D&D 5E Resting in a mega-dungeon?

[Lanefan]

Also, I have a strict rule where if the players leave the dungeon, the session is over.

They can't go in, leave, rest, and then go back.

If they spend an hour playing and get their butts kicked, they are discouraged from leaving if they want to keep playing. If they want to leave they can do so and we can do town activities or even just socialize, but the delve is over.

Were I a player there I'd scream bloody blue murder over this.

If the PCs are able to generate a situation in which they can in effect become weekend warriors, poking at the dungeon and then retreating to safety maybe several times a session, I'd be saying it's not your place as DM to arbitrarily shut us down at the meta-level after just one delve.

Sure you can come up with in-fiction ways of putting a crimp in these plans - they get trapped in the dungeon, or a teleporter puts them somewhere very different in the dungeon without their realizing it, or they meet the Hall of Endless Wandering Monsters - and those are all fine. It's the meta-rule I'd object to.

 

[Lanefan]

To answer the OP's question: if I were you I'd get ready for a different and much slower pace of play than you're used to, with the party really gravitating toward the 5-minute work day i.e. explore until they hit one big nova battle and then rest for 23.5 hours if they can.

I say this because realistically that's what PCs with any sense of caution and self-preservation would do.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

EDIT: After a re-read, I'll just preface this with...: Warning! Old grognard curmudgeon opinionated stance below! Warning!

My group absolutely wants to play a mega-dungeon, Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. I am a bit worried on how to handle resting in such an environment.

You're the DM. How they handle resting in a mega-dungeon IS NOT YOUR PROBLEM!
Sorry to be so...emphatic about that. But I see this rather bad DM'ing trait all to often nowadays; the DM think's it's their job to "keep the PC's going forward". It's not. They are not your PC's...they are your Players. The Players are the ones that should be the determining factor for their success, failure or death. Not yours. You should ultimately be completely unconcerned with their outcome...even if you may be secretly rooting for or against them. To quote Basic D&D:
"There is one rule which applies to everything you will do as a Dungeon Master. It is the most important of all the rules! It is simply this:
BE FAIR".

This means what I said; it's not up to you to 'help' or 'hinder' the PC's based on what you "want".

I usually try to have some story reason that encourages the players to push on, not taking a long rest after every major encounter. I don't see that working in a mega-dungeon. "You can't rest here, it's not safe" isn't going to work either, as obviously at some point they will have to rest there.

This is something that immediately sends up a red flag when I hear a DM utter it. It tells me that the DM is "deciding" the outcome of the situation and that I, as a Player, have no say when it really should be all up to me weather or not I succeed or not.

Again, you are the DM; it's NOT your job to protect the PC's! You, as DM, know the chance and frequency of Wandering Monster's (or you should!), and you know what is in the other rooms around. If the PC's try and rest, let them...and start rolling for encounters. Even if you know it is 100% safe...roll those dice! It keeps the Players guessing and it keeps up the uncertainty and 'tenseness' of the situation.

So I am wondering whether I need to add some new house rules to the mega-dungeon to prevent the group from resting too often.

What do you guys think of a rule that players get half xp for the first fight after a long rest?

No, you don't. As I said...it is NOT UP TO YOU to decide if/when the Players say "Ok. We're gonna rest up in this room for a few hours...taking a Short Rest". That's on them. All you do is look at how active the area is, what monsters are near by, and then figure out the chances of the PC's being discovered/interrupted. Then you roll dice and STICK to the results!

My suggestion? Go find a 1e AD&D DMG or buy the PDF off of DriveThru. Read it. Alternatively, if you can find a copy of Hackmaster GMG (4th edition; NOT the 'new version'), that'll work too.

Oh, a really great thing that I think every DM should do, is try and find as many 'old' Dragon Magazines (pre-3e) and read them. There is sooo much info in those from all types of RPG'ers (not all good advice, btw, but hey...interesting none the less).

^_^
Paul L. Ming

 

[aco175]

I think the delving each day idea is great. The party makes forays into the dungeon to keep pushing towards one or several objectives. To get them to take a long rest in the dungeon is another objective. There needs to be a safe place or good NPCs that are in the dungeon.

I have placed secret doors that lead to an old temple that the new monsters never found. I placed another adventuring party that had set up a defensive position and invited the PCs to join them in common defense. I remember having an assault on the 2 groups to build some friendship. I also had the party meet a lone mage with a portable tower that let them come in for a rest.

 

[Bohandas]

How about pocket dimensions that appear and disappear. Tears in the spacetime continuum appear every so often and the area inside is secure, but they can't be counted on to appear at any particular time or remain stable for more than 9 hours

 

[Flamestrike]

My group absolutely wants to play a mega-dungeon, Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. I am a bit worried on how to handle resting in such an environment. I usually try to have some story reason that encourages the players to push on, not taking a long rest after every major encounter. I don't see that working in a mega-dungeon. "You can't rest here, it's not safe" isn't going to work either, as obviously at some point they will have to rest there. So I am wondering whether I need to add some new house rules to the mega-dungeon to prevent the group from resting too often.

