Nebulous
Legend
I'm well versed in 5e and have run plenty of games, but I have a slight problem in Lost Mine and wanted to ask how others would handle it.
The PCs are finally in Wave Echo Cave and have been through a few encounters and a couple of them are beat up. They found the storage area at Room #7 and I told them it looks like it can be barricaded. They know how small it is but it looks fairly safe, except there's no escape route. Five people and a big spider pet could reasonably rest in there.
They are at the cusp of leveling to 5th but I normally only allow Level Up after a Long Rest. They rested this very morning before delving into the dungeon (woke up, had coffee, studied magic and then went in to fight stuff) so only maybe 2 hours have passed (including a short rest very recently, like, within half an hour of the last fight). I know my players and they will want/need a Long Rest to recharge their hit points and spell slots to full capacity and get back half HD. But it's another roughly 20 hours before they can benefit from another long rest. That's a long time to spend holed up in a closet with no light, no heat, cramped, with the wave echo rumbling occasionally and enemies scratching around, and the Black Spider knows where they are at all times via spider automatons. He even talks to them via the automatons.
But the group NEEDS to level up. They could try to leave the mine and go back outside, but they only killed one of the hill giants, so there's the other hill giant and he's brought back 3 ogre lackeys, so there's a deadly level fight waiting just outside. I did that because I didn't want them going into the mine and walking back out to the campsite after every fight to LR, which is what they would do. Even if they did kill all the ogres and giant there's still potential random mountain encounters or maybe things come out of the mine to interrupt their rest.
There's another subplot where some renegade drow are nearby in a lower level. The BS wants them gone, so he might/maybe trade Gundren the dwarf to the PCs if they kill the drow first. (He's kept Gundren alive since Cragmaw in case the PCs found Wave Echo and he needed a bargaining chip). Does this mean he would let them rest in the storage room for 20 hours until they are fully healed? Can they even rest enough in the storage closet to benefit? I would think not, and it gives them the precedent to go back there every time they want.
Should I give them a partial 1 hour short rest in the storage room and Level them to 5th with partial level bonus, such as reduced hit points and reduced slots? The wizard gets two 3rd level spell slots normally.
What are some options I can use that give them a boost but doesn't make them feel safe in the mine or that they can rest wherever they want? I'm already incorporating random encounters % every hour or two hours, but that wouldn't have much impact inside a barricaded storage room unless I go out of my way to root them out. I always forget about any sleeping in armor penalty, although that wouldn't affect the monk or wizard, so only the paladin and ranger and cleric would need to doff armor.
The PCs are finally in Wave Echo Cave and have been through a few encounters and a couple of them are beat up. They found the storage area at Room #7 and I told them it looks like it can be barricaded. They know how small it is but it looks fairly safe, except there's no escape route. Five people and a big spider pet could reasonably rest in there.
They are at the cusp of leveling to 5th but I normally only allow Level Up after a Long Rest. They rested this very morning before delving into the dungeon (woke up, had coffee, studied magic and then went in to fight stuff) so only maybe 2 hours have passed (including a short rest very recently, like, within half an hour of the last fight). I know my players and they will want/need a Long Rest to recharge their hit points and spell slots to full capacity and get back half HD. But it's another roughly 20 hours before they can benefit from another long rest. That's a long time to spend holed up in a closet with no light, no heat, cramped, with the wave echo rumbling occasionally and enemies scratching around, and the Black Spider knows where they are at all times via spider automatons. He even talks to them via the automatons.
But the group NEEDS to level up. They could try to leave the mine and go back outside, but they only killed one of the hill giants, so there's the other hill giant and he's brought back 3 ogre lackeys, so there's a deadly level fight waiting just outside. I did that because I didn't want them going into the mine and walking back out to the campsite after every fight to LR, which is what they would do. Even if they did kill all the ogres and giant there's still potential random mountain encounters or maybe things come out of the mine to interrupt their rest.
There's another subplot where some renegade drow are nearby in a lower level. The BS wants them gone, so he might/maybe trade Gundren the dwarf to the PCs if they kill the drow first. (He's kept Gundren alive since Cragmaw in case the PCs found Wave Echo and he needed a bargaining chip). Does this mean he would let them rest in the storage room for 20 hours until they are fully healed? Can they even rest enough in the storage closet to benefit? I would think not, and it gives them the precedent to go back there every time they want.
Should I give them a partial 1 hour short rest in the storage room and Level them to 5th with partial level bonus, such as reduced hit points and reduced slots? The wizard gets two 3rd level spell slots normally.
What are some options I can use that give them a boost but doesn't make them feel safe in the mine or that they can rest wherever they want? I'm already incorporating random encounters % every hour or two hours, but that wouldn't have much impact inside a barricaded storage room unless I go out of my way to root them out. I always forget about any sleeping in armor penalty, although that wouldn't affect the monk or wizard, so only the paladin and ranger and cleric would need to doff armor.
