Training and Downtime
My house rules for training costs were written for my first DF campaign, but they remain the same in the new one. What that post doesn't cover, is the in-game time required for PCs to train. The conversation around this seems to have generated some confusion within the group. I don't think it's that complicated, but admittedly I came up with the rules, and I spent some time thinking about it and so I've largely internalised the logic. By covering that here now, it should hopefully explain not only the how but also the why, and serve as a reference for the next time this comes up.
One week of downtime before spending character points
In order to spend any XP, you need to take a week off adventuring to rest/recover/recuperate/etc. That week has an in-game monetary expenditure, not for training, but for Cost of Living (by default $150 for one week). Taking that 1 week of R&R allows you to spend character points to increase any skill/stat/trait/etc, which you used in the adventure, by one level each. That matches the first (free) level in the training costs houserules, and represents improvement from direct experience on the adventure.
Why do I need this week of R&R?
One week of downtime before spending character points
In order to spend any XP, you need to take a week off adventuring to rest/recover/recuperate/etc. That week has an in-game monetary expenditure, not for training, but for Cost of Living (by default $150 for one week). Taking that 1 week of R&R allows you to spend character points to increase any skill/stat/trait/etc, which you used in the adventure, by one level each. That matches the first (free) level in the training costs houserules, and represents improvement from direct experience on the adventure.
Why do I need this week of R&R?
The reason for requiring a week of downtime before spending character points, is so that a PC cannot simply increase the same trait after every game session, without choosing to take a break in the middle of the adventure. It helps the feeling of verisimilitude when there is a correlation between character improvement and the passage of in-game time. It also prevents silliness which might otherwise try to bypass the training costs for focused improvement on a single trait.
One (or more) additional week(s) for active training
In order to improve beyond gradual incremental experience requires active training. This includes increasing a skill/stat/trait/etc by more than one level, or learning a new skill/advantage etc that your character doesn't already possess. The monetary training costs are detailed in the post linked above. The actual in-game time required for this training is 1 week per 5 character points (or part thereof). For example, you could learn 5 new skills or spells in a single week, but to learn Weapon Master (20 points for one of the base options) alone would take 4 weeks.
Why is it 1 week per 5 character points of training?
One (or more) additional week(s) for active training
In order to improve beyond gradual incremental experience requires active training. This includes increasing a skill/stat/trait/etc by more than one level, or learning a new skill/advantage etc that your character doesn't already possess. The monetary training costs are detailed in the post linked above. The actual in-game time required for this training is 1 week per 5 character points (or part thereof). For example, you could learn 5 new skills or spells in a single week, but to learn Weapon Master (20 points for one of the base options) alone would take 4 weeks.
Why is it 1 week per 5 character points of training?
The number is arbitrary. Obviously if you think about it as being able to learn 5 whole new skills in a single week, that's ridiculous from a realism standpoint. But this DF. And spending a month to learn Weapon Master could be seen in terms of a training montage. My main concern was that learning new skills/traits takes some in-game time, while not on the other hand requiring 6 months of downtime every time a PC wants to level up.
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Some character point expenditures don't fall into the above, if I don't consider them as traits to be actively trained. For example, meta-game advantages like Luck are not "learned" in any meaningful sense, and certain mental disadvantages that can simple be bought off when the PC "gets over" the problem.
I feel that the above rules also have the effect that character advancement in some cases becomes a strategic and/or plot consideration, as the world is not sitting still while the PCs improve in a vacuum.
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Some character point expenditures don't fall into the above, if I don't consider them as traits to be actively trained. For example, meta-game advantages like Luck are not "learned" in any meaningful sense, and certain mental disadvantages that can simple be bought off when the PC "gets over" the problem.
I feel that the above rules also have the effect that character advancement in some cases becomes a strategic and/or plot consideration, as the world is not sitting still while the PCs improve in a vacuum.
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