Jeff Carlsen
Adventurer
One of the possible playtest leaks mentioned characters getting two ten minute and one hour long rest per day. I'm not writing to comment on that directly, but to consider the plausibility and usefulness of a limited rest option that is an hour long.
An hour is a significant period of time. Stopping for an hour isn't easy to do in many situations. At the same time, it's far less of a break than the fabled 15 minute work day.
By attaching resource recovery to it, you create something between daily and encounter powers. Vancian spells are no longer quite so finite, so you can afford to use a big spell when an opportunity arises, but they're still limited enough that you won't blow your best stuff in the first fight. I like this quite a bit.
I can imagine a small amount of healing during that time. Hit points represent more than damage, but also stamina and focus. An hour rest lets you see to your wounds and removes some fatigue, at least in the action hero sense. In reality, the cuts and bruising and muscle aches would make movement more painful, but the game ignores that level of detail.
Limiting Breaks with Meals
So, why can't a character just take an hour long break whenever they want? By itself, it doesn't make sense. But if we attach it to eating, perhaps it can. If benefiting from an hour rest requires consuming a sizable meal, then a character can really only do that a few times per day, and those occasions have to be at least a few hours apart. It wouldn't be impractical to limit these meals breaks to twice per day, assuming breakfast is required after sleeping.
This opens up a number of options. Some foods can contain special properties. It's easy to imagine magic that works best when applied slowly through digestion. A cleric might be able to bless a meal or drink to help you heal. Wizards might have developed a seasoning that helps clear the mind of trace arcane energy, allowing a few spells to be prepared without sleep.
The concept seems like it would be easy to weave into the narrative while providing a framework for a wide variety of resource management. But it's early, so I may be missing complications. Thoughts?
An hour is a significant period of time. Stopping for an hour isn't easy to do in many situations. At the same time, it's far less of a break than the fabled 15 minute work day.
By attaching resource recovery to it, you create something between daily and encounter powers. Vancian spells are no longer quite so finite, so you can afford to use a big spell when an opportunity arises, but they're still limited enough that you won't blow your best stuff in the first fight. I like this quite a bit.
I can imagine a small amount of healing during that time. Hit points represent more than damage, but also stamina and focus. An hour rest lets you see to your wounds and removes some fatigue, at least in the action hero sense. In reality, the cuts and bruising and muscle aches would make movement more painful, but the game ignores that level of detail.
Limiting Breaks with Meals
So, why can't a character just take an hour long break whenever they want? By itself, it doesn't make sense. But if we attach it to eating, perhaps it can. If benefiting from an hour rest requires consuming a sizable meal, then a character can really only do that a few times per day, and those occasions have to be at least a few hours apart. It wouldn't be impractical to limit these meals breaks to twice per day, assuming breakfast is required after sleeping.
This opens up a number of options. Some foods can contain special properties. It's easy to imagine magic that works best when applied slowly through digestion. A cleric might be able to bless a meal or drink to help you heal. Wizards might have developed a seasoning that helps clear the mind of trace arcane energy, allowing a few spells to be prepared without sleep.
The concept seems like it would be easy to weave into the narrative while providing a framework for a wide variety of resource management. But it's early, so I may be missing complications. Thoughts?
