D&D (2024) Limiting Short Rests to 2x/day

[Vaalingrade]

5e is eventually going to have to accept that no one is going to do 8 encounters in a day for an in-person game that is usually played on a weekly basis and fix its design to account for that.

 

[John R Davis]

The " short rest" idea has been around ages in rpgs, and makes loads of sense.
After a combat you clean and re adjust gear, have a swig from your waterskin, thanks the gods, eat block cheese and apple, etc.
This gives you "something" back.

 

[Li Shenron]

The word "artificially" already tells me how wrong is this idea.

As a DM, the openness of the rule gives me the freedom to balance between helping players in need and providing enough challenge. A hard limit only binds my hands.

 

[Horwath]

Ten minutes
Prof per day

We have being do this for ages

this or just 1 min long.

basically any duration that is completely impractical during combat.

I have even tried as an Action.

Recharge Action:

At the start of your turn you can take Recharge Action.
You are considered Blinded and Paralyzed until the end of your next turn.
You gain benefits of Short rest.
You can do this a number of times equal to your prof bonus per day.

 

[Clint_L]

A short rest should be whatever makes sense in the ongoing story, and putting a specific time on it isn't necessary.

 

[Horwath]

5e is eventually going to have to accept that no one is going to do 8 encounters in a day for an in-person game that is usually played on a weekly basis and fix its design to account for that.

this we usually have 1-3 encounter per day.
Most are Deadly+ combats. Unless someone really wants to cause a tavern fight or beat up a hobo.

 

[NaturalZero]

The 5 minute short rest worked great in 4e. The 1 hour short rests in 5e cause inter party problems when everyone has different reasons to rest or not rest. If they designed classes around the assumption that short rest features come back every fight and went back to 5 minute rests, most of the pacing issues of 5e would disappear.

 

[Alby87]

Every game has its own pacing, so the rules shouldn't dictate how much time the short rest lasts. The DMG 5.24 can be on the tune of "the game is balanced to 2 short rests per day. Decide with your players how much game time the characters rest, with an advised standard of 1 hour and a minimum of 15 minutes. Keep in mind that in some story situations or crowded dungeons every minute count, and wandering monsters are a possibility".

Now DM can choose how much time to allocate for a short rest, it is not a fixed time anymore. Just defeated some bandits in a city? One can relax as much as possible before going to the next story step (being an encounter, narrative or battle). Just defeated a Beholder in the Undermountain but still you ear a lot of noises in the surroundings? 15 minutes and you're ready to go again, with one or no roll for wandering monsters.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

The 5 minute short rest worked great in 4e. The 1 hour short rests in 5e cause inter party problems when everyone has different reasons to rest or not rest. If they designed classes around the assumption that short rest features come back every fight and went back to 5 minute rests, most of the pacing issues of 5e would disappear.

4e encounter powers were generally only useful in combat encounters, so the fact that the party could take 12 short rests in an hour didn't cause any problems - they only needed 1 per fight anyway.

In 5e many short rest powers, warlock slots in particular but also the fighters second wind and some of the channel divinities, can be used effectively outside of combat too. Allow unlimited short rests and you break the out-of-combat resource economy. Redesign the classes so that short rest abilities are only useful in combat, and you end up with the kind of "gamey" class design that put a lot of people off 4e.

 

[Peter BOSCO'S]

Three times per day, and you need to have food to do it - breakfast, lunch, and dinner. (Maybe four times a day for Halflings who take the new Racial Feat Second Breakfast....) You could just say that you need food as part of a Short Rest and that is why you're limited to three per day. That would make the whole thing seem less arbitrary.