Flamestrike
Legend
I think you've distracted others from the good point that you make by answering bad player behavior with bad DM behavior - which is what rolling dice when the result isn't uncertain is, because you can have a monster encounter happen without a roll if you want to, so adding a false roll is only adding that you as a DM lie even when it doesn't serve any actual purpose.
Utterly untrue. A good DM knows when to roll dice for reasons other than for generating a number.
I'll roll dice from time to time behind the screen for no reason (and then spend a second or two pretending to look something up, raise my eyebrows, shake my head, and then look up at the players... and ask them what they're doing). Ill sometimes roll for random monsters when my players are beat up and resting (but ignore the roll because theyre beat up and a random monster would be too harsh) just to scare the players.
Its part of the showmanship and Art of DMing.
The better solution, in my opinion, is to simply point out that a rest - whether long or short - is not a precisely timed thing. A short rest is at least 1 hour, so 3 hours spent resting is just a single short rest taking longer than the minimum required time, and a long rest is at least 8 hours, so 9 hours spent resting - even with a spell cast 8 hours into it - is just a single long rest taking longer than the minimum required time.
I dont need to point it out. Sometimes I'll just handwaive a short rest. I'm not an ogre. I aim to allow a short rest every 2-3 encounters, and a long rest every 6-8.
Most of the time I do this via time limited quests.
If my players try and game the rest mechanic (or any other mechanic), they get firmly told 'No that doesnt work'. If they're trying something really gamist or to exploit a particular mechanic, they get beat down. Dont play the player and all that.
It only happens the once, and they catch on. I'm firm but fair. You play your chararacter, and I'll create the adventures and we'll all have fun. You try and game the system and you'll find out the House always wins at my table.
If you dont like it, then you know where the door is.
Im Australian, and my favorite sport is our national sport of Cricket. Cricket is played in the Spirit of the Game (and not just to the letter of the law). There is a code of honor and sportsmanship in Cricket that you dont see in other sports. A social contract if you will. Its also like the Westminster system of government we use over here that is governed by conventions and not rules. I mean yeah; technically the Queen can veto any Bill before it becomes Law, and technically Her Majesty is Commander in chief of the Armed forces of Australia, but by convention she doesnt exersize those powers.
I run my games with the same expectations. Try and game the system and you'll get warned once, punished the second time, and booted the third.
And when (or rather, if, since the situation is not inevitable) players try to insist they have stopped resting because of X reason and they want to rest again, all it takes is to point out that if they are intent upon immediately returning to rest without actually having accomplished something, that sounds like resting longer, not again to you.
Nah man, I dont do long drawn out discussions or justifications at my table. I just come back with a simple 'You rest for an hour, but dont feel any better. In fact, you're worried that during the hours worth of time you just wasted, the hostages you've been sent to rescue might have gotten killed (DM looks down, rolls some dice, ignores the result, feigns a look of concern and shakes head)'
The players catch on quickly.
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