D&D (2024) Limiting Short Rests to 2x/day

[mamba]

I voted Other, as 3 short rests per day is a fair amount to me. 2 per day feels a bit stingy and limited only by the number of hours in a day is way too much. I think of it as like a hard day of work in the real world, where you get a couple of short breaks and a lunch/dinner break during your shift.

it’s not about how many breaks you can get in the real world, but about what balances the SR classes so they are neither too weak nor too strong compared to the LR ones…

 

[Tony Vargas]

So, a question for pre-4e DnD players ... what was "attrition" like in those editions?

"Attrition" or Resource Management, has been a big part of every edition of D&D.

In the classic game (I played/ran Basic, AD&D, & 2e from 1980 to 1995 for context), spells were a major resource, hit points were of obvious importance, too, but via (mostly Cleric) healing, were also limited by spells (natural healing was too slow to matter if any magic healing was available), and there was the odd ability that was times/day, There were plenty of magic items that were consumable or n/day (or turn or hr or week, the classic game was all over the place), but they were very much resources doled out by the DM. There were mundane resources to be tracked & managed - rations, water, light sources, etc - but their cost was trivial out of the lowest levels, and items or spells could obviate them.
So players' management of resources in the classic game was centered on spells, the most powerful/important player resource, hands down.
Because spells were precious, and, at low levels, few, it was not unusual for the Clerics to leave their party a bit wounded from one fight to the next, rather than 'waste' a spell healing fewer hit points than it might have - though, y'know, not everyone agreed with that, but it wasn't as obvious as whack-a-mole healing in 5e.
So there was often some hit point attrition from one fight to the next.

Hit point attrition from one fight to the next became of minimal importance in 3e thanks to WoCLW (3.5, WoLV) cheaply converting gp to hp, (which, for whatever reasons, didn't trigger Grognards enough to instigate total war against it). After each fight you could take a minute or few to heal everyone up (rounds were already 6 seconds, so even draining a WoCLW entirely - on average 220 hp - only took 5 min Natural healing was still pretty slow, so it was faster to take an extra day and have the Cleric (or other caster who could) just take & cast all healing spells. Outside of that, casting a healing spell would be reserved for getting someone back up immediately in a tough fight, or saving the gp cost of the wands (and, of course, making more wands)

 

[Vaalingrade]

Hit point attrition from one fight to the next became of minimal importance in 3e thanks to WoCLW (3.5, WoLV) cheaply converting gp to hp, (which, for whatever reasons, didn't trigger Grognards enough to instigate total war against it).

3e had the sense not to explain to people how to get a satisfactory game experience. It just put the wand into the books, wander away whistling nonchallantly, and let the WotC boards do their work disseminating the information that made the healing system playable.

Later editions made the mortal mistake of explaining things. and if there's anything the grognards hate most, it's clear rules.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

it’s not about how many breaks you can get in the real world, but about what balances the SR classes so they are neither too weak nor too strong compared to the LR ones…

My groups tend to take short rests even when no one is playing a short-rest class.

 

[James Gasik]

3e had the sense not to explain to people how to get a satisfactory game experience. It just put the wand into the books, wander away whistling nonchallantly, and let the WotC boards do their work disseminating the information that made the healing system playable.

Later editions made the mortal mistake of explaining things. and if there's anything the grognards hate most, it's clear rules.

And yet, for some reason, by the time the healing belt was created, a lot of people did cry foul. A magic item that can be used to heal you that had charges per day?! Blasphemy!

 

[mamba]

My groups tend to take short rests even when no one is playing a short-rest class.

ha, in that case knock yourself out

 

[Neonchameleon]

So, a question for pre-4e DnD players ... what was "attrition" like in those editions? Because it's being viewed as a core part of the game, and admittedly, I only have a bit of 3.5 experience.

A key part of this question is what was recovery like in older editions. Because 3.0 and 3.5 are not AD&D.

Simplifying a lot 1e was about dungeon exploration and testing your luck. There was no serious resting inside the dungeon (giving the inhabitants eight hours to come up with a plan was a bad idea). You basically went in, turned back, and had to do so while keeping enough in the tank to make it back through the wilderness to a home base where recovery took several days. Hit points were consumed and healing was very limited so hit points were a big part of the attrition.

2e was mostly about adventure paths so varied a lot.

3.0 broke the restrictions. In 3.0 and 3.5 there were hard coded player side rules for crafting and easily buying magic items. And a Wand of Cure Light Wounds with 50 charges cost 750GP or half that and a handful of XP to make. (By contrast a simple +1 weapon cost 2300GP and non magical full plate was I think 1500). With a wand of cure light wounds costing less than a third of a +1 sword (and being far more useful) healing between fights was basically free, which is where we get the idea that fighters always have full hp. Healing surges/5e hit dice and second winds weren't a thing before 4e.

 

[NaturalZero]

My groups tend to take short rests even when no one is playing a short-rest class.

I take short rests every day at work and I've never recovered a spell slot. Where do i go to talk to the DM?

 

[Tony Vargas]

I take short rests every day at work and I've never recovered a spell slot. Where do i go to talk to the DM?

HR. or file a grievance with your union or OSHA ... clearly, they're discriminating against you as an ArchanoAmerican by depriving you of your right to spell slots.

edit (Tho, I suppose, in the spirit of "is the mainframe plugged in, sir?" I should ask if you actually used any spell slots before said short rest...)

 

[NaturalZero]

All of this talk of getting rid of short rests suddenly has me thinking about the greatest book ever released in 3.5: Tome of Battle, The Book of Nine Swords. That's really the only way the fighter is getting to do cool stuff without short rest powers.