What do you guys think of a rule that players get half xp for the first fight after a long rest?

If your players are going to be douchebags and try and game the rest mechanic then either of the following will work:

1) The narrative method. Throw some random encounters at them. They are in a dungeon after all. Pretend to roll on a chart and then throw a Hard or Deadly encounter or two at them. Continue doing this every time they long rest unless in your view as DM its an appropriate time to rest (they've had a reasonable number of encounters, and are not trying to game the rest system).

Change Short rests to 5 minutes long (so pretty much risk free and automatic) and limit them to 2 per long rest. With easier access to short rests not hampered by random encounters or jarring 1 hour breaks in the narrative and action, players will have more freedom and incentive to push on for multiple encounters before long resting.

Coupled with hazardous long rests, they'll generally aim to complete multiple encounters, while still saving some gas in the tank to protect themselves if they get hit during a long rest.

Alternatively there is (the mechanical method):

2) Implement 'Milestone recharges'. Resources (short rest based, long rest based, hit points, hit dice etc) recover on milestones and not when you stop adventuring and do nothing. Two encounters are needed for a Short rest recharge (which is automatic), and 6 encounters (plus a nights sleep) are needed for a long rest recharge. The DM can include other 'Milestones' (slay the BBEG, drink from the magic fountain, complete a certain goal etc) that also grant a rest (short or long) recharge of abilities, or simply grant a recharge when he feels like it.

A good milestone in a dungeon that contains roughly 6-8 (median) combat encounters per dungeon level is 'clearing that dungeon level, and slaying the BBEG of that level'. Benefits of this system is players will be cautious, knowing that their resources have to last them the while dungeon level, and they have clear framework to work with to conserve and manage resources.

 

[Todd Roybark]

What do you guys think of a rule that players get half xp for the first fight after a long rest?

Honestly, no Undermountain campaign should completely ignore Waterdeep, so I would do the opposite.

Use the training optional rules for XP earned above ground, and have XP earned in Undermountain not require training. This encourages groups to get as much XP as possible in the dungeon.

DotMM, does not emphasize how much Halaster has, historically, messed with adventuring groups.

Halaster gives you, the DM, a narrative justification to try any rat bastardly tactics you want.
Reconfigurations to the dungeon, illusions, glyphs of monster summoning, etc.

Straightforward mechanical resting limits, robs you of fun, and the players of stories, ( as well as fun).

Make it hard. Deciphering the Portal Gates operations and finding routes into Undermountain that bypass early levels, or rooms that get reinforced, has always been a key to surviving Undermountain.

It is not supposed to be a dungeon you walk in on a Monday, and have the whole thing cleared out in a week. People that stay in a Undermountain too long, go cray-cray.

 

[Weiley31]

As others have said, Factions in a Mega Dungeon play BIG role. If your Allies with a faction on their turf, it's easier to rest.

Another thing you can do is, have the XP gained in the Mega Dungeon ONLY be cashed in once you return to the main hub town.

So you can have as many long rests as ya want, but none of that XP can be cashed in the Mega Dungeon.

 

[aco175]

One of the harder things for DMs is to modify the dungeon after the PCs leave and come back. Logically the monsters would move and fortify areas against another attack, but logistically the work on the DM to modify text and add monsters to areas already crossed out is hard.

There could be rooms where the PCs have a hard time getting through. Something like a crossroads to a few areas of the dungeon. If the group cannot hold the area, more monsters will appear each time they come to this area. After a number of times needing to waste resources to get through this specific area, the players will look for solutions and push more than normal to get to new areas. They could even hire some NPCs to hold the area and now can pull back to rest.

 

[the Jester]

My group absolutely wants to play a mega-dungeon, Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage. I am a bit worried on how to handle resting in such an environment. I usually try to have some story reason that encourages the players to push on, not taking a long rest after every major encounter.

First off, you can only take one long rest per 24 hours. So there's that. Secondly, in a megadungeon, there should be plenty of random encounter checks, so just because they want to rest doesn't mean that they will succeed at taking one. They may have to secure areas to rest safely, either by cleaning out a section of the dungeon or by erecting barriers, using Leomund's tiny hut, etc.

Another thing: do you track rations? You really should, especially in a megadungeon. Because if the party tries to long rest every encounter, they're going to run out of food if they aren't careful. That means either a retreat to a place they can get some food- allowing new monsters to move back in or existing populations to fill in cleared out areas- or the expenditure of precious cleric spell slots to cast create food and drink. Either way, it helps to show the pcs that there are consequences for resting.

What do you guys think of a rule that players get half xp for the first fight after a long rest?

Sounds awful, to be honest. It's both immersion breaking and heavy handed.

I'm a megadungeon lover. Probably over 15% of the action in my 5e games has been in a megadungeon of my own design, and pcs are leery of trying to rest in there. They've been killed and captured when trying. They've learned to look for safe places, or places they can make safe, to rest in. They know that those random encounter checks happen, and sometimes they've been rewarded when barricading an area to rest in by hearing monsters scratch at the door, so to speak.