D&D 5E The Resting Mechanics - What Works Best?

[tetrasodium]

I think this favours casters a lot. The main resource a front line fighter is their HP, the main resource of a caster is their spells.

This also reproduces the utterly bizarre AD&D effect, where the high level characters take way longer to naturally heal than the low level ones.

I think it just means that players would do what they did during ad&d. Take one rest & blow many of their slots on healing then repeat . It worked ok in 3.x because the numbers were a little higher & the quick hp recovery method of choice was 750gp wands of CLW the gm could simply limit the stock on if gold wasn't a concern.

 

[jmartkdr2]

City-based or political games don't use field resources the same way, though, in that any physical supplies can be restocked on a whim and the chances of significant combat are generally very low (but can be deadly if-when they arise).

Which means that those types of games can't try for attrition as an overarching challenge; instead you have to, in effect, make frustration and red herrings become the biggest challenge, and build the adventure around intrigue and investigation rather than combat.

You can't have it both ways. Either attrition in the field is a thing and you have to readjust your city adventures or there's no attrition which makes the city adventures work fine but you then have to readjust the field adventures.

And yet I've played systems that do have it both ways. Just not 5e.

I guess it's no longer possible? What changed?

The easier adjustment to make IMO is to the city adventures.

 

[Micah Sweet]

And yet I've played systems that do have it both ways. Just not 5e.

I guess it's no longer possible? What changed?

I suspect those games are somewhat more abstract.

 

[tetrasodium]

And yet I've played systems that do have it both ways. Just not 5e.

I guess it's no longer possible? What changed?

Part of the problem is the long rest class /short rest class split that force doom clocks almost as strict as half minute hero's & make a mess of things because it's hard for a city to not have a safe place to rest unless the players are constantly the target of some citywide manhunt or something. The other problem is the shift from 4-6 encounters to 6-8 encounters... Sure you can dial an encounter up a bit to make it punch a bit over its weight of just being one encounter so you can plausibly fit 4-6 encounters worth of encounters in 2-3 of them, but that only goes so far before it amounts to little more than "rocks fall" & it's just not plausible that there are that many bad guys in such high densities in anything that could still be classed as a city rather than something like a target or enemy stronghold.

 

[CleverNickName]

I think that the rules-as-written work best, but that's not really a surprise. The variant "Gritty" option is my favorite, but I'll be the first to admit that it's clunky and awkward, and doesn't feel as smooth as the RAW.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I think the gritty variant just goes too far.

RAW Short rest 1 hour vs. 8 hours.
RAW Long rest 8 hours vs. 24 hours.

We've been using a short rest = 4 hours (time for a nap, some relaxation, a meal, etc. before you go back to it) and long rest = 24 hours (a "full" day off with no issues). That works better for our group than the longer gritty rules. We've even considered making a short rest 3 hours, so basically the time ratio stays the same, just the rest periods are 3x longer than RAW.

 

[clearstream]

I think the gritty variant just goes too far.

RAW Short rest 1 hour vs. 8 hours.
RAW Long rest 8 hours vs. 24 hours.

We've been using a short rest = 4 hours (time for a nap, some relaxation, a meal, etc. before you go back to it) and long rest = 24 hours (a "full" day off with no issues). That works better for our group than the longer gritty rules. We've even considered making a short rest 3 hours, so basically the time ratio stays the same, just the rest periods are 3x longer than RAW.

For me the issue there is 1 hour and 3 hours are effectively the same, whereas 8 hours (an overnight sleep) and 24 hours are qualitatively different. When doing hexploration, for example, 8 hours lets the party just sleep and recover each night. 24 hours is a full pause.

But then I also agree Gritty Realism goes too far, hence using 1 day (short and 3 days (long) with 1 hour breather added to spend HD.

 

[DND_Reborn]

For me the issue there is 1 hour and 3 hours are effectively the same

Well, currently it is 1 hour vs. 4 hours.

But seriously, I guess it depends on your game style. For example, when do you find PCs wanting to take a short rest? IME, it is often during a dungeon crawl etc. when you are likely to run low on resources and need your "breather" to spend HD and regroup. In such situations, I am still using random encounters/wandering monsters, which can interrupt the short rest and make you start over.

Case in point: in our prior session the party ended by returning to their camp and needing some rest. So, we picked up at that point on Saturday when we played and 2 hours into the rest a random encounter found their camp and a fight ensued. Those two hours were wasted and they had to begin again. By the time the next 4 hours was done and the rest complete, it was too late for them to return to the dungeon as night was approaching. So, they decided to travel back to the keep and had another random encounter along the way. Barely rested, they battle went south for one of the PCs, and by the time they made it back to the keep they really needed a long rest. So, 36 hours later (the required 24 plus waiting until the next morning) they left the keep to return to the dungeon...

