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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition) Starfinder RPG

Actions | Activities

Earn Income

Downtime 
Source Player Core pg. 228 2.0
You use one of your skills to make money during downtime. The GM assigns a task level representing the most lucrative job available. You can search for lower-level tasks, with the GM determining whether you find any. Sometimes you can attempt to find better work than the initial offerings, though this takes time and requires using the Diplomacy skill to Gather Information, doing some research, or socializing.

When you take on a job, the GM secretly sets the DC of your skill check. After your first day of work, you roll to determine your earnings. You gain an amount of income based on your result, the task's level, and your proficiency rank (as listed on the Income Earned table).

You can continue working at the task on subsequent days without needing to roll again. For each day you spend after the first, you earn the same amount as the first day, up until the task's completion. The GM determines how long you can work at the task. Most tasks last a week or two, though some can take months or even years.
Critical Success You do outstanding work. Gain the amount of currency listed for the task level + 1 and your proficiency rank.
Success You do competent work. Gain the amount of currency listed for the task level and your proficiency rank.
Failure You do shoddy work and get paid the bare minimum for your time. Gain the amount of currency listed in the failure column for the task level. The GM will likely reduce how long you can continue at the task.
Critical Failure You earn nothing for your work and are fired immediately. You can't continue at the task. Your reputation suffers, potentially making it difficult for you to find rewarding jobs in that community in the future.

Table 4-2: Income Earned

Task LevelDCFailedTrainedExpertMasterLegendary
0141 cp5 cp5 cp5 cp5 cp
1152 cp2 sp2 sp2 sp2 sp
2164 cp3 sp3 sp3 sp3 sp
3188 cp5 sp5 sp5 sp5 sp
4191 sp7 sp8 sp8 sp8 sp
5202 sp9 sp1 gp1 gp1 gp
6223 sp1 gp, 5 sp2 gp2 gp2 gp
7234 sp2 gp2 gp, 5 sp2 gp, 5 sp2 gp, 5 sp
8245 sp2 gp, 5 sp3 gp3 gp3 gp
9266 sp3 gp4 gp4 gp4 gp
10277 sp4 gp5 gp6 gp6 gp
11288 sp5 gp6 gp8 gp8 gp
12309 sp6 gp8 gp10 gp10 gp
13311 gp7 gp10 gp15 gp15 gp
14321 gp, 5 sp8 gp15 gp20 gp20 gp
15342 gp10 gp20 gp28 gp28 gp
16352 gp, 5 sp13 gp25 gp36 gp40 gp
17363 gp15 gp30 gp45 gp55 gp
18384 gp20 gp45 gp70 gp90 gp
19396 gp30 gp60 gp100 gp130 gp
20408 gp40 gp75 gp150 gp200 gp
20 (critical success)——50 gp90 gp175 gp300 gp

Sample Earn Income Tasks

These examples use Alcohol Lore to work in a bar or Legal Lore to perform legal work.
Trained bartend, do legal research
Expert curate drink selection, present minor court cases
Master run a large brewery, present important court cases
Legendary run an international brewing franchise, present a case in Hell’s courts

Extra Preparation

When Earning Income, you might be able to spend days of downtime to prepare for your task and lower the DC of the skill check. This might involve rehearsing a play, studying a topic, and so on. The GM determines how long preparation takes and how much the DC changes. This is most useful when you're trying a task that's higher level than you.

Ending Or Interrupting Tasks

When a task you're doing is complete, or if you stop in the middle of one, you normally have to find a new task if you want to keep Earning Income. For instance, if you quit your job working at the docks, you'll need to find another place of employment instead of picking up where you left off. This usually takes 1 day or more of downtime looking for leads on new jobs.

However, you might pause a task due to an adventure or event that wouldn't prevent you from returning to the old job later. The GM might decide that you can pick up where you left off, assuming the task hasn't been completed by others in your absence. Whether you roll a new skill check when you resume is also up to the GM. Generally speaking, if you had a good initial roll and want to keep it, you can, but if you had a bad initial roll, you can't try for a better one by pausing to do something else. If your statistics changed during the break—usually because you leveled up while adventuring—you can attempt a new check.