A short one today (I'm taking a rest).
Resting/downtime in RPGs is (marginally) interesting to me. On the one side, a requirement for a rest (in the DnD) sense feels a bit arbitrary.
"I want to cast fireball!"
"I'm sorry, but you can't, you did that today already, you'll need to rest before you can do it again."
"..."
That just feels like a wholly unsatisfying situation to me. Why does my character need to rest. Yeah I get that "them's the rules", but that just feels so blunt and boring. Now this is a fairly specific complaint, and other systems handle this differently, but narratively forgetting how to cast a spell until you looked at your spellbook and had a nap again always felt dull.
But a rest, or a period of downtime could also be interesting or fun. Having players describe what their characters do during downtime can lead to interesting hooks you might not think of otherwise (e.g. "I go and visit ABC" means that ABC can now be brought into play, if you want). You can also use downtime to handwave narratively dull shopping trips, or other mundane activities. The story keeps moving, but the game doesn't need to stop for players to act out buying some new stimpacs (unless they really want to). Or, you can use the rest for some fun narrative moments; the GM for the Star Wars game I'm currently playing in will occasionally say "tell me a problem that comes up during your downtime, and how the group resolves it." These moments give us, the players, a great moment to role play and indulge in some pure-narrative silliness.
Much better than having a nap so you can remember that spell again...
#rpgaday2020