D&D 5E People don't read the 5E DMG for a reason

[Faolyn]

Since we are talking about attrition of character’s resources, social and non-combat encounters count only to the extent that they use up character resources to the same extent as a combat.
I do run both fulsome exploration and social encounters but it is rare that an exploration encounter consumes the same amount of resources as a combat and unheard of that a social encounter does so.

Well, they could. OK, maybe not social encounters, but exploration encounters definitely. Take a look at the exploration challenges for Level Up.

 

[Kurotowa]

"Social as a resource" is actually a very intriguing idea. Even the most extraverted extravert needs some "me time" to recharge, if Jungian psychology has any merit (which is does in my training and experience).

No need to drag psychology, Jungian or otherwise, into it. Call it mental fatigue, cognitive fatigue, or decision fatigue, there's plenty of empirical evidence that our brains don't work so good after they've been in heavy use for a while. And some researchers have made suggestions towards the neurochemical basis for it.

 

[CreamCloud0]

The strange "6-8 encounters in an adventuring day" notion is one of the reasons I bounced off of 5E for a long time. The DMG should have a solid explanation of what an adventuring day should look like

i think a large amount of issues arose from the '6-8 encounters' assertion was the fact that there was by far not enough emphasis that 'an adventuring day' is not the same thing as '24 hours',

 

[tetrasodium]

i think a large amount of issues arose from the '6-8 encounters' assertion was the fact that there was by far not enough emphasis that 'an adventuring day' is not the same thing as '24 hours',

Having a "long rest" recovering everything & clearing most any lingering condition that is nothing more than going to sleep at night crossed with spells & abilities with durations expecting an ~8-12ish hour active component of the adventuring day causes longer durations to start introducing problems.

 

[CreamCloud0]

Having a "long rest" recovering everything & clearing most any lingering condition that is nothing more than going to sleep at night crossed with spells & abilities with durations expecting an ~8-12ish hour active component of the adventuring day causes longer durations to start introducing problems.

if you consider 'actually expending the long rest caster's mass of resources' a 'problem' then i guess yeah you're right.

 

[FrozenNorth]

Well, they could. OK, maybe not social encounters, but exploration encounters definitely. Take a look at the exploration challenges for Level Up.

I have, and I even model many of my exploration challenges on Level Up. That said, the exploration challenges in Level Up still seem to expend fewer resources than a medium combat encounter.

At the end of a medium combat encounter, several characters have taken quite a bit of damage, and generally each spell caster has expended one or two spell slots (though not necessarily their highest level ). That is a pretty important drain on resources.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I have, and I even model many of my exploration challenges on Level Up. That said, the exploration challenges in Level Up still seem to expend fewer resources than a medium combat encounter.

At the end of a medium combat encounter, several characters have taken quite a bit of damage, and generally each spell caster has expended one or two spell slots (though not necessarily their highest level ). That is a pretty important drain on resources.

Or a combat encounter can use up few or no resources. A good AC, decent rolls and cantrips can get a long way.

 

[tetrasodium]

if you consider 'actually expending the long rest caster's mass of resources' a 'problem' then i guess yeah you're right.

It's far more than spell slots. Long rest I'm 5e also eradicates "no we need to go back to town because I don't want to be attacked after burning all/so many of my spell slots [healing you guys/removing those curses/clearing attribute damage/etc]. Recovering ALL hp and clearing nearly any lasting condition is a bigger problem

 

[CreamCloud0]

It's far more than spell slots. Long rest I'm 5e also eradicates "no we need to go back to town because I don't want to be attacked after burning all/so many of my spell slots [healing you guys/removing those curses/clearing attribute damage/etc]. Recovering ALL hp and clearing nearly any lasting condition is a bigger problem

sorry i think i may have misinterpreted your previous message? possibly?

Having a "long rest" recovering everything & clearing most any lingering condition that is nothing more than going to sleep at night crossed with spells & abilities with durations expecting an ~8-12ish hour active component of the adventuring day causes longer durations to start introducing problems.

i believed this part of your message was saying that a more extended rest recovery of gritty realism adventure schedule was bad because then longer duration spells don't cover the majority of the 'adventuring day'

 

[michaeljpastor]

No need to drag psychology, Jungian or otherwise, into it. Call it mental fatigue, cognitive fatigue, or decision fatigue, there's plenty of empirical evidence that our brains don't work so good after they've been in heavy use for a while. And some researchers have made suggestions towards the neurochemical basis for it.

That's all psychology, isn't it?