D&D 5E [ToA] Hex-crawling and Long Rests

[jasper]

Not anymore. Morrus got rid of them. And thus it falls upon us to read what the OP writes and figure it out. And when the OP says...

"Here an opportunity!"
"Problem: X"
"Solution: How about Y?"
"And I have questions for people who have the module..."

That's the OP having a problem, suggesting a possible solution for himself, and then asking for assistance to know if that solution is feasible. He's not demanding WotC institute anything for everybody, he's not even saying there's One True Way to solve the problem he himself posed because he even asked "How about this?"... as though there are multiple solutions and he's only just posing one of them.

If you (general you) can't figure out from all of that that this is a problem for the OP personally and is looking for ideas... and instead come back with "HOW DARE YOU SPEAK FOR ME!!!" I don't know what to tell you. You're just LOOKING to be pissed off at CapnZapp if you ask me.

Then since seems at least two of us thought he was asking for OFFICAL 5E. He could put homebrew or HB in the tile.

 

[TwoSix]

Then since seems at least two of us thought he was asking for OFFICAL 5E. He could put homebrew or HB in the tile.

That would be about as redundant as putting a [d20 system] tag on it. Every subject and ruling is only pertinent to how someone chooses to run the game for themselves and their group. There is no "official".

 

[TwoSix]

Solution: how about denying the heroes the ability to take long rests in the majority of hexes, to better represent "jungle fatigue"?

As someone who's long advocated for 6 hour short rests and multiple day (at least 24 hours) long rests in every game, I think this would work great for a jungle crawl.

 

[Tony Vargas]

how about denying the heroes the ability to take long rests in the majority of hexes, to better represent "jungle fatigue"?

Sounds ideal.

If each hex carries an equal risk of having 0, 1, and 2 random encounters, we should aim for an average of half the 6-8 encounters the DMG tells us the heroes can handle (assuming the module's list of random encounters isn't noticeably more deadly than in previous offerings). So that many days see 3 or 4 encounters, some see fewer and others see more.

As opposed to having the average set at 6-8 I mean. That's probably too harsh overall (but might work in a part of the map, especially dangerous)

I see nothing wrong with going for the full 6-8 between long rests. Equal chances of 0, 1, or 2 average out to 1/hex, so, 7 hexes, which correlates to a week of travel. Seems neat enough.

One long-rest-possible hex out of 8 would seem to work out...

And what about short rests?

If they can be had at will each time the party can stop for an hour, that's probably too good for shortresters, and too harsh on longresters like wizards and clerics.

If there's 0-2 encounter per hex, it hardly seems to matter whether a short rest takes 1 hr or 8 or more.

Two suggestions:
1) each bad hex's sleepover gives the benefit of a short rest only. You don't do one-hour short-rests in the jungle at all.

Sounds fine. That would mean, in essence, that you enter each hex with a short rest under your belt, have 0-2 encounters, and have another short rest. Sounds like a good-enough fit to 5e's required pacing.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

If there's 0-2 encounter per hex, it hardly seems to matter whether a short rest takes 1 hr or 8 or more.

0-3

 

[Tony Vargas]

0-3

Even better.

 

[CapnZapp]

Yowsers! That's a lot of replies.

I will ignore the drama and focus on the suggestions made if you don't mind. Thank you everyone that has responded thus far!

Sent from my C6603 using EN World mobile app

 

[Fanaelialae]

The only issue I can see is the possibility that the PCs may get lost in the bad hexes (given an 8:1 ratio, unless they know exactly where the good hexes are, this seems quite possible).

As such, what about allowing the PCs to seek out relative safe zones inside bad hexes, with a fairly high Survival check? High enough DC that it's not guaranteed even with expertise, making good hexes the ideal places to rest but allowing the possibility even in bad hexes assuming great need. You could even make a low enough check trigger an extra random encounter (ie, you found a promising looking cave but the residents of that cave aren't happy to see you) so that this isn't a go-to move for players.

It's something we do in one of the campaigns I am playing in. The DM rolls a lot of random encounter checks for each day of travel (I think it's 3 traveling checks, 2 resting checks, and one check per short rest), although there is a secondary check to see the type of encounter so it they aren't necessarily all hostile. It's been absolutely brutal some days, but he does allow us to mitigate random encounters with either successful Stealth checks (while traveling) or Survival checks (to find a safe place to camp). A good check reduces the chances of an encounter while a great check eliminates the check entirely.

He also doesn't necessarily force combat. We were once waylaid by what I think was a Degenerate Titan from Tome of Beasts, who basically demanded our stuff. My friend had recently been adopted by an old frost giant (long, complicated story but suffice it to say that he had to overcome 3 nearly impossible challenges to be adopted into the frost giant's family). Anyway, as a "giant" my friend convinced the titan to allow him a rite of trial. The titan would recognize his gianthood and allow us to pass unhindered if he could drink an entire cask of whiskey. Thankfully, the character is a bit of an alcoholic and was able to pass the checks required, despite that the odds were quite stacked against him. I think we also hit him with a subtle spell Protection from Poison beforehand. Not only did we avoid a potential TPK, but we also made a friend and learned a good deal about the secret history of the giants.

 

[CapnZapp]

I should get back to desktop soonish.

Sent from my C6603 using EN World mobile app

 

[Quickleaf]

You know, I have an idea that might fit the "more dangerous the deeper into the jungle / story you get" theme and address how to handle long rests in a hexcrawl...

Reading through ToA, it seems like there's lots of "monster territories" on the map. If I'm reading it right, those brown-outlined areas on the map represent undead zones that correspond to the lesser undead & greater undead random encounter tables. That's one example. So you might have a simple 3-point escalating scale representing threat level...

1- Within a couple hexes of settlements are treated as sanctuaries where long rests are always possible.

2- Much of the jungle requires special precautions (maybe a group check) to "make camp" successfully w/out drawing attention and benefit from a long rest. Alternately, this might make taking consecutive long rests harder and harder in the same area, as elements of the jungle start to amass around the party.

3- Near monster territories (e.g. goblin settlement of Yellyark or Greater Undead territory), long rests are entirely impossible unless threat is dealt with first (in which case it would probably be treated as #2).