Claims and Totems can actively detract from non-members' Yields.

There are a number of other items which aid Scavenging, but these are the most common.

While the intent of Scavenging is to pick up forgotten Luxuries, left behind either by the Race of Man or the last Weasel to come across them, in fact, you're as likely as not to find any number of a wide variety of things, from Coins to Spices, Machine Parts, Devices, Blueprints, and Items, as much as actual Luxury Items.

Proper Scavengers show no fear in the face of Mother London, which leads them into all sorts of scrapes - after all, it's been nearly two hundred years since the Knifewinter, and most of what's left has been picked clean. The better a Scavenger you are, the more likely you are to find yourself in interesting situations.

• These actions relate to Claims and the things your character can do with land.
• Claims are mutually exclusive.
• Claiming is a legal process, not an invasion - that's Raiding.
• You can usually only build on a Location which your character or his/her Group has Claimed.
• Claims provide a number of benefits to their owners and their Groups.

A Claim on a Location is an ownership contract drawn up with the Burrow Council and the Mayor Chiefweasel's office, who tend to take a (relatively) laissez-faire attitude to who owns what land.

In theory, any Person may make a Claim on any Location, but this is not universal in practice. Any Person without Nature: Wild Wood who made a Claim within the Wild Wood would find it beset on all sides by the natives, keen to keep the outsider out. Meanwhile, the Mayor Chiefweasel's office has made it very clear that Claim applications from anyone other than Weasels or Toads will not be accepted in the City.

Hedgehogs, being nomadic by nature, cannot make Claims on land. Nor can Rabbits, although they can gain benefits from their Owner's Claim.

If there is already a Claim on a Location which your character wants to Claim, they must first Burn the existing Claim. They can then Stake a Claim of their own on that Location.

• Takes 8 Weeks to complete.
• Requires 10 Rabbit Slaves.
• Requires the Architecture skill.
• Produces one Building which can be used immediately.
• You must specify the type of Building you wish to Build.
• Requests for types of Building not on the list below must be emailed to the Refs.

Your character spends 8 Weeks of Downtime Building a Building in a Location which they or their Group have Claimed. You may not Build on land which you have not Claimed.

Immediately after the end of the 8 Weeks the Building will be ready to use. You may use it in the same Downtime.

You may give permission for a character to build on land that you have Claimed - you should detail this in the “Any Other Business” section of your Downtime Submission. That permission will extend for the full length of the Downtime.

Buildings you may Build without asking the Refs: Factory, Farm, Mine, Slaughterhouse, Tannery, Tavern, Tollhouse, Woodshed. Please email the Refs if you wish to build any other kinds of Buildings, as we will need to consider how to make your request work, if at all.

• Takes 8 Weeks to complete.
• Destroys a Claim on one Location.
• Does not do any damage to Buildings or resources of any kind.

The character spends 8 Weeks in a Location - finding, tearing up, burning and otherwise destroying the signs, markers and symbols that mark the Location as Claimed by another character. As of the end of the 8 Weeks, no character can gain any Claim benefits from that Location until another Claim has been made on it. As with Staking a Claim, this is also a legal process, and will require dealing with lawyers from the Burrow Council (and, in the City, the Firm of Grabbit, Grabbit & Sons).

Burning a Claim does not do any damage to Buildings or resources in that Location, although if it is currently occupied by its former Claimholders, you should expect conflict, and that may cause damage.

Burning an existing Claim and Staking a new Claim cannot overlap. The Burrow Council banned the practice after they lost a good Rabbit in amongst the paperwork.

In most cases, claims that you stake on a Location can be used by those other characters in your group who are of the same Culture as you.

For example, the famed River pirate Captain “Mad Jack” Flint wants to Burn a Claim. He submits the 8-Week Burn Claim action for the Location. Because he has no respect for paperwork, he also tries to begin Staking a Claim on that Location as of Week 2 of his Burn attempt. The Burrow Council inform him that this is not possible, so instead, he spends his 16 Weeks of Downtime Burning the old Claim and Staking a new Claim. The River near the Wild Woods is peaceful, for a time.

• Takes 12 Weeks to complete.
• Totems are a potent symbol of the power of your Nature, and have power over People of other Natures.
• A Totem provides significant benefits in Downtime.
• You may Craft a Totem anywhere on the map, but you may only plant it in a Location which you have Claimed.
• Please inform us if and where you wish to plant the Totem in the “Any Other Business” section of your Downtime return.

