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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 7151619" data-attributes="member: 996">The way things work in fiction, and, especially, in reality, aren't always all that consistent, especially on the surface.  Rules tend to be more consistent because it's just easier/simpler.  An RPG system doesn't have to take the totality of biology into account, nor function as a Grand Unified Theory of everything.  That you can always gain the same benefit from resting regardless of conditions is consistent, but it doesn't make sense.  If you vary things with the situation in a sensible manner, that's inconsistent.  So, no, not with a /good/ (here using good to include 'flexible' and 'making sense') mechanic.  However, if, as D&Ders sometimes do, you use the rules as the laws of physics in the campaign world, you can build an iron-clad circular rationalization.  FWTW.   Really, that's just like recovering perfectly natural abilities, rest helps, sleep works better.  And conditions matter.It could also make a lot of sense that a party couldn't just 'run on magic' indefinitely.  That is, you couldn't just conjure food & water and create safe/comfortable rest environments, with your daily spells, and use those comforts to recharge those same daily spells.  The rules don't say anything like that, but it wouldn't be unreasonable...  even if it would smack of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> It certainly doesn't do anything to support them. I guess that is a little unfair, or at least a bad way to put it.  The class & monster designs and resting rules limit the game, if you want to limit yourself to any degree of class balance and/or wish to use CR & encounter building as meaningful guidelines.  The fixed time requirements for short/long rests are part of the problem, but so are the class designs, so are the monsters, so is the concept of CR, the exp tables, and the encounter building guidelines - and so is the desire for balanced classes and/or encounters.Rests are just a single point in that mess that can be used efficiently by the DM to allow him to vary the pacing of his campaign significantly without having the revise everything else that contributes to the issue. D&D came closest c2008-10.  13th Age (full heal-up after every 4th encounter), and FATE ('scenes' not fixed units of time) would be two examples of recovery systems not locked into rests of specific duration.  Both are still more structured than the idea of the DM simply ruling when a rest is possible and how long it takes based on the current situation in the campaign, which has a very 5e 'DM Empowerment/Rulings-not-Rules' vibe to it, IMHO. The campaign I use alternate resting in the most features a lot of seagoing adventure, so the rule was that short rests were generally available, but long rests could only be taken at a friendly port or convenient island with fresh food & water, some time on solid ground, and hopefully the odd friendly native... Which seems like less of a problem than always coming up with intense time-pressure or extra encounters crammed into a day, at least to me it does.  And, really, it only applies to a journey that's supposed to be challenging and challenging in a way that includes encounters and attrition/resource management.  A journey under benign conditions could be largely hand-waved.  To be clear, I'm not championing a variant rule, but just putting forth the idea that the DM could make rulings based on the situation and the pacing of his campaign.</blockquote>

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