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

[Lidgar]

In my experience, our group really thinks twice before taking a long rest, as it typically means leaving the adventuring site (lest risk an interruption from wandering monsters) for at least 24 hours, thereby allowing the opposing forces to recover and reinforce. All about maintaining momentum.

 

[MichaelSomething]

You want a game without resource management?

 

[Vaalingrade]

You want a game without resource management?

Without per-day resource management, yes.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I would say that isn't what 5th ed is about. That will just encourage 5MWD. IMO/E

Thousand times this. If you condition your players to think that every fight is a matter of life or death, they won't show up to a fight if they are not at full power.

In my experience, going down with the individual deadliness of most encounters and instead giving them the feeling that there can be encounters at times they don't expect teaches them to conserve resources if possible and not to rest in places and on times that make no sense.

It makes the game more fun, more balanced, and in the end, even more deadly.

The most boring games and fights I had were with a prior edition and exactly the idea of having seemingly deadly fights every fight and being in top shape 5 minutes thereafter...

 

[UngeheuerLich]

The only real fix I have found for this is the DM simply forces the player(s) to keep playing the game.

There is no amount of mechanical rules that can help if the player(s) are dead set on "resting all the time". The players will just follow whatever rules they have to, and won't care about what the DM says or does. And will out right call the DMs silly bluff of "oh the world keeps turning while you rest", but the players KNOW the DM will never alter the game to be out of the players favor.

Example: The players attack a dark tower full of foes. At a point they whine and run away to rest. They rest for a time...then come back to attack the dark tower...again. The DM can bluff all day long about how the tower is now on "high alert" after being attacked. But the tower door guards will STILL be exactly TWO "appropriately fair and balanced by the rules encounter" foes. The DM will NEVER have six powerful guards and do a TPK on combat round three.

More Extreme Example: On round five of combat the players run away from a dragon to "rest". The DM blinks and then says "oh, um well, you give the dragon a free attack as you just walk away" and gets ready to do an attack. The players just shrug "whatever DM, go ahead and kill our characters and end the game and we will just leave and not come back". The DM looks on with horror about being abandoned and just says "er, um, oh, the dragon watches your characters leave."


Being the Hard Fun DM is the only way to stop the "rest all the time players". Though more then likely such players will leave that DMs game.

Don't show up at my table with those expectations. It does not take long to teach them that high alert means high alert.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

You want a game without resource management?

I want most characters (and all classes should have options) to have some daily resources but also at will and shortrest/encounter ones... and to add in ones that don't kick in until after x encounters... then the characters should and would have to think more tactical about resting... right now "hey spell casters are out we should rest" is a no brianer...

 

[Horwath]

I want most characters (and all classes should have options) to have some daily resources but also at will and shortrest/encounter ones... and to add in ones that don't kick in until after x encounters... then the characters should and would have to think more tactical about resting... right now "hey spell casters are out we should rest" is a no brianer...

problem is, what is an encounter?

is it a single monster with CR of a party or half or more or just your friend slapping you across the face for 3 damage so you both can recharge "encounter" abilities?

 

[GMforPowergamers]

problem is, what is an encounter?

is it a single monster with CR of a party or half or more or just your friend slapping you across the face for 3 damage so you both can recharge "encounter" abilities?

the bag of rats rules handles this and they figured that out 16 years ago

 

[Vaalingrade]

problem is, what is an encounter?

Whenever a new encounter is announced.

Boom.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

My issue with the 5min work day is not that the characters tackle one fight then retreat to rest, but that there's often no reason for there to be more than 1 encounter in a day, so the PCs tend to use all their resources very often. I can of course write my adventures to squeeze 8 encounters into a single day, and add some time pressure so that resting early isn't a good idea. But I'd rather not have mechanical concerns dictate narrative pacing all the time.