If you have taken the skill Craft Totem or Mastercraft Totem, you may spend 12 Weeks Crafting a Totem in Downtime. Totems can be built anywhere on the map and you can build more than one Totem in a single Location.

You may only infuse a Totem with your own Nature. However, the Totem need not be yours to keep - it is possible to give Totems to others.

Totems grant significant bonuses to a variety of Downtime actions:

• Urban Totems aid in: Scavenging, Reclaiming, Raiding (attack) and Guarding territory.
• Countryside Totems aid in: Farming, Producing Slaves, Gathering Ingredients, Raiding (defence) and Guarding territory.
• Wild Wood Totems aid in: Hunting, Raiding and Guarding territory.

Totems automatically Guard a Location as if a player character was performing a Guard action there, due to their inherent terrifying presence. They also inflict significant penalties upon Acquisition Actions by any People in the Location who are not members of your Group.

Totems are often strange and unpredictable. They may have powers not explained in the published rules and you are encouraged to experiment with them. Mastercrafted Totems are more powerful, both in uptime and downtime. The uptime powers of Totems vary by the Totem, but will always be explained on the Totem Item card.

• Takes 12 Weeks to complete (-1 Week per Rabbit Slave used, to a minimum of 2 Weeks).
• Digs a substantial Mole Tunnel which connects to the underground network beneath the Land.
• Does not guarantee the presence of Coal.
• Only Moles can perform this action.

Your character spends 12 Weeks of Downtime Digging a Mole Tunnel in a Countryside Location. Using Rabbit Slaves speeds up this process.

Specific details about the Location may affect the resulting Tunnel: it is not particularly likely, for instance, that a Tunnel dug a hundred yards from the Riverbank will last very long, due to potential waterlogging and subsidence. Likewise, simply Digging a Mole Tunnel does not guarantee that the Location has any Coal: this can only be determined by a character with the Detect Coal Seam skill.

Due to the “potential for disruption of essential services” and the obvious security risks it poses, the Mayor Chiefweasel does not permit any new Mole Tunnels to be dug within the boundaries of London-That-Was.

Locations with Mole Tunnels grow Mushrooms, which can be harvested by any character with the skill Lore: Mushrooms. As they connect to the underground network of Mole Tunnels, they can also be Scavenged like an Urban Location.

• Takes 8 Weeks to complete.
• Establishes a permanent Claim on one Location for your character or Group.
• You cannot Claim a Location which is already Claimed by another character or Group.
• You can inherit Claims from other Group members who are of the same Culture as you, but you cannot inherit Claims from anyone else.

The character spends 8 Weeks in a Location, setting up a series of signs and symbols that only their own culture can produce and dealing with lawyers from the Burrow Council (and, in the City, the Firm of Grabbit, Grabbit & Sons). Anyone can tell that a Location is Claimed, and who it is Claimed by. At the end of 8 Weeks, your character's Claim to that Location is Staked.

These signs are learned from birth and members of one species may never learn another's signs: as such, it is impossible to accurately maintain the Claim of a member of another species. Many actions are far easier in a Location you have performed a Claim action on. You may only Build on Locations that you have previously Staked a Claim on.

If two sets of characters attempt to Claim the same area at the same time, neither Claim action will be resolved in Downtime and the Default action will be used. The characters must then present their cases to the Burrow Council in uptime.

If your character has Lore: Country Code, this time is reduced to 4 Weeks, as they are experts in Burrow Council protocol.

• These actions relate to Raiding and Guarding against Raids.
• You can attempt a Raid anywhere in the Land you like, including Locations which you have Claimed.
• Yield will vary depending on where you Raid and who is there at the time.
• Raiding will not remove another Person's Claim - that's the Burn Claim action.
• Guarding a Location protects against all unauthorised Acquisition Actions, not just against Raids.

Raiding is a staple of some of the Cultures in Winter in the Willows. Weasel Firms Raid one another's gaffs on a daily basis in some parts of London-That-Was, looking to secure the best pickings in the City, while on the other side of the Land, Stoat tribes do exactly the same over the best hunting-grounds. However, Raiding is more than just gang attacks. A safer way to make money with menaces is to do it on your own turf - Ferrets, in particular, are known for this, menacing travellers on their Claimed parts of the Roads.

