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Message: <blockquote data-quote="KidSnide" data-source="post: 4732690" data-attributes="member: 54710">In my experience, this is highly dependent on the campaign.  I play in one game in which the PCs are running through the WotC modules (near the end of P3 right now) in largely the way we think they were meant to be run.  In that type of game, where the PCs are clearing out dungeons looking for treasure, you are absolutely right -- the party controls the timing and the only reason we don't extended rest after nearly every fight is because we like a challenge and it would feel lame to nova on each fight.  Sometimes we have a meta challenge to see how many encounters we can take before we have to rest.For a GM to control rest mechanics in a dungeon type game, he needs to divide up a dungeon into zones where the monsters within a zone will take action (including - presumably - searching for invaders) if their area is attacked and they have enough time to rally a defense.  If this dynamic is well communicated to the PCs, then there is intentionality about when to rest - particularly if you give the PCs decent information about the sizes of zones.  (In my opinion, most dungeons should start with an opportunity to steal a map and interrogate a prisoner so the PCs have a sense of what is in which direction.  That way, exploration is a series of meaningful decisions and not a brainless exercise in choosing left door vs. right door.)However, in a plot/event-driven game (as opposed to an exploration-driven game), the GM almost always controls the number of encounters.  If you attack the enemy tower in a plot game, you usually have to do the whole tower in one go.  If you stop to rest, the enemy is going to flee/counter-attack/kill the hostage or do whatever you're trying to stop.  The original Freeport games are good examples of these.  There are one or two exploration points in which the PCs can decide how fast to explore, but mostly they are event-driven games where the PCs are reacting to a game world in which they can rest at any point, but risk forfeiting that section of plot when they do so.  I don't consider that rail-roading the the PCs -- that's just writing a good event-driven game, and extended rests are well suited to that framework.-KS</blockquote>

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