D&D General 6-8 encounters (combat?)

[UngainlyTitan]

Game balance in 5e is centered around resource management. If they are not using up all or very nearly all of their resources, they were not challenged.

I do not agree that this is a requirement, I see that you do. I had seen you make this balance claim before. I was interested to find out what you were claiming, and I now believe I have an understanding. I still do not see the need to dump the daily XP into a single encounter as I have never seen a group really balk at 3 or 4 encounters and the daily XP allotment can be meet with that encounter allotment.

Thanks for the conversation.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Game balance in 5e is centered around resource management. If they are not using up all or very nearly all of their resources, they were not challenged.

A single Deadly encounter will most certain challenge a party, and they could have a lot of resources left over.

An exploration or social encounter can definitely challenge a party (or at least the players!) without using any "resources" that can be depleted.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Seven combats per sleep is a strawman. It's a guideline. Like any guideline, you can ignore it, particularly if you have some idea as to what you're doing.

Clearly @Maxperson disagrees, which is what our discussion was about, but I agree with you it is a guideline. However, there is a significant vote in favour of the suggested encounters. Which is interesting in and off itself.

As to the poll, all the 59% means is that those folks don't hold fast to the 6-8 rule. Which technically includes me, although I voted for the option above it. It doesn't mean that they'd be happy with replacing resting recovery with recovery only on a level up.

I really would not want to tie level up to resource recovery. I am not all that keen on tying too closely to combat XP either.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Encounters aren't just combat--and I feel badly for any group whose DM thinks combat is the only type of encounter (hopefully no one actually does think that...).

I believe they are few and far between... but I have met some.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I believe they are few and far between... but I have met some.

This makes me sad.

 

[CleverNickName]

As to the poll, all the 59% means is that those folks don't hold fast to the 6-8 rule.

Is this more of a general guidance, like a "rule of thumb"? or is this an actual rule in the text somewhere? (Serious question, I promise I'm not trolling.) I only ask because until I saw these threads start cropping up on ENWorld, I had never even heard of the DM needing to adhere to a certain number of encounters per long rest. Now I see folks are starting to describe it as a rule.

I admit that it's been a minute or two since I've read the DMG from cover to cover, so it's possible I missed it.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Is this more of a general guidance, like a "rule of thumb"? or is this an actual rule in the text somewhere? (Serious question, I promise I'm not trolling.) I only ask because until I saw these threads start cropping up on ENWorld, I had never even heard of the DM needing to adhere to a certain number of encounters per long rest. Now I see folks are starting to describe it as a rule.

I admit that it's been a minute or two since I've read the DMG from cover to cover, so it's possible I missed it.

Well, opinions differ but like Captain Barbossa it is something I would think of as a guideline rather than a rule. It is from page 84 of the DMG starting from the section entitled "The Adventuring Day"

 

[Micah Sweet]

(I was giving an example of how hit points DONT refresh because of a sleep. Not all damage equals depression!)



In D&D, it is unlikely for the next challenge that a character faces to be YEARS away − social, exploratory, or combat.

But days and weeks before the next serious challenges? That is normal enough.



There are many players who use the 5e rest variant where a long rest is a week of rest and recouperation.

Decoupling refresh from a single nights sleep is narratively normal.

In many stories, rest requiring more than one nights sleep makes more sense.



By counting long rests per level, the long rest might happen in the same day, or might happen a week later. Whatever makes sense according to the adventure story.

If you're making game choices according to what works best for the adventure story, that's a narrative mechanic and won't work for me.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Encounters can be social encounters.

Social encounters almost never use up resources. If that doesn't matter to your idea, then we're back to resource recovery whenever "the story" demands it. Quite frankly, that's a different game.

 

[Micah Sweet]

When I DM, there are a few NPCs that are so annoying, disgusted, or lewd that you take psychic damage talking to them.

"Who does the anything about gazorbpazorbs?"
"Lydia the Librarian probably... "
"Ugh. Not Lydia."
"Her desperation damage dropped me to 0 last time."

Social Encounter draining Resources, baby.

You and I run very, very different games. No rule set will satisfy us both.