Simply put, Raids are calculated in terms of who's where, when, and with what. If the Chelsea Killers (Weasels) attack the Powder Monkeys' (Ferrets) Market on the Road, at their Tavern, who wins is calculated by taking note of the People there, what skills they have, what Weapons, Armour, Vehicles and other relevant Items they're using, what benefits are given to either side by any nearby Buildings, Totems etc., and any extra details to be taken into account. The greater the margin of victory, the greater the spoils for the winner: in any case, the winner takes stuff from the loser.

Raiding does not remove a Person's Claim on a Location, though if you wish to Claim a Location for yourself and you fear the current Claimholder will resist, it's not a bad way to drive them away in order to Burn their Claim later.

• You may Guard a Location during Downtime.
• Your Downtime combat abilities will be taken into account in defending against Raids in that Location.
• You can stop People who are not members of your Group from Hunting, Gathering, Scavenging etc. in that Location.

You may spend a week Guarding against Raiders. By choosing this action, you (and any Weapons, Vehicles, Items or Armour you have in your inventory) will be automatically included on the Defending side of any Raid. You may improve your chances of Defending a Location by establishing a Claim there.

You may increase your chances of Defending a Location by establishing an Totem there, particularly a Countryside Totem. Guarding allows you to attempt to prevent Acquisition Actions in that Location by People who are not Claimholders. If you wish to allow characters who are not Claimholders to perform Acquisition Actions in the Location you are Guarding, you should specify this in the “Any Other Business” section of your Downtime Return.

Most of the time, you have a chance of spotting other characters in a Location if they are there at the same time as you. This varies by Location, according to various factors, including the relationship between your characters. When you are Guarding a Location, you are much more likely to see other characters.

• You may Join another character's attack on a Location during Downtime.
• Any characters there will defend against you unless they inform the Refs otherwise.
• Raiding Markets is a high-risk, high-reward strategy.
• Raiding does not harm Claims - that's Burn Claim.

Your character may join an attack on a Location during Downtime.

You will automatically enter conflict with any other characters in that Location. You must specify the name of the character whose Raid you wish to Join and the Location you expect to be Raiding. The Leader of the Raid will gain the spoils and will be expected to share them in uptime.

You may only Raid one Location per week. The outcome of Raids may include capturing Buildings, Vehicles or Items, destroying Totems, and capturing Slaves. Raiding will also reduce the output of Buildings. Raiding a Location where a Market is being run will result in your Leader taking the spoils of that Market.

There are ways to improve your chances during Raids – some skills and Vehicles, many Weapons or Armour. Equally, some Buildings, skills, Weapons, Vehicles or Armour help you defend against Raids.

You will only be able to steal bulk resources if you use Rabbit Slaves or a vehicle with cargo space.

• You may attack a Location during Downtime.
• Any characters there will defend against you unless they submit a Join Raid action or inform the Refs otherwise.
• Raiding Markets is a high-risk, high-reward strategy.
• Raiding does not harm Claims - that's Burn Claim.

Your character may attack a Location during Downtime in order to steal from its inhabitants.

You will automatically enter conflict with any other characters in that Location - if you wish others to join your side in Raiding, they must submit the Join Raid action, specifying your character's name and the Location they wish to Raid. You will acquire all the loot of a Raid and will be expected to share out the spoils of the Raid in uptime.

You may only Raid one Location per week. You must state the Location that you are Raiding. The outcome of Raids may include capturing Buildings, Vehicles or Items, destroying Totems, and capturing Slaves. Raiding will also reduce the output of Buildings. Raiding a Location where a Market is being run will result in you taking the spoils of that Market.

There are ways to improve your chances during Raids – some skills and Vehicles, many Weapons or Armour. Equally, some Buildings, skills, Weapons, Vehicles or Armour help you defend against Raids.

You will only be able to steal bulk resources if you use Rabbit Slaves or a vehicle with cargo space.

You may improve your chances of attacking or defending a Location by establishing a Claim there. You may increase your chances of attacking a Location by establishing an Urban Totem there.

Raiding does not harm another's Claim - in fact, you can Raid a Location which you have Claimed. People travelling through that Location or present in it at the time will be Raided, and since it is your land, you can call it what you like. Ferrets tend to call it a “toll”; Weasels tend to call it “mugging”.

• Takes 8 Weeks to Complete, but is quicker for Hedgehogs.
• Crazy Tech Blueprints cannot be copied.

You may spend time Copying a Blueprint which is in your character's Downtime Inventory. That Blueprint can be immediately given to other characters.

Owing to the value their Culture places on precision in reading and writing, Hedgehog characters with the Elder Lore: Cultural Advantage are able to copy Blueprints faster than other characters. Hedgehog characters with this advantage can Copy a Blueprint in only 4 Weeks.

