D&D 5E Resting and the frikkin' Elephant in the Room

[gargoyleking]

The easiest way to deal with this is to let the players have their rest-times. But at the same time as they are resting, things are happening. The monsters might be getting reinforcements or fortifying positions against the incursion. Maybe even preparing (or resetting) traps and ambushes. Or maybe even loading up their treasure and vacating.

Squirrels are evil!

 

[Corwin]

The only issue that we've hit with short rest being overnight and long rest being a week or more is tweaking certain spells.

Our house rule is that since the "adventuring day" stretches out to several days, any spell that's meant to be available for the entire day is available for a week. For example goodberries normally only last for 24 hours so we said they now last for a week.

True. That sure makes high level hex and hunter's mark super cool. And what about gentle repose? It's normal duration is 10 days! Or geas, which is normally a month!?

What about 8 hour long spells, like mage armor or foresight?

Also, there are a handful of spells that you need to cast every day for a year to make permanent. That's much harsher with the gritty rest rules.

 

[BookBarbarian]

For a while I was trying the Gritty Realism Rest Variant. I find it turns a standard adventuring day into a adventuring week. It works ok.

More recently I found in the Adventures in Middle-Earth Loremaster's Guide the optional idea that a Long rest requires three things: Safety from Threat of attack, Comfort, and Tranquility. This fits in with the idea that the Fellowship of the Ring was able to rest at places like Rivendell or Lothlorien, but not in places like the Mines of Moria.

I'll be trying this idea in my 5e games, even the non Middle Earth ones.

 

[Soul Stigma]

I don't run modules, so can't write from that standpoint, but I will say that making the world less static is the main answer.

Recently my PCs ran into three orcs set for ambush while traveling a barely-existent path in the wilderness. My next "scheduled" encounter had them finding the camp the orcs came from, where an Orc Eye of Gruumsh and two human bandits (working with the orcs) would be encountered.

During the first encounter, spells were used, so the party decided to just stop and take a long rest. I decided that in that time the remaining orc and bandits would come up to check on things and discover the resting party.

Dungeon scenarios are the same. I try to make creatures more lifelike insofar as they don't just wait in some room for eternity until a party of adventurers opens the door. So, if the party decides to rest in the dungeon, they'll have a rough time of it, while resting outside the dungeon gives the creatures that became aware of their presence in the interim, (by the generally clear signs that a party hacked their way through part of the dungeon), an opportunity to prepare defenses and gain a noticeable advantage.


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[Oofta]

True. That sure makes high level hex and hunter's mark super cool. And what about gentle repose? It's normal duration is 10 days! Or geas, which is normally a month!?

What about 8 hour long spells, like mage armor or foresight?

Also, there are a handful of spells that you need to cast every day for a year to make permanent. That's much harsher with the gritty rest rules.

We've been dealing with things as they come up. In general anything that would last for 8 hours lasts for 48 hours, something that lasts for a day lasts for a week. Mordy's Magnificent Motel lasts for a week as an exception to the rule so the group can get a full rest. Repose/geas all last the same since they're on a timeframe past the normal rest cycle anyway.

Basically if you should be able to cast the spell once per long rest, you can still cast it once per long rest.

If we ever hit the once/day spell we'll figure it out at that point. Probably just casting it once and you have to perform a minor ritual to maintain it for the next two weeks.

 

[S'mon]

A minor disconnect I have with the 1-week LR is the in-game reality that certain spells/abilities can only be accessed a single time across an entire week+. It takes a different game world paradigm than the one I'm used to, I guess. Which throws me off a bit. For example, a 17th-level cleric being able to cast only one 6th-level spell per entire week+ seems weird to my sensibilities. Just a personal preference thing. Its not a mechanical issue, just an aesthetic one.

I know what you mean, but I think it still allows for typical one-day dungeon expeditions where
casters blow through tons of spells, while reducing magic's impact on 'daily life' - much less routine magical healing, curing of disease etc. It makes the impact of magic on sieges a lot less, and encourages
use in pitched battles. So far, overall I like all the implications.

 

[S'mon]

The only issue that we've hit with short rest being overnight and long rest being a week or more is tweaking certain spells.

Our house rule is that since the "adventuring day" stretches out to several days, any spell that's meant to be available for the entire day is available for a week. For example goodberries normally only last for 24 hours so we said they now last for a week.

I would not do that, but I kept Short Rest as one hour (having converted most short rest powers to long rest x3) which has an equivalent effect. PCs go in the dungeon/site, have an Adventuring Day's worth of encounters with a couple short rests to spend hit dice, then withdraw to place of safety to long rest. The Goodberries are available for the 6-12 hours the PCs are actually in the dungeon.

Edit: This makes Leomund's Tiny Hut a lot less overpowered, something I am ABSOLUTELY FINE with.
That and Mordy's MM just give my variant Overnight Rest which restores 1 hp/level and 1 level of
exhaustion. Though I think the 5-star service of MMM might be worth 2 hp/level and 2 levels of
exhaustion if you stay the full 24 hours.

 

[S'mon]

Also, there are a handful of spells that you need to cast every day for a year to make permanent. That's much harsher with the gritty rest rules.

Hmm, I hadn't thought of that. If it comes up I'll probably deal with it ad hoc, but the general
idea there is that the character removes himself from adventuring for a year so I'd go with something that had the same effect. Maybe you need to cast the spell as a 365-day ritual...

 

[rabindranath72]

A minor disconnect I have with the 1-week LR is the in-game reality that certain spells/abilities can only be accessed a single time across an entire week+. It takes a different game world paradigm than the one I'm used to, I guess. Which throws me off a bit. For example, a 17th-level cleric being able to cast only one 6th-level spell per entire week+ seems weird to my sensibilities. Just a personal preference thing. Its not a mechanical issue, just an aesthetic one.

Definitely a paradigm-shift issue. Like, in 13th Age a cleric can cast Resurrection at most 5 times IN HIS WHOLE LIFE, and when he casts it the 5th time, the cleric dies.
I like the "out of the box" thinking that some of these changes produce.

 

[Sadras]

A minor disconnect I have with the 1-week LR is the in-game reality that certain spells/abilities can only be accessed a single time across an entire week+. It takes a different game world paradigm than the one I'm used to, I guess. Which throws me off a bit. For example, a 17th-level cleric being able to cast only one 6th-level spell per entire week+ seems weird to my sensibilities. Just a personal preference thing. Its not a mechanical issue, just an aesthetic one.

I agree. We have opted for a modified gritty system. See attachment.
Short Rest powers have been converted into Long Rest powers. Class features like Arcane Tradition which are rechargable every day, but usable after a Short Rest - remain the same, but we have switched to a Short Break instead of a Short Rest for narrative purposes.