D&D 5E Long Rest/HD: I've been doing it wrong

[el-remmen]

So I discovered this evening that my group has been doing recovering HD after a long rest wrong. The group looks to me to know the rules, so it is not like anyone was pulling a fast one, I just got it wrong (somehow) and then explained it wrong.

Basically, I have been letting PCs get all their HD back after a long rest. Honestly, I think I am not going to change it. Keeping track of HD this way just seems like more book-keeping and so far I am not sure it would have ever made a difference. The group just hit 4th level, so maybe it will make a bigger difference at higher levels? I also just hate that after we've been playing one way for nearly a year, to say "You now get less." Not sure. What would you do?

 

[jgsugden]

Neither version breaks the game, so you have my unnecessary blessing to continue.

The amount of impact it has on the game will depend upon how often your PCs take short rests and how wounded they get before taking them. In my campaigns, players players tend to get caught up in the story and do not optimize break times. As such, they often are not using those hit dice for healing. As a result, they rarely use half of them, so when they recover them there is effectively no different between recovering half of your total or getting back all of them.

In other games in which I've been a player, where every rest involves a wandering monster roll and a long rest involves several, we often see all of those hit dice spent - so this would make a bigger difference. However, in the end, it would likely mean the PCs retreating to a safer place a bit earlier in the adventure - but no other real impacts.

 

[iserith]

How you handle rest and recovery varies by the design of the adventure and campaign. It needn't be just one way all the time. Mine changes up frequently to suit the sort of game I am presenting. Generally speaking, I do use half HD recovered on a long rest since that's what the rules say. (Often I will vary the time or conditions required to take a short or long rest.)

Your specific issue is one of setting expectations. You said one thing, played under that understanding, then discovered it's actually another thing. So you can either admit the mistake and correct it in my view or admit the mistake and say you're not correcting it for the remainder of this adventure or campaign. Choose whatever works best mechanically for the kind of game you're running.

 

[BluejayJunior]

I'd tell your players you just noticed you've been doing this rule wrong and ask if they want to change or keep using it like you have been. Or say that you're planning on keeping it the same as you have been unless they want to change.
Whether or not it really matters much depends on your game. Most games I've played, it wouldn't make a huge difference. If your players take lots of short rests and consistently use all their HD in a day without many chances to have a couple long rests in a row (like traveling a few days or having a few days of downtime/little fighting), then it would make a difference. At that point, it's whether your game is going for a more intense, gritty feel where using HD becomes a risk or a more heroic feel where using HD every day isn't as big of a deal. Whichever works for your table.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Oh no! The only way to correct such a terrible mistake is to immediately kill off all of the players in surprise ambush of terrible tarrasques and ethereal mummies and then start fresh with the correct rules.

....I kid. The rules are nothing more than suggestions. If the de facto house ruling is working for you, keep going. I would probably mention that you’re using a modified version just so the players aren’t confused if they are playing at another table.

 

[aco175]

It took me a while to notice that one as well and we never changed. Like the other said, it only matters if the PCs are taking too many rests. Having all your HD back allows you to keep moving through the dungeon for longer as well.

 

[Quartz]

"You now get less." Not sure. What would you do?

Correct your grammar?

Something you might consider is letting characters recover 1 HD on a Short Rest and a number of HD equal to their Proficiency Bonus on a Long Rest. This benefits low-level characters

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I'd say keep it like that BUT use the ''natural recovery'' from the DMG aka they dont regain any HP on a long rest: they need to spend HDs to recover just like during a short rest.

So they have more HD than ''by the rules'' in a single day, but their need for them is also increased.

 

[ph0rk]

Half HD is good because it makes resource attrition still a thing; obviously whenever the group gets two long rests in a row that's all wiped away.

It also makes having HD of different sizes not much of a problem, as you get to choose which ones refresh.

 

[BacchusNL]

We used to make the same mistake in the exact same way in my old group. When we changed to the intended rule the games have been significantly more fun imo, leading to more difficult decision making. However I do think this is mostly relevant to groups that follow your standard adventuring day. If most of your days are just 1 or 2 encounters where everyone blows their load and then refills then YMMV I think.