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<blockquote data-quote="schnee" data-source="post: 7186119" data-attributes="member: 16728">I see where the OP is going, but how would parties know ahead of time how long the adventure is, and how many rests they can take?Doing it that way also assumes a certain strict adherence to the CR rules. What if you're in a 'sandbox' game, with a much swingier type of play? IMO I prefer the old school style of using elapsed time and random encounters, once parties get into a hazardous / adventure / quest situation. (Scarcity of consumables has been almost eliminated in this version, so it's a non-issue unless you use optional rules like slower healing.)Once a parties' presence is known of in the dungeon, the longer they wait, the better prepared the opposition can be. As a DM, you have to think in terms of how the day-to-day life works out to make this not seem railroad-y, and establish things like the lines of communication between various denizens, so players can knowingly or unknowingly trigger or disrupt them.Random encounters - yeah, don't get too comfy - that paranoid Dragon in level 4 sends out scouts on a regular basis to make sure the other denizens aren't plotting something. And those scouts don't necessarily need to attack - just do recon and get away. Oh, the Dragon knows? Maybe it starts influencing the other sentient creatures to prepare or attack. It demands more prep, but I think it's ultimately a better way to manage the 'encounters per day' - basically, make it so the characters are always struggling to get their rests, due to natural consequences of the characters coming in to a new environment and disturbing a fragile equilibrium (or being thrust into something incredibly chaotic) and the game will play out just fine.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="schnee, post: 7186119, member: 16728"] I see where the OP is going, but how would parties know ahead of time how long the adventure is, and how many rests they can take? Doing it that way also assumes a certain strict adherence to the CR rules. What if you're in a 'sandbox' game, with a much swingier type of play? IMO I prefer the old school style of using elapsed time and random encounters, once parties get into a hazardous / adventure / quest situation. (Scarcity of consumables has been almost eliminated in this version, so it's a non-issue unless you use optional rules like slower healing.) Once a parties' presence is known of in the dungeon, the longer they wait, the better prepared the opposition can be. As a DM, you have to think in terms of how the day-to-day life works out to make this not seem railroad-y, and establish things like the lines of communication between various denizens, so players can knowingly or unknowingly trigger or disrupt them. Random encounters - yeah, don't get too comfy - that paranoid Dragon in level 4 sends out scouts on a regular basis to make sure the other denizens aren't plotting something. And those scouts don't necessarily need to attack - just do recon and get away. Oh, the Dragon knows? Maybe it starts influencing the other sentient creatures to prepare or attack. It demands more prep, but I think it's ultimately a better way to manage the 'encounters per day' - basically, make it so the characters are always [I]struggling[/I] to get their rests, due to natural consequences of the characters coming in to a new environment and disturbing a fragile equilibrium (or being thrust into something incredibly chaotic) and the game will play out just fine. [/QUOTE]

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