D&D 5E 6-8 encounters/day - how common is this?
Rhenny
Adventurer
The key to managing rests is to make sure players are immersed in the story of the campaign. In real life, we often push ourselves past moments where we might rest because we feel that our job isn't done or we haven't completed enough of what we set out to do. For a group that emulates this in roleplaying resting never becomes a problem. Groups can achieve this through agreement or DM encouragement. With this principle, 6-8 encounters works terrifically.
6-8 encounter days also work well when the party knows that some fights will be easy and other encounters can be overcome without fighting at all. This keeps the party moving forward, kind of like how a gambler might pull the lever on a slot machine even after losing money over a period of time.
6-8 encounter days also work well when the party knows that some fights will be easy and other encounters can be overcome without fighting at all. This keeps the party moving forward, kind of like how a gambler might pull the lever on a slot machine even after losing money over a period of time.
AaronOfBarbaria
Adventurer
"No constraints" and "no reason not to rest after literally every encounter" are not the same thing.
All it takes is to have players think like their characters - i.e. trying to have only one thing happen (read: encounter) each day is certainly safer, but it is also very boring to spend the entire rest of the day waiting around doing nothing much of importance, and greatly limits the ability to achieve any goals which have more than one obstacle (read: encounter) between you and their completion.
I mean, imagine that you could only spend 1 hour each day of your life doing anything productive (i.e. working your job, doing any creative hobbies like preparing for gaming sessions, having conversations that result in you gaining something, and so on)... don't you think you'd find yourself wishing you could do more?
Tony Vargas
Legend
By 'no constraints,' I think we mostly mean no artificial or contrived (or 'GM Force' to go all Forge) constraints. There may, however, be consequences to resting frequently or pushing on too long.
It is possible to wring some fun out of the 5MWD. Planning, organizing resources, setting up, prepping and executing a mission (and extraction, and safe base to return to or establish to rest again) can be an interesting exercise. It can also be a very effective strategy, and success, even when planning & overwhelming force has made the resolution of that success all but trivial, is still success - if the PCs are very pragmatic, it could also be 'in character' for them to make such choices. It's a more modern military strike force than fantasy heroics, but it's a legitimate style of play.
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You could switch "DMs" for "players" and this would be equally valid. If the players are telling the DM that it's "my way or the highway" then the game isn't going to work either. If it's a no go for the DM it's a no go for the players.
These are good points, though I know that all these things can happen in a game and still have several encounters before a long rest.
I think the call for no GM constraints is a little misguided though; without them you are playing a GM-less game. It's the intervention of the GM that is making adventure happen.
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S
Sunseeker
Guest
The DM is not your questing slot machine, whose lever you can just keep pulling until you get the right combination of quests and plot hooks. He has taken the time to prepare a certain set of material for you, so if you're not going to do the quest, don't do the quest. But don't expect the DM to have an infinite supply of quests for you.
Ancalagon
Dusty Dragon
But there *always* is DM control. Always.
Joe the DM: So Sarah, what is your character?
Sarah: I've made an elven sorceress, focusing on illusion magic.
Joe: Neat! What about you Bob?
Bob: I'm making a dwarven archer
Joe: Cool... with some kind of crossbow I imagine?
Bob: Oh no, I wanted something different. My dwarf uses an AK-47
Joe: ...Wut?
Bob: An AK-47. It's a type of assault riffle. Decent range, high rate of fire, very reliable
Joe: But this is a fantasy game. There aren't any guns!
Bob: Why are you being so bossy! The concept doesn't work with a crossbow! You are always putting down my character ideas!
AaronOfBarbaria
Adventurer
Bob should totally have pointed out that there isn't an inherent mutual exclusivity between 'fantasy game' and 'guns'... if the DM is going to give reasons that are meant to explain why they are saying "No." to something, they should at least be valid ones (for example: "There aren't any guns in this campaign setting by default, and I don't want to introduce them in a way that skips past all the early firearm technology and straight to automatic rifles - so how about start with a musket instead, and we can see about more advanced firearms later on in the campaign?.")
Xeviat
Hero
As I said on previous threads, balance cares more about the number of short rests per long rest and about daily xp budgets then it does about the number of encounters. If you go above two short rests a day, the short rest classes are more powerful; if you go under, they're weaker. If you go over the daily xp budget, fighters and rogues do a little better than the rest, but everyone is hurting for hp; if you go significantly under, then the more long rest dependent classes will shine.
Perfect balance is impossible in play, but I like to imagine that it can be achieved on paper. As long as you know where the balance points are, you'll know when you're deviating from them and you can wobble around it so everyone has time to feel strong.
Perfect balance is impossible in play, but I like to imagine that it can be achieved on paper. As long as you know where the balance points are, you'll know when you're deviating from them and you can wobble around it so everyone has time to feel strong.
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