Time Flow as a optional Feature

Playing campaigns with and without a custom instruction. I do see that there is another post about this already but I have an idea on how it might look.

Just like with currency, I’m imagining it as a world setting with months listed out the same way as currency with an option to put in your own months or use the default months which can be the Calendar of Harptos for Faerun(Unless that is a no go). Then there would be an option to choose between a 12-hour clock and a 24-hour clock. Date and time tracking could also be optional as not everyone might want it.

As for how it works in game, the best place for it would be like how the suggested custom instruction is for it, at the top of every message with a space between it and the actual message from Franz. This way it can be edited if needed and easy for the player to keep track of. The time would be in whichever format is in the world option and the date would be how it is in the Calendar of Harptos with each month having just 30 days (no need to make things complicated with some having 30, some having 31 and maybe a month with 28 like we have unless it’s doable). It would look like: [Mirtul 12, 12:45 PM]

The passage of time and accurate time tracking by Franz would make Adventure and Downtime modes more realistic and engaging. For example, going on a quest to infiltrate a place might be easier to do at night when it is dark vs during the day when the sun is out. Having the months and potential seasons that accompany them(which would be hard to do understandably with some worlds being worlds of constant ice or constant fire), could also make more interesting quests. For example, it might be harder to sneak up on someone when there is fresh snow on the ground, requiring a high stealth check. At the same time, it could be easier to track someone with snow on the ground resulting in a lower nature, perception or investigation check. It also of course can help players with long/short rests. They could even do time skips by saying they do something for x hours or x minutes.

In the long run it could even help people get a sense of the passage of time in combat with each round being only about 6 seconds anyway. But that would only be if seconds are added to time. I’m only thinking of keeping at least hours and minutes tracked.

In conclusion, having a flow of time helps campaigns feel more immersive, engaging and helps with choosing when to start a quest or section of a quest. Right now, Franz treats every turn that he speaks as 5 minutes (With the simple custom instruction) which alone helps out with the immersion of things but it’s not always accurate. Sometimes he forgets or changes the time randomly (I’ve seen him go from 9:55 PM to 10:00 AM with no rests or sleep) which throws the immersion off. Which is the reason behind this feature request.