D&D 5E One or Two Fights a Day Encounter Design

[Nytmare]

I'm neck deep in my first attempt at running a one shot 5th Ed game, and I see a stumbling block on the horizon. The game has been shaping up to be a combination chase/hex crawl, with four fifth level characters, that played out in maybe a four hour session. I was envisioning maybe three to four encounters, but the pacing means that the majority of those encounters were probably going to have at least one long rest between them.

Other variables being thrown into the mix. The party does not have, or have access to a healer. They have a smattering of potions, one of the characters does a lot of temp HP stuff, and I'm having bedrolls allow players to recover an additional HD. My plan was to flesh out two versions of each encounter so that I could use the weaker one if the group looked like they were struggling too much.

So, with all of that in mind, about what kinds of targets should I be aiming for?

 

[Uchawi]

That seems like a lot of work versus just reducing the time period for short rests, or even long rests. You could also add a constant on to any hit dice healing that is done, like 1/4 the characters hit points.

 

[Nytmare]

That would work if the entire rest of the game wasn't a week long chase across a desert purposefully focused on using overland travel, encumbrance, and food and water consumption rules as a core set of mechanics instead of just hand waving.

 

[spectacle]

I suggest giving monsters max instead of average hp. With few encounters per day the players can Nova every fight and quickly kill any level appropriate monsters. Simply using higher level monsters gives a high risk of a TPK due to bad luck, but making monsters a bit more durable lets them be challenging without being much more dangerous.

 

[Eejit]

I think the suggested variant rest times in the DMG are appropriate to the pacing of a hex crawl: 8 hours for a short rest, several days straight to a week for a long rest.

 

[Nytmare]

I think the suggested variant rest times in the DMG are appropriate to the pacing of a hex crawl: 8 hours for a short rest, several days straight to a week for a long rest.

I hadn't thought about that, but I'd be worried that without reliable healing that they're really going to be dependent on that long rest HD replacement.

I could probably move Exhaustion from a LR recovery to a short rest. I don't think that moving that, or any of the other LR keyed events would screw with anything.

The only other drawback I can think of is that there's a chance that this will segue into future holiday one shots that don't exist in, or even coexist with the overland travel scale. I don't know if it would be wonky to switch gears like that.

 

[Eejit]

I hadn't thought about that, but I'd be worried that without reliable healing that they're really going to be dependent on that long rest HD replacement.

I could probably move Exhaustion from a LR recovery to a short rest. I don't think that moving that, or any of the other LR keyed events would screw with anything.

The only other drawback I can think of is that there's a chance that this will segue into future holiday one shots that don't exist in, or even coexist with the overland travel scale. I don't know if it would be wonky to switch gears like that.

3-4 encounters should be manageable without a long rest without healing spells unless you're making them hella tough. If necessary use the suggestion that they can loot a couple of healing potions at the end of an unexpectedly difficult fight.

As for switching between the two scales of travel - hand-wave that only when you're travelling large distances are the characters tired enough that these resting rules apply, and adventuring in a fixed locale has the standard 1h/8h rests. It's for adjusting realism vs balance, don't get tied down.

 

[BoldItalic]

Plan to vary the number of monsters in each encounter. If the party seems to be having it too easy, throw in a second wave of monsters (not necessarily the same type).

Plan linked encounters, so there's no time to rest between them.

 

[iserith]

I'm neck deep in my first attempt at running a one shot 5th Ed game, and I see a stumbling block on the horizon. The game has been shaping up to be a combination chase/hex crawl, with four fifth level characters, that played out in maybe a four hour session. I was envisioning maybe three to four encounters, but the pacing means that the majority of those encounters were probably going to have at least one long rest between them.

Other variables being thrown into the mix. The party does not have, or have access to a healer. They have a smattering of potions, one of the characters does a lot of temp HP stuff, and I'm having bedrolls allow players to recover an additional HD. My plan was to flesh out two versions of each encounter so that I could use the weaker one if the group looked like they were struggling too much.

So, with all of that in mind, about what kinds of targets should I be aiming for?

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking for or what your goal is here.

 

[mellored]

Short rest = 1 day.
Long rest = 1 week.