OOC: Time

Time will be measured in our game at three scales: days, shifts, and rounds.

Days
Days are used for downtime activities, crafting, research, long-distance travel, and other endeavors that unfold over extended periods. They are also the primary unit for tracking off-camera events: the movements of armies, the schemes of rival factions, the progress of construction projects, significant changes, political developments, and any other events occurring beyond the immediate view of the adventurers.

Unless otherwise noted, a day begins at dawn and ends at the following dawn.

Shifts
A shift divides the day into broad periods suitable for travel, exploration, rest, and keeping watch. Most activities that take several hours are measured in shifts rather than exact hours. Each shift lasts roughly 3–4 hours.

The daylight portion of the day is divided into four shifts:

Dawn — from first light until mid-morning.
Morning — from mid-morning until midday.
Afternoon — from midday until mid-afternoon.
Late Afternoon — from mid-afternoon through sunset.

The night is divided into three shifts:

Dusk — from the end of dusk into full darkness.
Deep Night — the darkest hours of the night.
Pre-Dawn — the final hours before sunrise.

Under normal conditions, traveling across one standard hex (roughly 6 miles / 10 km) requires one full shift. Mounts such as horses may allow faster travel across roads and open terrain, but offer little advantage in difficult terrain. Pack animals such as mules do not increase travel speed, though they can carry additional supplies and equipment.

A shift may also be spent on other activities instead of travel. Characters can forage for edible plants and drinkable water, hunt game, or fish in suitable locations such as rivers, lakes, or coastal waters. Any number of characters may do those activies during the same shift.

When the party stops to explore a location, travel is suspended. Exploring a hex searching for a ruin, dungeon, settlement, wilderness site, or other point of interest may take anywhere from a single shift to several days or even weeks, depending on its size and complexity.

Rounds
A round is the smallest unit of time. Rounds are most commonly used during combat and function as described in Nimble RPG.

Travel and Camp Activities
After a typical day of travel consisting of 3 shifts, including short pauses for breakfast, packing, lunch, and rest, each PC may choose how to spend the late afternoon:

Making Camp: The PC prepares shelter, arranges bedrolls, gathers firewood, and gets the party ready to sleep.

Hunting and Gathering: The PC forages, hunts, or fishes for food and water.

Story Time: The PC shares stories, asks questions, and talks with the group while eating and/or cooking around the fire.

Find Components: The PC goes off into the wilderness to gather wood, herbs, stone, or other useful crafting materials.

Rest: The PC spends the shift resting, recovering, and keeping a low profile while the party camps.

Forced March: Continue traveling for one additional shift. The extra distance comes at a cost, though. Until the party completes a full night's rest, the DM may impose Disadvantage on physical actions affected by fatigue, such as climbing, swimming, running, or other strenuous tasks. In particularly harsh conditions—or after repeated forced marches—the DM may instead cause each affected character to lose 1 unspent Hit Die or suffer an equivalent HP loss.

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Night Watch and Camp Activities
During each night shift, a PC may choose to:

Rest: Sleep or otherwise recover while the party remains camped.

If your character sleeps for any two shifts, and food and water are available, that counts as a full night’s rest — about as good as one can reasonably get while sleeping on the road (ie. take the maximum value for each Hit Die you expend instead of rolling).

Sleeping for one shift counts as a short rest, and you can expend any number of Hit Dice one at a time (roll them and add your STR to each), and regain that many HP.

Last but not least, staying up all night has consequences. You cannot heal HP without magic and receive Disadvantage in some situations.

Keep Watch: Stand guard, stay alert, and watch for threats or disturbances.

Story Time: Share stories, ask questions, and talk with the group around the fire or before bedding down.

Other Activities: Attempt anything else a PC could normally do during the day, but, usually, with Disadvantage.