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

[jasper]

I DON'T EVEN ALLOW POTTY BREAKS. BWA HAAAAA
Of course how restful it is depends.

 

[Charlaquin]

One thing to consider is once players get certain ablities available, preventing long rest from a mechanical point becomes very difficult without DM purpose building counters. Tiny hut, teleportation, illusions, passive stealth buffs, non detection, stone shape, passwall, and so on all can almost guarantee a rest.

Better to control the consequences of the 8 hr rest than the rest itself.

Now I’m imagining a party who “goes nova” on rest precautions. “Guys, I’ve spent like three spells slots already. We’d better take a long rest now, or I won’t have enough juice to make our resting spot safe.”

 

[Tallifer]

Once my players got Leomund's Tiny Hut, I have little choice.

 

[ad_hoc]

I said 'no' but there are circumstances where it is hazy whether they would still considered to be in the dungeon. Let's say they find a friendly settlement and arrange rest there under their protection. Then yes, that's a case where they can long rest in the middle of their adventure.

We moved to a system where the DM determines if a rest is possible because it wasn't fun to be constantly interrupted by random encounters. It was just a slog and people weren't having fun. So now the party might ask the DM can we long rest here? If they are out on adventure that answer is going to be no.

Similar problems occur with Leomund's Tiny Hut too so we just don't use the spell. It's not worth the headache and disruption of pacing.

In a game with overland travel we go further to say that the party must rest in a friendly settlement or similar secure location to get a long rest. This way they can have several encounters over the course of their travels and have them actually mean something.

 

[ad_hoc]

Once my players got Leomund's Tiny Hut, I have little choice.

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.

 

[Charlaquin]

We moved to a system where the DM determines if a rest is possible because it wasn't fun to be constantly interrupted by random encounters. It was just a slog and people weren't having fun. So now the party might ask the DM can we long rest here? If they are out on adventure that answer is going to be no.

That makes a lot of sense to me.

 

[Stoutstien]

Now I’m imagining a party who “goes nova” on rest precautions. “Guys, I’ve spent like three spells slots already. We’d better take a long rest now, or I won’t have enough juice to make our resting spot safe.”

That's why I added the sliding EXP scale to promote moving forward. Risk/reward at its core

 

[The Green Hermit]

It depends. It's pretty "mega-gamey", but one of the things I like to do is have the players make the random encounter rolls. In a normal traffic area for the dungeon it is typically a 1 on a d6 per hour generates an encounter. The players on watch roll the dice one at a time for their watch.

I justify it in game by saying the die type and frequency represents the noises and shadows they hear and see respectively. If they get in an out of the way cavern or other quiet spot the roll might be a 1 on a d12 once per a watch (3 or 4 hours). This also helps convey the sense that some places in the dungeon are safer than others.

I know this method is not for everyone and would break immersion for many. However, my group is deeply on the Game side of playing and they like it.

Besides, the moans that go up when that dastardly 1 shows up makes this rbdm grin!

I might have to steal this. I already do random encounter rolls at night, so it isn't that big of a jump.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I genuinely hate dungeons, but dungeon-esque wildernesses occasionally happen in my games. And yeah, they can rest. If they’re in hostile territory they need to hide their camp, and keep watch, but they can rest.

In my WIP system, such a rest wouldn’t be full, however. You’d be ready to fight, but resources like Contacts, Favors, etc, as well as stuff like injuries, don’t fully reset unless you take an extended rest, which has to be at least 1 week long.

 

[Oofta]

Even before I switched to the longer rest rules (try camping out in a closet for a week, I dare ya!) I technically allowed it but it never happened. If the monsters are at all intelligent, they know you're there. Resting for 8 hours gives them 8 hours of prep time and the following encounters will be much more difficult.