D&D (2024) Brainstorming 5 minute work day fixes

[mellored]

So the 5 minute work day, where you fight one battle and go back to rest, has been complained about for many editions. Especially true for casters.

What are some ways you have seen this be fixed? What are some ideas you've tried and didn't work out so well? What are some new ways that this could be worked on?

 

[mellored]

I'll say that short rest have helped reduce this somewhat. Since everyone gets something back, even if it's just spending a few hit dice. And wizards will have a few spell slots later in the day.

I wouldn't mind seeing a small decrease to spell slots (max 2 per level) and an equal increase in arcane recovery / channel divinity.

 

[Clint_L]

For one thing, I'd get rid of the 6 second round in combat. Just leave round as an indeterminate unit that basically means "the time it takes to do an action or movement." Then short-term spells can just have their duration given in rounds, rather than as "1 minute."

Other than that, I think the problem is mostly self-inflicted so I don't think rules changes are what is needed. If you don't want players to need a long rest after a particular battle, then don't make it a super deadly battle. If you want to create a scenario where the players are not taking constant rests, then add a ticking clock to the narrative, and also tune your battles to make a bunch of back-to-back fights feasible. I do this all the time - maybe players have to stop the Big Bad before the super important NPC is sacrificed, or whatever.

 

[Horwath]

Short rest would help if it was ported from 4E with 5 min duration.
It can even be an Action for prof number per day.

1hr is not short rest.

 

[Xamnam]

Short rest would help if it was ported from 4E with 5 min duration.
It can even be an Action for prof number per day.

1hr is not short rest.

This is a change I've added to my table, I've never had an issue with the 5-minute work day, and I do think it's related.

 

[Laurefindel]

Fire ants. Fire ants is the answer. If they sit still they take 1 damage per minute!

Ahem, joking aside, I tried a few things but varying the pace of the adventure has been my most successful tool. Sometimes the 5MWD goes smooth and PCs are fresh in the morning. Sometimes it gets interrupted and things don’t go so smoothly. Sometimes the PCs are on the clock and can’t afford it. Sometimes PCs discover that something bad happened while they were away resting. Sometimes they could but doing so would require going out of the way. Sometimes the break actually bring some beneficial side-effects or unforeseen fortune.

I can’t sustain a break-neck pace that never allows a break, not as a DM at any case. Characters going nova-then-sleep all the times get old fast. If there is enough variety players will adapt to the pace, keep some reserves without being too stingy. It works well until mid-high levels at which point many things start to fall appart.

 

[MichaelSomething]

Is it a system issue or an adventure issue?

 

[overgeeked]

Story fixes. Theoretically all it should take is giving the characters something to care about with time pressure and they'll never 5MWD again. That's what people say, but it only works if the players let it.

Game fixes. Hit them with wandering monsters. Depending on where they're trying to rest wandering monster checks happen every 10 minutes to every hour. Are they in a dungeon, every 10 minutes. Are they sleeping out in the open with a roaring fire, every hour.

Use the gritty realism rules. Use gritty exploration rules, i.e. gritty realism when out of civilization and normal resting rules when in civilization.

 

[tetrasodium]

The existence of short rest classes causes 5mwd issues. we don't have playtest versions for any of the short rest classes yet to guess how they will change

 

[Lojaan]

As long as you have abilities that can only be used a certain number of times per day, you are going to have players who are going to want to use them and then wait until the next day so they can use them again. /shrug

I don't think the system can fix this. The system is based on this.