Copying a Blueprint does not require formal technical expertise, but nor can it be done absolutely slavishly. Crazy Tech involves strokes of genius, once-in-a-lifetime insights into the way the world works, and as such, the Blueprints describing Crazy Tech Items are often idiosyncratic, disorganised and maddeningly unclear. It is impossible to copy Crazy Tech Blueprints, since it is impossible to understand them intellectually: you can only follow their instructions.

• You may spend time Crafting Items during Downtime.
• You must have the relevant Craft skill to Craft an Item.
• The time it takes to Craft an Item is available via the Downtime system.

You may Craft the relevant Weapons, Armour or Shields as identified by the specific Craft skill you have taken. Precise information on Crafting times for each item will be available on the on-line Downtime system and given on request at the Event.

You are assumed to be able to find materials for Crafting Weapons, Armour or Shields without significant expense. The Downtime system does not take these trivial resources into account.

• Takes 8 Weeks for a Simple Tech Item or 12 Weeks for a Complex Tech Item.
• You must be able to Fash'n that kind of Tech.
• Crazy Tech Items cannot be reverse-engineered to make Blueprints.

You may spend time Drawing a Blueprint for a Tech Item which is in your character's Downtime Inventory. That Blueprint can be immediately given to other characters.

Drawing a Blueprint requires the formal technical expertise necessary to Fash'n the Item. Crazy Tech Items are, as their name suggests, crazy: whoever made them was not thinking the same way as anyone else. It is impossible to draw a Blueprint for a Crazy Tech Item, since it is impossible to understand them intellectually.

• You may spend time Fash'ning Tech during Downtime.
• You must have the relevant Fash'n skill to Fash'n Tech.
• You must have the relevant Blueprint to Fash'n a Tech Item.
• You may finish a part-completed Tech Item, provided you have the relevant Blueprint.
• You may attempt to finish a Tech Item without a Blueprint, but this is risky.

You may Fash'n Tech Items as defined by your character's Fash'n skill. For example, only characters with Fash'n: Clockwork can create Simple Clockwork Tech items. Only characters with High Fash'n: Clockwork can create Complex or Crazy Clockwork Tech items.

You must possess a Blueprint of the Tech you wish to Fash'n in your Downtime Inventory. This Blueprint will specify the number and type of Machine Parts needed to Fash'n the Tech, and the time it will take to Fash'n.

You may finish a Tech Item which has been part-completed provided you have the relevant Blueprint and Machine Parts. If you attempt to do this without the relevant Blueprint, this is called Jury-Rigging. Jury-Rigging takes the entire Downtime and may produce unpredictable results - as such, it is not a process for the faint-hearted!

• Buildings are managed per Downtime rather than per Week.
• A number of Buildings require Rabbit Slaves to run.
• A number of Buildings require consumable resources, such as Coal or Rabbit Slaves, to run.
• If you Raid a Location with a Building in it, you may gain some of its produce.

Your character can own Buildings, or new Buildings can be built in a Location which your character has Claimed. Many of these require Rabbit Slaves to run, while others require consumable resources - including one which treats Rabbit Slaves as consumable resources.

Some of them do not require a Rabbit Slave workforce. It is assumed that your character can run them him/herself, or arrange for them to be run without significant expense.

We are open to suggestions regarding different types of Factories. After all, it is an age of industry, and enterprising People of all Cultures are reaching the stars by standing on the shoulders - and backs, and bodies - of Rabbits.

• Mines require Rabbit Slaves to run.
• You will receive 4 Sacks of Coal per Rabbit per Downtime.
• Yield can be affected by a number of factors:

There are a number of Devices, hidden skills and player actions that will increase a Mine's yield. Mining is better or worse in some locations. Certain actions will lower the Mine's yield. Mines do not need to be built within Mole Tunnels, but like all Buildings, they can only be built on Claimed land.

• Farms require Rabbit Slaves to run.
• You will receive 10 Sacks of Carrots per Rabbit per Downtime.
• Yield can be affected by a number of factors:

There are a number of Devices, hidden skills and player actions that will increase a Farm's yield. Farming is better or worse in some locations. Certain actions will lower a Farm's yield. Farms can only be built on Claimed land.

For example - A Claimed farm during Autumn downtime operated by a character with the Agriculture skill will produce 20 sacks of carrots per rabbit slave.

