D&D 5E Camping Equipment Required for Long Rest Houserule

[Oofta]

Always funny when people say you need a bed to get a good night's sleep. It wasn't until the 18th century that beds became commonplace. For most of history "hitting the hay" literally meant sleeping on a straw filled mat on the floor.

I've slept on the ground plenty of times (and in snow shelters for that matter) and slept just fine as long as I was reasonably warm and dry.

 

[GlassJaw]

Always funny when people say you need a bed to get a good night's sleep. It wasn't until the 18th century that beds became commonplace. For most of history "hitting the hay" literally meant sleeping on a straw filled mat on the floor.

I've slept on the ground plenty of times (and in snow shelters for that matter) and slept just fine as long as I was reasonably warm and dry.

Don't get your real-world experience in my good design!

Fair point I guess but systems like this are intentionally abstract and meant to serve the game, not reality.

I could still make a case for reality though - exerting yourself by fighting monsters and trekking across the wilderness day after day is going to take a toll. I view the effort of an adventuring day in the wilderness - fighting, hiking, running, all while carrying gear and wearing armor - akin to running a marathon. Your body needs a lot of recovery. This is meant to reflect that.

It's a tool in the DMs toolbox when they want to add consequence and agency to getting an effective long rest.

 

[Hriston]

To give credit where it's due, most of my ideas here come from Eero Tuovinen's excellent contribution to this thread on story-games.com.

Here's a chart to summarize where I've arrived in my thinking at this point:

Temperature (Fahrenheit)	Descriptor	Gear needed for rest
100+	Extremely hot	--
85-99	Hot	--
75-84	Warm	—
60-74	Mild	blanket
32-59	Chilly	blanket+campfire or bedroll
1-31	Cold	blanket+shelter or bedroll+campfire
0 and below	Extremely cold	bedroll+shelter

 

[MGibster]

Most of my players typically purchase camping supplies for their characters and that's adequate I think. We're not playing sim camping here so I can skip over the boring details and get on with the adventuring goodness. I don't think I'd make it an issue unless they lost access to their gear or there was an extreme weather situation.

 

[Fenris-77]

Most of my players typically purchase camping supplies for their characters and that's adequate I think. We're not playing sim camping here so I can skip over the boring details and get on with the adventuring goodness. I don't think I'd make it an issue unless they lost access to their gear or there was an extreme weather situation.

You might not, but some games make a lot of great hay out of basic survival stuff. Its very much a to each his own kind of proposition though. Some people count torches and arrows, some don't. C'est la vie.

 

[MGibster]

You might not, but some games make a lot of great hay out of basic survival stuff. Its very much a to each his own kind of proposition though. Some people count torches and arrows, some don't. C'est la vie.

Look, I didn't say my way was the one right way. I was simply participating in a group conversation and added by two cents. If people are having fun with what they do then they're doing it right.

 

[Fenris-77]

Look, I didn't say my way was the one right way. I was simply participating in a group conversation and added by two cents. If people are having fun with what they do then they're doing it right.

I was suggesting no such thing at all sir, rest you easy. I've been noodling around with some very resource focused OSR stuff lately, so counting torches and rating cold weather supplies has been more on my mind than normal. In a lot of my games (most?) I don't track ammo at all and would only even consider talking about camping kit if the trek was upfront about the hostile wilderness thing. No judgement here.

 

[Coroc]

....

In addition, a snow cave can actually be quite cozy just from body heat and a candle. Certainly warm enough that you don't have to have any extra equipment (although it doesn't hurt).

...

You did the body double for Rambo when he was cauterizing his wound with ammo?

Yes, for someone with polar equipment (Eskimo outfit) a snow cave and a candle might be a possible site to rest, but except from that your definition of coziness and mine are,... well.. , quite "different".

 

[Flamestrike]

The question arose (in part because we're using the Encumbrance variant) whether there was a benefit to carrying a bedroll as opposed to a blanket or just sleeping on the ground.

How was that even a question that came up?

I cant imagine going camping and thinking to myself 'would there be a benefit to sleeping in a tent and a sleeping bag, or should I just lie in the mud?'

Just slap them with a level of exahaustion, tell them how miserable their night was, troll them for not bringing a sleeping bag or tent camping, and get on with the game.

 

[Oofta]

You did the body double for Rambo when he was cauterizing his wound with ammo?

Yes, for someone with polar equipment (Eskimo outfit) a snow cave and a candle might be a possible site to rest, but except from that your definition of coziness and mine are,... well.. , quite "different".

I just get tired of people adding in things for "realism" when it's not justified and when they have no clue or it's just silly. Who the heck needs a blanket when it's 80 degrees like the chart a few posts up?

I've slept in a snow shelter, it was comfy even though the temperature dipped to sub zero at night.

On the other hand you do need to know how to make one which is why I was recommending a survival check in my first post.

Oh, and what Rambo showed was pretty stupid anyone with a modicum of survival first aid training would know ... well, never mind. Off topic.