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<blockquote data-quote="ammulder" data-source="post: 6946135" data-attributes="member: 6864710">I just struggle with what sort of adventure construction really works with the 6-8 encounter/2 short rest recommendation.Long-distance travel with occasional encounters is right out, so let's look at a dungeon.&nbsp; Let's say the industrious adventurers spend 8 hours adventuring in a day, of which 2 are taken by short rests.&nbsp; Let's say it takes 5 minutes to clear a room in a dungeon (fight, search, investigate interesting junk, whatever).&nbsp; So 6 hours at 12 rooms per hour means they should clear 72 rooms in a day, with between 1-in-9 and 1-in-12 rooms having a combat, and the other ~90% having enough features of interest that the PCs don't clear the room in the time it takes to walk across it.That's pretty demanding for dungeon-dressing, and not even sort of consistent with 5e published adventures.&nbsp; (I'm thinking the temples in PotA, the various locations in OotA, etc.)&nbsp; Those have some encounter in very nearly every room.So like, you're supposed to get a third of the way through the Temple of Black Earth (PotA; 24 locations) every day, taking six hour-long breaks and two overnights while making your way across it?&nbsp; Obviously not.&nbsp; Even breaking for an hour seems pretty risky -- this is the headquarters of a cult driven by a terrible leader -- you can't think everybody just sits in their room and twiddles their thumbs all day (well, in fairness, a few of the defined encounters there do, but still).&nbsp; You'd expect the cult to, uh, take action if in the course of their routines and duties and missions someone finds that the monsters and guards at the entrance are dead, the kitchen table is covered with corpses, the strike force can't be summoned to go harass some village because they're all decapitated, and etc.&nbsp; As the GM, you have to work pretty hard to convince yourself that any hour of rest is &quot;safe.&quot;Maybe the scheme works in a dungeon totally filled with random, independent stuff, where nobody much cares what's going on in the next room so long as they can eat fungus and sit on a pile of treasure in their own room, but that kind of thing doesn't seem to feature much in a campaign with a purpose...</blockquote>

[QUOTE="ammulder, post: 6946135, member: 6864710"] I just struggle with what sort of adventure construction really works with the 6-8 encounter/2 short rest recommendation. Long-distance travel with occasional encounters is right out, so let's look at a dungeon. Let's say the industrious adventurers spend 8 hours adventuring in a day, of which 2 are taken by short rests. Let's say it takes 5 minutes to clear a room in a dungeon (fight, search, investigate interesting junk, whatever). So 6 hours at 12 rooms per hour means they should clear 72 rooms in a day, with between 1-in-9 and 1-in-12 rooms having a combat, and the other ~90% having enough features of interest that the PCs don't clear the room in the time it takes to walk across it. That's pretty demanding for dungeon-dressing, and not even sort of consistent with 5e published adventures. (I'm thinking the temples in PotA, the various locations in OotA, etc.) Those have some encounter in very nearly every room. So like, you're supposed to get a third of the way through the Temple of Black Earth (PotA; 24 locations) every day, taking six hour-long breaks and two overnights while making your way across it? Obviously not. Even breaking for an hour seems pretty risky -- this is the headquarters of a cult driven by a terrible leader -- you can't think everybody just sits in their room and twiddles their thumbs all day (well, in fairness, a few of the defined encounters there [I]do[/I], but still). You'd expect the cult to, uh, [I]take action[/I] if in the course of their routines and duties and missions someone finds that the monsters and guards at the entrance are dead, the kitchen table is covered with corpses, the strike force can't be summoned to go harass some village because they're all decapitated, and etc. As the GM, you have to work pretty hard to convince yourself that any hour of rest is "safe." Maybe the scheme works in a dungeon totally filled with random, independent stuff, where nobody much cares what's going on in the next room so long as they can eat fungus and sit on a pile of treasure in their own room, but that kind of thing doesn't seem to feature much in a campaign with a purpose... [/QUOTE]

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