D&D 5E Changing Rests Based on Story Elements?

[ChrisCarlson]

I've been thinking about how some people like the alternate method of Short Rest = 8 hours, Long Rest = 1 week. I admit it doesn't work for my table's preferred playstyle. And that's okay.

But then I'm also considering changing how I want to handle overland travel. In a campaign where the PCs are not infrequently tasked with traveling across considerable distances to reach their intended destination, using the alternate rest method for those times seems more appropriate. Since any particular "day of traveling" traditionally consists or 0-2 encounters.

So in standard adventuring day scenarios (exploring dungeons, urban adventures, etc.), we'd use the normal Short Rest = 1 hour, Long Rest = 8 hours. But once we step back into "traveling mode", we shift the rest mechanic to account for the change of pace.

This is just a nugget of an idea right now. I haven't worked much of anything out yet in the way of actual details. What hurdles, unforeseen consequences, or hiccups might result from such a periodic shift?

 

[TwoSix]

I think it's a fine idea, but more simulationist-minded players and DMs might have a problem with it. After all, there's no in-game rationale for why spells take a week to recover while traveling but come back overnight in a dungeon.

 

[Rod Staffwand]

It works mechanically.

Your biggest hurdle is explaining it the change in the in-game fiction. It's an artificial solution to deal with the wonkiness of 5E's attrition mechanics. If you're players buy in to it, you're good.

I've been running on the slower rest option. If I want to spike the number of encounters in the AD, I'll usually come up with a narrative reason to quicken the pace of rests. Expendable magic items, healing fonts and blessings are just some of the options I've used. My party likes the elixirs of resting that I added to my campaign. One elixir is enough to allow the party a short rest in 1 hour or a long rest in 8 hours. I can choose the number they have access to and they can choose when they use them. Everybody's happy.

 

[ChrisCarlson]

We generally run overland travel as vignettes showcasing interesting instances along the way. There are lots of scene cuts and handwaved time. What happens in those off-screen downtimes can help explain resource loses or expenditures. They just aren't worthy of playing out.

 

[Woas]

I actually just posted on another thread about this topic about 10 minutes before the OP made this thread.

I've been doing this in my game and it works great. I'll quote what I said over there...

The Adventuring Day and it's supposed 6 -8 encounters per is something I've been thinking about a bit too. One big question I ask myself is, what actually is an Adventuring DAY? Is that an actual In Game 24 hours (or whatever time period your game world uses)? Not all adventures and quests are measured on the same scale. Assuming the 24 hour Adventuring Day, this really makes overland adventures very awkward. And on the reverse side for shorter forays into small 3 to 6 room dungeons, keeps, necromancer's towers, abandoned moat houses, and the like that may have all 8 encounters but packed together to be completed in less time than taking a short rest! There have been plenty of times I can recall having the characters trek to an adventuring site and describing the heroes arriving by late morning or mid-day. After 5 Real Life hours of gaming, one of the players asks, "How much time has passed in the game?" and you look down and realize that the combined rounds of combat over the encounters equals.... minutes!! Add in the 400 feet of tunnels and caves the party has explored and the time taken looking in nooks and crannies - and really you're stretching it if that's more than an In Game hour total!

What I've come to believe is that the Adventuring Day is malleable and dynamic, like Tony Vargas mentions, depending on the situation and adventure at hand. What's the difference if the 6 - 8 encounters happen over the course of an hour or a week In Game? Ultimately it's up to the DM to decided what the correct Length of Day is for any situation. But personally what I've found works for me is that there are 3 levels for the Adventuring Day. I call them Short-Adventure, (Regular) Adventure, and Perilous Journey. The Short-Adventure Day is as I described above. Where 6 - 8 encounters come hot and heavy and it will be assumed that the characters would handle these encounters all within an In Game hour or there about. The characters should still be able to take their short rests between a few encounters. But it would be silly if the characters had to stop and hide in a broom closet for an hour! So in this case a short rest becomes 5 minutes. A long rest is 2 hours. A regular Adventure is more in line of the classic 'dungeon'. Nothing changes here, resting would still be 1 hour/8 hour for short and long. These are the dungeons that have multiple floors, long distances between internal locations that actually end up taking several forays into the depths to fully explore. Finally the Perilous Journey is for long, multi day treks. Again I think it is hard to believe that every single day while traveling the heroes should face 6 - 8 random encounters. As if they are all lined up with a number waiting to jump out behind a rock to get the characters. And on the flip side, having a single encounter for the characters to go Super Saiyan on and then be able to long rest is equally as anti-climatic and unnecessary. So in this case a short rest is 12 hours, a long rest is 24. With this, those 6 - 8 encounters are spread across days effectively making overland trekking itself the Adventuring Day.

And of course this info shouldn't be hidden to the players. Although I don't personally tell them up front, "Oh this adventure is going to be a short-adventure!" the info does come out once the adventure is under way. And once the tempo is set, both the players and DM need to trust that the tempo won't change.

 

[ad_hoc]

I am doing just that with great success. Only changing short rest to 8 hrs and long rest to 24 hrs.

In a short rest you make some food, sort out your things a bit and have a nap. In a long rest you fortify the area, have 3 complete meals, get a full night's sleep as well as a day of rest. Makes sense to us.

I also don't think there is an issue with in game fiction. Books and movies, stories.in general have been doing this forvever.

 

[77IM]

An interesting variant would be short rest = 1 hour, long rest = 1 week.

 

[ExploderWizard]

I am doing just that with great success. Only changing short rest to 8 hrs and long rest to 24 hrs.

In a short rest you make some food, sort out your things a bit and have a nap. In a long rest you fortify the area, have 3 complete meals, get a full night's sleep as well as a day of rest. Makes sense to us.

I also don't think there is an issue with in game fiction. Books and movies, stories.in general have been doing this forvever.

This is what I was thinking of going with for my next campaign. I am thinking about making the benefits of a long rest also only take 8 hours when spent in the comfort of civilization, in a town or city. Out in the wild it will still take 24 hours. A good meal, a real bed, and a warm hearth should be worth something. Kind of like World of Warcraft, where logging out in an inn grants extra rest benefits.