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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ExploderWizard" data-source="post: 6688285" data-attributes="member: 66434">Non combat encounters don't count? An encounter during travel could be a rock slide. The party may escape with only minor injuries, but if their pack mules along with all supplies are swept down the mountainside, and the party is left with almost nothing in the middle of nowhere, then I would call that a significant encounter that impacts the survival chances of the group. DING!  An optional rule is one that means base game isn't accounting for it. If you are allowing MC options and feats, and include lots of magic items, and supplement options, etc. then adjustments on the challenge level side need to be made as well. There isn't a hard and fast formula for how much tweaking is required to get things back on even ground because it will vary from group to group. The optional tag is simply a flag that tells the DM " Take Note!". It is true that making the decision to rest a difficult one is up to the DM. A major problem is that all this balanced encounter building, XP budget claptrap that has plagued D&D for the past 15 years or so has encouraged players to make decisions based on meta game factors. Stopping this kind of thinking is up to the DM and I wouldn't want it any other way. The basic assumption of balanced play is that a fully rested, resource rich party can handle ANY potential single encounter. The DM should make sure this assumption is occasionally a fatal mistake. There may potential encounters that would just curb-stomp a fully rested party if engaged head on recklessly and others that may be easily won. If the DM is unwilling to let PCs die in the fires of their own making, then players will smell it like stink on a monkey.  Once the players are aware that such encounters CAN potentially take place, and that things are a bit more unpredictable, then they will naturally be more concerned with how and when they rest. In order for players to treat the world like a dangerous place, the world must actually BE a dangerous place.</blockquote>

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