D&D 5E Do you have to declare a rest before the rest?

[GMforPowergamers]

So I just had a player ask something I had not considered.

if (by defualt) your rests are 1hr and 8hrs does your player have to 'intend' to rest at the beginning of the rest?

I was given 2 examples and came up with a 3rd.

1) you mid dungeon, and you come across a puzzle. You are a warlock that is not to bright and not helpful. You sit there while the wizard and the rogue play with the puzzle. it ends up taking 2 1/2 hours. Can that warlock then say "Hey, I just sat out 2 1/2 hours I'm taking a short rest"

2) (more common) you are laying an ambush. You expect the carriage to come over that hill any minute, and the ranger will signla you... an hour and a half later that signal comes can they spend HD since they just sat for over an hour?

3) (this one I came up with) you are traveling. someone is on the wagon and not really useful... but some others are on look out, driving, what ever... can the one not doing anything claim a short rest after an hour?


normally players declare what they are going to do to get a short rest, and what precisions they will take... but if time just passes, it's still restful right?



the player brought this up because at his job the computers went down today. They expected they would be up in a few minutes, but it turned into hours. They pretty much got hours of break unexpectedly.

 

[James Gasik]

Technically, I think a short rest requires you to bandage wounds, take a short nap, maybe drink water and eat rations. So if you're actually doing anything where you expect activity, like laying an ambush, I'd say no.

The Warlock can totally do that while waiting on the puzzle to be solved. I wouldn't have a problem with the wagon either, since really, nothing should be able to sneak up on you under normal circumstances.

Ideally though, as a DM, I would tell the players "nothing is happening for a bit, you can take a rest now".

 

[Charlaquin]

Technically, I think a short rest requires you to bandage wounds, take a short nap, maybe drink water and eat rations.

Nope. According to the PHB, “a short rest is a period of downtime, at least 1 hour long, during which a character does nothing more strenuous than eating, drinking, reading, and tending to wounds.” You don’t actually need to eat, drink or tend to wounds, those are just examples of the most strenuous activity you can perform during a short rest without breaking it.

So if you're actually doing anything where you expect activity, like laying an ambush, I'd say no.

I agree, I would consider laying in ambush more strenuous than the example activities.

The Warlock can totally do that while waiting on the puzzle to be solved. I wouldn't have a problem with the wagon either, since really, nothing should be able to sneak up on you under normal circumstances.

Agreed.

Ideally though, as a DM, I would tell the players "nothing is happening for a bit, you can take a rest now".

Personally I prefer to leave that decision up to the players.

 

[deganawida]

Declare? No. Remind the DM of what a short rest is? Probably sometimes, as they likely have a lot on their plate.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Declare? No. Remind the DM of what a short rest is? Probably sometimes, as they likely have a lot on their plate.

I feel called out... but I once fast forwarded 6 months, then had an encounter and asked the fighter how he action surged 2 fights in a row... I was tired and we all got a good laugh at the 6 month+ recharge I somehow thought action surge had for a minute...

 

[deganawida]

I feel called out... but I once fast forwarded 6 months, then had an encounter and asked the fighter how he action surged 2 fights in a row... I was tired and we all got a good laugh at the 6 month+ recharge I somehow thought action surge had for a minute...

It happens. When I DM, I expect the same thing from my players that I do from my employees, which is namely that they're all responsible adults* and can track their player stuff themselves. I'll only stop that if I find abuse.

*Yes, I use the same for my teen daughters, but they've risen to the challenge and are wonderful young ladies in game and real life.

 

[iserith]

So I just had a player ask something I had not considered.

if (by defualt) your rests are 1hr and 8hrs does your player have to 'intend' to rest at the beginning of the rest?

I was given 2 examples and came up with a 3rd.

1) you mid dungeon, and you come across a puzzle. You are a warlock that is not to bright and not helpful. You sit there while the wizard and the rogue play with the puzzle. it ends up taking 2 1/2 hours. Can that warlock then say "Hey, I just sat out 2 1/2 hours I'm taking a short rest"

2) (more common) you are laying an ambush. You expect the carriage to come over that hill any minute, and the ranger will signla you... an hour and a half later that signal comes can they spend HD since they just sat for over an hour?

3) (this one I came up with) you are traveling. someone is on the wagon and not really useful... but some others are on look out, driving, what ever... can the one not doing anything claim a short rest after an hour?


normally players declare what they are going to do to get a short rest, and what precisions they will take... but if time just passes, it's still restful right?



the player brought this up because at his job the computers went down today. They expected they would be up in a few minutes, but it turned into hours. They pretty much got hours of break unexpectedly.

In my games, because time matters and there's probably some level of stress even in just standing around waiting in the dungeon - wandering monsters could be just around the corner - the answer is No. On the traveling example, maybe, as an exception to the rule because of the investment in the wagon, but it would come at the cost of being automatically surprised if a stealthy monster comes calling. Otherwise, a short rest is a thing you prepare for in some sense, when there's danger afoot.

 

[ninjayeti]

Sure, I think as long as you are actually resting you get the benefit, regardless of whether you declared or intended to "short rest."

The "short rest" is obviously an arbitrary game concept - if you spend 59 minutes eating, drinking, bandaging, wounds, etc. you get no benefit, but one more minute and suddenly your wounds go away and your powers recharge. I don't think there is a benefit to being super rigid about enforcing it as a game concept - "You didn't SAY you were resting, so no HD for you!"

As a practical matter, I think an adventurer that had even a couple minutes of downtime would be "resting" e.g., bandaging any bleeding wounds, meditating to restore Ki, etc. A player might not announce this as they know the rules provide no benefit for rests of less than 1 hour, but that does not mean the character would stand there, bleeding, hungry and thirsty because they didn't know they were going to have a whole hour.

 

[payn]

Not sure what the rulebook says, but I don't think so. However, if the situation doesn't allow it (like the ambush scenario) I might rule that you cant.

 

[Charlaquin]

In my games, because time matters and there's probably some level of stress even in just standing around waiting in the dungeon - wandering monsters could be just around the corner - the answer is No. On the traveling example, maybe, as an exception to the rule because of the investment in the wagon, but it would come at the cost of being automatically surprised if a stealthy monster comes calling. Otherwise, a short rest is a thing you prepare for in some sense, when there's danger afoot.

I agree in principle that the dungeon should be too dangerous a place to be able to rest In without preparation. But, I feel that if the warlock has the luxury of doing nothing for an hour (let alone the 2 and a half hours in the example!) while the wizard and the rogue work out a puzzle together, that’s on me as a DM for not making the dungeon a dangerous enough place. Taking the example on the OP’s terms, I would say the warlock deserves that rest. One shouldn’t have to rely on ruling that it’s too stressful to rest, one should instead make it too stressful to rest, through risk of wandering monsters and suchlike.