We are aware that as it stands, Farms without buffs cannot produce enough Carrots to feed all the Rabbits who work on them. This is intentional. Life is cheap in the Land, particularly if you're a Rabbit. Fortunately, there are always more Rabbits, and an enterprising slave-owner will work some to death to keep others fed, and buy more to replace the dead.

• Factories require 10 Rabbit Slaves and 60 Sacks of Coal to run per Downtime.
• You will receive 12 Machine Parts per Downtime.
• You should specify the type of Machine Parts you wish to produce.

There are a number of Devices, hidden skills and player actions that will increase a Factory's yield. Certain actions will lower the Factory's yield. Factories can only be built on Claimed land.

The figure given is for the default Factory. Other Factories exist in the Land which are geared towards producing specific products, and if Reclaimed, could be made to produce a number of things other than just Machine Parts.

• Turns Rabbit Slaves into Processed Meat.
• Processed Meat lasts longer than Rabbit Slaves.

A Slaughterhouse turns Rabbit Slaves into packages of high-protein mincemeat, which contain all the goodness of a Rabbit but with none of the crunchy bits. For every Rabbit Slave that you put into the Slaughterhouse, you will be provided with a Processed Meat Item card. Processed Meat functions in just the same way as Meat, but it can be phys-repped by a small, brick-sized package. Since this is all the goodness squeezed out of a Rabbit into a juicy and delicious package, it will sustain a Person for an entire month of Downtime.

• Turns Rabbit Slaves into Hide.
• Does not require the Tanning skill.

A Tannery turns Rabbit Slaves into Hide - the essential component for crafting leather Armour. For ever Rabbit Slave that you put into the Tannery, you will be provided with a Hide Item card.

• Collects rumours from the nearby area.
• You have a much higher chance of hearing accurate rumours if you run a Tavern.

A Tavern collects all the rumours from all the People who come by to talk and recirculates them. As such, a clever innkeeper has the chance to listen to the most common, identify those from the most reliable sources, and to work the nuggets of truth out of myths and propaganda. If you run a Tavern in Downtime, you are much more likely to receive accurate rumours about events in the Land by the time of the next Event than everyone else.

A Tavern in the City will receive most of its information from the surrounding area, while a Tavern on the Road or River will receive most of its information from travellers.

• A defensive structure.
• Adds significant bonuses to Raid (Attack) and Raid (Defence) actions in the Location.

“Tollhouse” covers a wide variety of structures, from actual Tollhouses on the Road to fortified bunkers within the City, all intended to form fall-back points in the event of attacks. At the same time, they form perfect bases to return to after an evening's mugging or toll-taking, so a Tollhouse in the right place ensures that an enterprising thug can sleep safe in his/her bed at night.

• Reduces Crafting times.

A Woodshed ensures that a Crafter doesn't have to wait for any deliveries, or to go out and cut wood him/herself. As such, it considerably reduces Crafting times.

Industry: You may choose to set a number of your Rabbit Slaves to work in any Buildings you own. These Rabbit Slaves will be occupied for the whole 16 weeks of Downtime and may not be used for any other actions.

Foraging: You may set your Slaves to Foraging. These Slaves will spend their Downtime searching for enough wild Carrots to eat. The Land is unforgiving, and a number of Slaves who Forage will be unsuccessful and will die of starvation - however, the remainder will find enough food to add to your supplies. Foraging results vary.

Singing: You may decide to set your Slaves to Singing. These Rabbits will sit and sing simple melodies, but will not take on any other actions during Downtime. Rabbits clearly enjoy Singing, and they are certainly happier if they are allowed to work to the beat of a Rabbit song, but whether their output increases is a matter of debate.

Any slaves not assigned to one of these per-Downtime actions can accompany their owner on any of the weekly Actions described above - within reason. Rabbit Slaves are useful in Reclamation and can carry stuff in a Raid, but they won't be able to help dealing with Claim Markers, or Copying Blueprints, or anything too complex. NPC Rabbit Slaves also do not possess Lore skills, and so cannot join in Gathering actions.

By no stretch of the imagination does this section include all the species-specific actions in this game. However, these are the well-known ones, and the ones which could be included here without revealing anything too much to other players.

• If you have this skill, you can spend a week investigating a Location to determine how much Coal is there.
• You will not receive any other information about the Location without also Exploring it.

