D&D 5E Do you allow long rests in the dungeon?

[Horwath]

Right, but a lot of stuff can happen here.

The dungeon inhabitants can get together and ambush them.

They could also take all the treasure and leave while the party is resting.

etc.

carefuly stacking oil, acid flasks, alchemist fire, wood, tar, caltrops, etc... leads to an interesting end of the long rest.

 

[Mistwell]

I had insecure housing as a teenager, and was often surprised how easy it was to “rest” (not really that restful), undetected even being just slightly out of sight lines.

Depending on the circumstances, people often operate in very habitual ways, and are not actively looking around them and miss often obvious things.

Passive Perception in real life is not really that passive....people mainly practice active perception.

Living in Los Angeles, you will find people in the darnedest places, unfortunately.
@Mistwell, likely has had similar ‘discoveries’.

(I write this with empathy and sympathy for the housing insecure).

At least at Pogre’s table any monster that eats you while you attempt to take a long rest will be exceptionally well painted, and Pogre probably has a hirst art model of your bones painted and ready to go to be placed on the gaming table.

Ironically just this morning we discovered a homeless man made a camp behind an outdoor storage unit we have here at work, having disguised it with a giant palm frond. The first 22 people that entered never saw it. Only the 23rd person, who was already suspicious about someone being back there from an encounter yesterday, noticed it.

 

[akr71]

Of course! I don't tell the players what they can and can't do* They can attempt what they want, and depending on what precautions they take (spike a door shut, cast Tiny Hut, whatever), they might be successful it taking their long rest.

* provided the characters' actions don't go against what we as a group have determined is acceptable behavior at the table.

 

[Bacon Bits]

“I do put up wards. And if you leave food out for the giant spiders, they are usually content to live and let live.”

More like if the tomb has things like animated armors, golems, or skeletons that are told to operate in specific areas or specific ways then they're not likely to bother the PCs while they're resting. Or if the unexplored part of the tomb has had mummies resting in sarcophagi for the past 700 years, it's unlikely that one is going to get up and snoop about looking for a glass of water only to stumble across the PCs. Oozes, obstacles, and traps aren't likely to go out looking for the PCs, either.

Lots of really old, really forgotten, really abandoned dungeons don't have anything in them that's hunting for or interested in the PCs.

 

[Charlaquin]

More like if the tomb has things like animated armors, golems, or skeletons that are told to operate in specific areas or specific ways then they're not likely to bother the PCs while they're resting. Or if the unexplored part of the tomb has had mummies resting in sarcophagi for the past 700 years, it's unlikely that one is going to get up and snoop about looking for a glass of water only to stumble across the PCs. Oozes, obstacles, and traps aren't likely to go out looking for the PCs, either.

Lots of really old, really forgotten, really abandoned dungeons don't have anything in them that's hunting for or interested in the PCs.

I was just quoting Dragon Age: Inquisition.

 

[Legatus Legionis]

.

 

[the Jester]

Yes, but I use random encounters, and resting in the dungeon is likely dangerous if the pcs haven't cleared a good defensible area out. Rests are not assured- not even short ones- and may well be interrupted by hostiles.

 

[CleverNickName]

I allow the players to take whatever risks they are willing to take. I do my best to carefully explain the risks involved, and they do their best to mitigate those risks, and then we roll some dice.

It's not always a good idea to spend the night in a dungeon, but I don't expressly forbid it. Like @the Jester said: rests are not always assured, even short ones, and they may well be interrupted by hostiles.

 

[OB1]

I voted yes. Players can attempt a long rest any time they want, I'm not in control of what the characters try to do, I only narrate the results.

That said, to actually get a long rest in my campaigns, PCs need 8 hours uninterrupted by combat, so if they are resting somewhere dangerous, that can be difficult.

With LTH it might be easier, but they may find themselves surrounded at the end with a Deadly+++ encounter.
And then of course some missions have ticking clocks or rivals attempting to reach the same goals, so a LR can risk mission failure.

 

[J-H]

I'm running a big long Castlevania dungeon (levels 3-12); the party was told in advance that they would find safe places to rest, and those have been fairly clearly marked. The descriptions include details that suggest that someone in the past created them or set up warding to make them distinctly safe from Dracula's influence. Resting anywhere else carries a high risk of a "random" encounter. Fortunately for them, last time I did that, I rolled 8d6 to see if anything found them, and got not a single 1!