If I was still using 1 hour short rests, that first random encounter wouldn't have interrupted the rest because it came on hour "2" of the 4.

Since we've made this change, you really do feel the difference IMO between 1 hour and 4 in most cases. Although we are considering dropping it to 3, we haven't decided on that yet.

 

[clearstream]

Well, currently it is 1 hour vs. 4 hours.

But seriously, I guess it depends on your game style. For example, when do you find PCs wanting to take a short rest? IME, it is often during a dungeon crawl etc. when you are likely to run low on resources and need your "breather" to spend HD and regroup. In such situations, I am still using random encounters/wandering monsters, which can interrupt the short rest and make you start over.

Case in point: in our prior session the party ended by returning to their camp and needing some rest. So, we picked up at that point on Saturday when we played and 2 hours into the rest a random encounter found their camp and a fight ensued. Those two hours were wasted and they had to begin again. By the time the next 4 hours was done and the rest complete, it was too late for them to return to the dungeon as night was approaching. So, they decided to travel back to the keep and had another random encounter along the way. Barely rested, they battle went south for one of the PCs, and by the time they made it back to the keep they really needed a long rest. So, 36 hours later (the required 24 plus waiting until the next morning) they left the keep to return to the dungeon...

If I was still using 1 hour short rests, that first random encounter wouldn't have interrupted the rest because it came on hour "2" of the 4.

Since we've made this change, you really do feel the difference IMO between 1 hour and 4 in most cases. Although we are considering dropping it to 3, we haven't decided on that yet.

FWIW guidance in the DMG is a check per 4-8 hours, albeit I've found in the published adventures it's typically a check per 8 hours. Often at a 16+ on the d20.

In play, I find the 8 hour cycle works well, because that is three checks per day. For me, six checks a day is too much (but then, I suppose for those to whom one adventuring day = one calendar day, six checks might be just right!)

That said, I agree with you that it makes sense to make the short length at minimum long enough for one encounter check! So at least 4 or 8 hours. And with that motive in mind we recently tweaked our breathers to 10-minutes, which is working well. 1-hour is a fairly pointless time increment IMHO. Make it a scene (10 minutes), a watch (4 hours) or march (8 hours) or a day+.

 

[clearstream]

Here are my current rules.

Breather: After 10 minutes of no more than lowkey activity, such as standing watch, supping, reading, donning or doffing armor, and sleeping – you can spend Hit Dice to regain hit points and if you have sufficient training and XP you can level up. A breather is broken by fatiguing activity – fighting, casting spells, marching, or similar, or suffering exhaustion – and time spent up to that point is lost.

Sleep: When a creature that needs to sleep ends a day without, it must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or suffer one level of exhaustion. Each consecutive day that passes without the benefit of sleep increases the DC by 5. To sleep, a creature subjects itself to the unconscious condition. 4 hours of unbroken sleep is enough to be beneficial. If you accumulate 8 hours of beneficial sleep over a day – you recover one Hit Die and if you slept comfortably, you can recover a level of exhaustion (you can't recover more than one hit die and level of exhaustion per day this way).

Broken Sleep: Your sleep is broken if you take damage, or another creature uses an action to shake you. Sudden loud noise – such as yelling, thunder, or a ringing bell – will wake most creatures, as can whispers within 10 feet of those with passive Wisdom (Perception) of 20 or higher, and normal speech for any with passive Wisdom (Perception) of 15 or higher where the environment is otherwise silent (no wind, birdsong, crickets, street sounds or the like.)

Making Yourself Comfortable: Medium or heavy armor is not comfortable to sleep in. Circumstances, such as exposure to bad weather, thirst, or starvation, can also stop a creature from being comfortable.

Attuning Magic Items: At the start of a period of sleep, you can choose a magic item to attune, if you have one. Provided the item is never more than 5 feet from you, once you accumulate 8 hours of beneficial sleep over a day it will be attuned.

Alternatives to Sleep: Some creatures have features that replace or modify sleep. For example, creatures that trance can subject themselves to the stunned condition, to count about 4 hours of trance as equivalent to 8 hours of sleep; and warlocks benefiting from Aspect of the Moon can perform other lowkey activity instead of subjecting themselves to the stunned or unconscious condition.

Short Rest: After a day of no more than lowkey activity – if you prepare spells, you can change your list (typically requiring extra time to do so); and all your features that can refresh at the end of a “short rest”, do so. A short rest is broken by fatiguing activity and time spent up to that point is lost.

Long Rest: After three days of no more than lowkey activity – all your features that can refresh at the end of a long rest, do so. A long rest is broken by fatiguing activity and time spent up to that point is lost.

Recuperation and Relaxation: A reduction to your hit point maximum is an effect that prevents you from regaining hit points, so can be restored by recuperation or relaxation.