D&D 5E Underdark Bad Dreams make a save to long-rest POLL

[FormerlyHemlock]

It's really not a good idea. If they don't get long rests they'll accrue levels of exhaustion which will only make things worse. If you want to keep players on their toes make it happen if they roll a 1 on a die of your choice, unmodifiable by racial or class abilities.

There's precedent in 5E with the Dream spell, which also prevents long rests for non-elves. (Goes well with Geas BTW. Geas + Dream = dead traitor eventually.)

I don't think I'd start giving PCs nightmares immediately though. I'm letting my PCs rest freely at the moment, but maybe there will come a point in the future when Orcus or Zuggtmoy advance their plants to a certain stage, and then I will give (DC 10ish) nightmares to everybody in the Underdark including the PCs, both to increase the dramatic tension and force the pace a bit.

 

[bid]

There's an equivalence between physical and mental stats:
- Str = Cha
- Dex = Int
- Con = Wis

I would have them roll both Con and Wis and pick 1 of the players who failed both of them, but not the same twice in a row.

Once it becomes too easy, pick 1 who failed any.

 

[Dausuul]

I would probably make it a Wis save; first because that's the attribute you normally use for effects that mess with your mind (e.g., the dream spell), and second because it favors the classes (full casters) with the most to lose from being unable to take a long rest. The fighter who doesn't get a long rest is mildly inconvenienced, but the spellslinger is seriously hosed.

 

[Azurewraith]

I went wis cha as its a mental thing. I like the idea all though i would bump the save up to a 15 and make a nice big table for what the dream was and a even nicer table of effects.Yes i am like to watch my players suffer from thinking they are a dead for the next 24hours it would be a great rp experience.

 

[Li Shenron]

Other: no save.

It's the fairest solution, really

 

[CapnZapp]

Thank you all. In the end (I just finished the session) I went with a DC 10 Wisdom save.

One important critera for the choice was that it should be plausible it was in the book. I didn't want to choose something obviously homebrew.

 

[Saeviomagy]

If I was to do this sort of thing, it would probably be "best mental stat". Any mental stat seems plausible (wisdom prevents it from happening, charisma lets the dreamer shape the dream, and intelligence allows you to realize it's a dream and detach yourself from what happens). That's also fair for all casters. Wisdom hammers sorcerors for instance, because they're neither proficient in wisdom saves, nor have it as a primary stat. Intelligence would hammer every caster other than wizards and (oddly) druids. Wisdom gives clerics a big advantage. Given that this is basically "save or lose your main class feature for a day", I'd want to give people the best chance at the save.

 

[the Jester]

I was just thinking about this very topic after reading about the idea in another thread.

I'd initially decided to use Wisdom, but after reading this thread, I changed my mind. I'd use Sanity as a stat in OotA and make it a San save. (Sanity is in the DMG, after all.)