My Short Rest DM trick...

[Kabouter Games]

Yes I didn't mean the noise but the tension is what makes the difference. But please don't push too much your professional experience into game implications tho... There is nothing truly implying that D&D characters have to be more similar to a modern, professional, highly trained, hightech-equipped soldier, than instead the average people impersonating them around the table. Some gaming groups might like roleplaying PCs under those assumptions, but a lot of others don't: just to mention a common case, anyone playing D&D from Tolkien inspiration could be more oriented towards assuming PCs that have no training, very limited experience, and casual equipment (at least when they start!). Personally, in my own 20+ years of gaming, we've pretty much always played PCs that were a lot closer to being "improvised adventurers" rather than "professional adventurers", at least until high levels.

You're right that there's nothing explicit. Implicit? I should hope that by their third or fourth adventure they've picked up enough to be wary.

Since you brought up Tolkien, I'll follow your lead. The only characters who were brand-new adventurers were the Hobbits. On their trip to Bree, they learned much, and had the benefit of several safe spaces in which to rest in ways which, in terms of 5e RAW, were long rests. After they left Bree, they were wiser and more wary, and under the tutelage of a veteran adventurer. From Bree to Imladris, they spent many days in the wilds of Eriador. According to some in this thread, they couldn't have enjoyed the benefits of a long rest the entire journey from Bree to Imladris. In fact, according to that interpretation, the night in the Prancing Pony wasn't a long rest, interrupted as it was by the Nazgûl, which means they wouldn't have had a long rest from Bombadil's house to Imladris. Were that true, they'd have died from RAW exhaustion long before they made the fords of Bruinen.

After they set out from Imladris, the only time the Fellowship truly left their guard down was in Lórien. But that doesn't mean they didn't enjoy the benefit of long rests in Moria or during the remainder of their time in the wilderness of Middle-Earth. Again, they'd have been dead from RAW exhaustion, if that were the case.

If anything, my pushing my professional experience onto the the game means more heroics entirely in line with common fantasy tropes found in Tolkien's canon, because it means the heroes can continue to use their powers and abilities - in other words, be heroic - far longer, and under far greater duress.

None of this is to say that if you play with "no long rests unless in town" that UR DOIN IT RONG. It means it doesn't make sense to me, nor do I think it makes sense according to RAW. But I'm not the final arbiter of what's right and wrong. That's Crawford. And even he would say that if you're having fun at your table with a different interpretation, you're DOIN IT RITE and I wish you every continued success.

Well aye - if you trust your skills, training and team you can try to (even enjoy) a short/long rest. Which brings us back to the 'less about the physicality and more about the psychological'. Hence the importance of the appropriate conditioning!

Exactly.

Cheers,

Bob

www.r-p-davis.com

 

[ccs]

Another rule I apply is that Long Rests are only possible in safe, settled locations. This is especially important for wilderness-based modules. Due to the long distances involved in overland travel, I was potentially facing days between each combat encounter. My players grew to expect they could burn every resource in a wilderness encounter, because they could just get them all back over the next day. Now, they're much more frugal - knowing they could spend weeks in the wilderness, and camp down many times, but never receiving the mechanical benefits of a Long Rest until they get to a safe town.

Well, if that works for you & your group.... But from the outside this seems a bit absurd.
Question: Does this influence the types of adventures or classes your players choose? After all, if I were playing in a game where the DM was screwing with long rest recovery like this I wouldn't pick something like a wizard to play.

 

[Kabouter Games]

hmmmm Goblins with Ranger Training. AND NEXT AIRBORNE KOBOLDS! mEWhahahahhahhaaa!

Rangers lead the way!

 

[Corwin]

According to some in this thread, they couldn't have enjoyed the benefits of a long rest the entire journey from Bree to Imladris.

Well, as we all know, *all* hobbits are rogues. So its a good thing their abilities don't rely on reset-on-rest mechanics...

In fact, according to that interpretation, the night in the Prancing Pony wasn't a long rest, interrupted as it was by the Nazgûl, which means they wouldn't have had a long rest from Bombadil's house to Imladris.

You can have an interrupted long rest and still continue it. There's rules for that.

 

[abirdcall]

Yes, you can "long rest" while on patrol in enemy territory. Is it as high-quality rest as you get in a secure zone back in the rear? No. But to claim it's impossible to have a refreshing rest in the wilderness isn't supportable. You set up a watch schedule, perimeter security, and zonk.

Well what exactly is a Long Rest and a Short Rest?

A Long Rest completely resets the tension of the story. You replenish all of your hit points and get all of your spell slots back. That would require something high quality to me.

What you are describing here sounds like a Short Rest.

Each table is free to play it as they like. You aren't the authority on the matter.

 

[Kabouter Games]

You can have an interrupted long rest and still continue it. There's rules for that.

That's true. I was addressing other comments up-thread, which advised interrupting long rests in order to muck about with player-character resources.

Well what exactly is a Long Rest and a Short Rest?

A Long Rest completely resets the tension of the story. You replenish all of your hit points and get all of your spell slots back. That would require something high quality to me.

What you are describing here sounds like a Short Rest.

Each table is free to play it as they like. You aren't the authority on the matter.

As I made abundantly clear in another comment, where I also explained my take on long rests in the wilderness, which you clearly haven't read.

If you still disagree after reading that material, I'm all ears! Discussions like these are good for all of us to think about.

Cheers,

Bob

www.r-p-davis.com

 

[trentonjoe]

It's stuff like that I like about low level games. I find that once you hit 9th or so level, interacting with the environment becomes less important because the magic wielders can now create a new environment.

 

[MrHotter]

Whatever a DM wants to do should be fine as long as the encounters are set up with how your short/long rests work in mind. Since the optional rules can make a short rest into 5 minutes or a day, there will be a lot of variance in what would be a typical 'adventuring day' of encounters at each table.

For me, I just try to make sure I provide a good location for a short rest as part of the environment. If the players want to come up with a plan to force a short rest before they find a good spot, they are welcome to run it by me.

I also don't like to make adventure areas that expect a long rest (or two) to be part of the dungeon. If things go bad, they may need to retreat to a safer area to re-organize and try again. They would also expect things to have changed (reinforcements, retreats, traps) since the last time they were there.

 

[Valdier]

Leomund's Tiny Hut, nearly ensures short/long rests are available at will with any group over 5th level that has a wizard in it. What the bad guys do to prepare for the rested party during that time is a different story though.

 

[Oofta]

Leomund's Tiny Hut, nearly ensures short/long rests are available at will with any group over 5th level that has a wizard in it. What the bad guys do to prepare for the rested party during that time is a different story though.

It's especially annoying that the characters can attack creatures outside of the hut [with weapons] while remaining invulnerable.

Of course a hut doesn't have a floor, and if you're like my player's PCs using this they may eventually be asking "Why are they piling dry wood on top of the hut?" Followed by "Why are they pouring oil on the wood and placing lit torches on the pile so that when the hut goes away the pile will start on fire?"

There are frequently ways of getting a rest. That just give the NPCs time to gather reinforcements and set appropriate traps.