D&D 5E Houseruling Long Rests

[scruffygrognard]

It’s a microscopic move. First of all, it’s more forgiving in many ways than core resting… which definitely doesn’t strike me as old school/Greyhawk… but that’s subjective.

The “extra hour of rest” stipulation makes me wonder what about your game will make that relevant; for ex, most wandering monsters that you end up fighting in middle of the night are going to be dealt with within a minute, NOT an hour. And if that means they need an extra hour of rest…does that mean you make another encounter check during that hour? So the pattern can repeat as naseum?

I like the idea the Hit Dice pools as a being form of "resource management" that extends the adventuring day and makes the party less reliant on having a dedicated healer. Long rests would replenish the Hit Dice pool completely (rather than only 1/2 of the expended Hit Dice).
I'm sure the end result is similar but this feels slightly more logical to me. I will be reducing the exhaustion levels restored to 1/long rest.

As for the extra hour of rest needed for an hour of interrupted rest, I did that to offset the RAW penalty (where characters would have to start their rest from scratch). I realize that it's not going to be a common problem but wanted to spell that out, in those rare instances where rest is interrupted for an extended period.

 

[overgeeked]

The best long rest house rule I've seen is Safe Haven Resting. If you're out in the wilds, long rests are impossible. If you're in a referee designated safe haven, a long rest is possible and it takes a full day. Short rests take 8 hours.

 

[AnotherGuy]

It makes Short Rests much more important, allowing for non-magical healing and the recovery of exhaustion.

At the same time, Long Rests simply reset the Hit Dice pool that players spent during Short Rests and reduce exhaustion better than they did before. The change also allows for characters to make up lost rest time during a Long Rest to make it more flexible.

Cool.

I've never liked the miraculous recovery of all Hit Points after a Long Rest but like the idea of them restoring the Hit Dice pool fully.

I'm with you here - I have made similar adjustment to my Travel Rest period. I have Short Rests, Travel Rests (remove 1 level of exhaustion or, if no exhaustion, 1/2 HD recovery rounded down) and Long Rests (24 hour period, full recovery).

 

[ezo]

It would depend on the circumstances but I'm guessing 2 to 3 short rests per day, so long as there is a safe area to do so.

Another idea if you have exhaustion popping up a lot is what our groups call endurance. Endurance is basically free levels of exhaustion equal to your CON modifier. So, if you have CON 14, you can take two levels of exhaustion before you have any penalties, and the 3rd level would be disadvantage on ability checks., the fourth would be half speed, etc.

Endurance levels are recovered on a Long Rest in our games.