Through geological expertise and the kind of practical education which Moles specialise in, your character is able to work out whether there is Coal in a place by spending a Week of Downtime thoroughly investigating it. You will receive a return telling you how much Coal your character thinks is in the Location. However, investigating for Coal is a distracting business, so you will not receive a Location Description or other Locational results (as per an Explore action) at the same time.

• You may spend time Meditating in Downtime to gain Power of the Forest cards for use in uptime.
• You may spend time Meditating in Downtime to gain specific Wild Wood Powers.

If your character has Nature: Wild Wood they may spend Weeks of Downtime Meditating in order to gain Power of the Forest cards to use at Events, and also specific Wild Wood Power skills. You must Meditate in an appropriate Location within the Wild Wood, such as your home territory.

You must specify in each Week of Meditation whether you are Meditating for a point of the Power of the Forest or for the use of a specific Wild Wood Power at the next event.

You must spend XP to improve your Wild Wood Powers.

Although you may start play with certain powers, these do not automatically replenish between events, and must be Meditated for during Downtime.

• You may Reclaim treasures of the Race of Man from any Territory which you have Claimed.
• Takes 16 Weeks to complete (-1 Week per Rabbit Slave used, to a minimum of 3 Weeks).
• Unearths one Building, which is not immediately ready for use.
• May unearth things best left alone.

Weasels may spend time in Downtime Reclaiming sections of London-That-Was from the ruins left by the Race of Man. This takes 16 Weeks to complete (-1 Week per Rabbit Slave used, to a minimum of 3 Weeks). At the end of this time, the finest architects and historians in the Mayor Chiefweasel's office will come down to tell you what they think the area was once used for, and identify a particular Building worthy of further redevelopment.

However, Reclamation involves going to all the places your character would normally avoid: off the beaten track, down darkened alleys, into ancient cellars, overgrown parks and abandoned warehouses, up to the heights of rotting buildings, and all other places you'd never usually consider setting foot. Mother London likes to test Her favourite children, and investigators in the cause of Reclamation may find themselves disturbing things they didn't know were there.

It is quite likely that a Reclaimer will lose Rabbits if they employ them in this way. However, this will not make the activity take longer.

• You may Recruit Rabbit Slaves in Downtime at a rate of two per Week.
• Rabbits will do most simple work, so they go from one job to another quite willingly.

Your character may Recruit Rabbit Slaves in Downtime. This is mostly done by going amongst Rabbit populations and sitting with them, talking to them, listening to them, singing with them, and being Rabbit with them. If the Rabbits you speak to agree that your Master's work is preferable to their current work, then they may follow you to your Master's service.

There are wild Rabbits to recruit from, in a manner of speaking. Mostly, “wild” Rabbits are Lots which have been forgotten about by their owners, or kits which have lost their parents. Not having any work, these Rabbits will be very happy to come to service.

• Badgers need to sleep in Downtime.
• If you do not specify which Weeks you are Sleeping in then you will Sleep in the final 2/4 Weeks of your Downtime as exhaustion overtakes you.

Badgers are sleepy creatures by nature, and get fewer Weeks of Downtime than other People. As a Badger, you must spend 2 Weeks of Downtime Sleeping, or 4 Weeks if you are an Elder. If you do not specify when you are Sleeping, we will assume your character is attempting to work through the natural inclination to nod off, but they will still pass out in the final 2/4 Weeks of Downtime.

Badgers find interacting with other characters stressful and tiring. The amount of sleep you need in a Downtime will increase if you spent a lot of time co-operating with other characters during the previous Downtime.

• Hedgehogs may volunteer at the Oxford Universalisation Project.
• The rewards for this vary.
• If you use the HedgehogWiki to submit and compare IC notes then you MUST spend at least 1 Week of Downtime doing this.
• Characters of other species will NOT be allowed into the OUP.

Hedgehog characters may spend time mining at the book-face of the Oxford Universalisation Project. The most common reward for this is that they may be allowed to keep a copy of a book, picture, Blueprint or other Item which is not valued by the Project, usually because it is a duplicate of a known and categorised edition.

However, this may also take the form of research into a specific subject, be that a Person, a Location, a historical event, a Technology, or whatever. The longer you spend researching, the more likely you are to find useful information. Please specify the subject you wish to research in the Any Other Business section of your Downtime Return.

Some enterprising Hedgehog players made a Wiki shortly after Event I. The price for characters who choose to use this is twofold: they must represent it IC by spending at least 1 Week of Downtime Volunteering at the OUP, and anything that they submit to the Wiki is also seen by the OUP's News & Rumours Division.