D&D 5E The Resting Mechanics - What Works Best?

[Crimson Longinus]

In thinking more about this, I might just bring back AD&D's resting mechanics. All resources recharge with an 8-hour rest (RAW) except hit points (house rule). Those you regain at 1/day of rest out in the wilds or dungeons or 3/day of rest in civilization. It seems to hit all the right buttons. PCs can just keep pushing ahead if they want, but it costs them resources (potions, spells, etc) to heal to full (or near it). But it also causes the PCs to behave a bit more like real people in really dangerous situations instead of unkillable, infinitely regenerating superheroes.

I think this favours casters a lot. The main resource a front line fighter is their HP, the main resource of a caster is their spells.

This also reproduces the utterly bizarre AD&D effect, where the high level characters take way longer to naturally heal than the low level ones.

 

[Guest 7034872]

I think this favours casters a lot. The main resource a front line fighter is their HP, the main resource of a caster is their spells.

True. What about giving fighters and other martials more HD than casters, though? Could that help even it out?

This also reproduces the utterly bizarre AD&D effect, where the high level characters take way longer to naturally heal than the low level ones.

Also true, and the main thing that makes me hesitate. Here I just haven't made up my mind--too many open variables for my little head to handle.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

I don't really get where the constant opposition to making the spell recharge slower comes from. Tenth level full caster has fifteen spell slots (and a wizard even more, due arcane recovery.) Do you often have games where they actually run out during a single day? The slots are supposed to be a limitation, and if they are not, then just make all spells cantrips and stop wasting time counting things that will never run out anyway.

There is another giant thread about casters being OP, and whilst there is some truth in that, the biggest contributor is most likely the GMs not putting the casters in a situation where they actually have to conserve their magic.

 

[overgeeked]

I think this favours casters a lot. The main resource a front line fighter is their HP, the main resource of a caster is their spells.

And they'll be down hit point so easier to kill if they're stupid enough to get into a fight. Conversely, the casters then get to blow their spell slots on healing the party or keeping everyone alive if they're stupid enough to get into a fight.

This also reproduces the utterly bizarre AD&D effect, where the high level characters take way longer to naturally heal than the low level ones.

I don't see that as a problem. The higher your level the more resources you have so the longer it takes to recharge them.

I don't really get where the constant opposition to making the spell recharge slower comes from. Tenth level full caster has fifteen spell slots (and a wizard even more, due arcane recovery.) Do you often have games where they actually run out during a single day?

A lot of people play the game, especially casters, to feel powerful. Fiddle with that and you're fiddling with their entire reason to play the game in the first place. Then there's also a group of players who seem to think that RAW is perfect and should never be fiddled with no matter what.

The slots are supposed to be a limitation, and if they are not, then just make all spells cantrips and stop wasting time counting things that will never run out anyway.

There is another giant thread about casters being OP, and whilst there is some truth in that, the biggest contributor is most likely the GMs not putting the casters in a situation where they actually have to conserve their magic.

Which is another way of saying casters have too many spell slots, i.e. are overpowered. The game's balanced around 6-8 encounters per day. Anything less than that, without house rules, throws the balance wildly in the favor of casters.

 

[Minigiant]

I don't really get where the constant opposition to making the spell recharge slower comes from. Tenth level full caster has fifteen spell slots (and a wizard even more, due arcane recovery.) Do you often have games where they actually run out during a single day? The slots are supposed to be a limitation, and if they are not, then just make all spells cantrips and stop wasting time counting things that will never run out anyway.

There is another giant thread about casters being OP, and whilst there is some truth in that, the biggest contributor is most likely the GMs not putting the casters in a situation where they actually have to conserve their magic.

It's that large percentage of D&D Fans who are biased against limiting wizards and forcing parties to have healer priests.

 

[overgeeked]

It's that large percentage of D&D Fans who are biased against limiting wizards and forcing parties to have healer priests.

Simple solution. Combine them. Wizards and priests that is. It’s a pointless affect that they’re mechanically separate.

 

[Cadence]

I've come to like short and long rests at about the 1 hour and overnight respectively, but I'd like them to heal less at each one (I haven't decided how much I think is right).

 

[Minigiant]

Simple solution. Combine them. Wizards and priests that is. It’s a pointless affect that they’re mechanically separate.

But then your have to limit spellcasters because you can't just combine the spell lists.

Like many said, gritty healing and attrition play only works it you do it evenly amongst every class's resources, create informal party roles, and make the rewards big enough to risk it.

Many fans and DMs let their bias ruin gritty play that it ends up turning off people or created unintentional consequences.

 

[Lanefan]

I suspect you're an outlier on the relevance of physical supply attrition mattering. In all my decades of playing I don't remember ever tracking things to a level where it mattered. Torches don't matter if someone can cast the light cantrip or you get access to continual flame. In theory you could run out of food or arrows but people just buy enough extra that it doesn't matter unless you can't resupply food for several weeks on end. People should be more worried about water supplies than anything in many environments but people rarely do.

Light sources rarely if ever matter once parties hit a level where Continual Light can be cast. Light is a spell in my game, not a cantrip, thus can't be relied on for all-day lighting.

But food, ammunition, oil (for lanterns and as a weapon), and water - all these can be depleted. Of those, water is usually the easiest to restock in the field and if needed Purify Water is a 1st-level spell (there's also herbs in my game that can purify water but those are quite rare).

Frustration and red herrings can be part of any session I run, it's not limited to urban settings. The attrition I assume is in abilities that recharge such as spells, HD and so on.

Attrition of spells and-or hit points is a factor in some adventures but not others. My issue with 5e design is that it's largely been removed as a factor even where it otherwise would have been, due to overly-generous recovery rates and assuming halfway-wise play on the part of the players as their PCs.

 

[Lanefan]

In thinking more about this, I might just bring back AD&D's resting mechanics. All resources recharge with an 8-hour rest (RAW) except hit points (house rule). Those you regain at 1/day of rest out in the wilds or dungeons or 3/day of rest in civilization. It seems to hit all the right buttons. PCs can just keep pushing ahead if they want, but it costs them resources (potions, spells, etc) to heal to full (or near it). But it also causes the PCs to behave a bit more like real people in really dangerous situations instead of unkillable, infinitely regenerating superheroes.

I like it, but I'll toss in one word of caution: long expreience tells me that the RAW 1e recovery rates are a bit too slow. We have it that you get back 1/10 of your hit points on an 8-hour rest (round ALL fractions up), and that's worked well for quite some time now. If you stay put for a whole day in the field you can get at most two such benefits per day; if you're in town and doing nothing but rest you can get all three.

Edit to add: this also gets around the idea that low h.p. characters recover faster than high h.p. characters as it works the same for everyone.