How do you guys handle this? I can see a short rest for adventures like stopping to eat etc and gaining a short rest, but for long rests... that just seems a bit out of place but I dont wanna make it so the party cant function either due to lack of spell slots.
Basically my weekly session is rise of tiamat and they are in diderius' tomb. They just finished fighting the mummies in room 7 I believe it was, and want a long rest, however they just finished a long rest last session in room 5, so in the adventuring world it's only been like a half an hour since they got up and left camp and went through a couple rooms... so it's tough to decide. In game it's like 10 am and they wanna go to bed for the night because the mummies got lucky and rolled high and they had to blow some spells for healing etc. So we settled on a short rest so they could at least gain hp.
Basically as dm I dont mind if they do a long rest however I dont want them to use it after EVERY battle... the dungeon has to be a little hard. Luckily I have an amazing group who is happy with either decision, but I want feedback from other dms first.
Characters can only benefit from one long rest in a 24 hour period of in game time. Unless they plan to stay in that room for 12 more hours doing nothing, they wont really get a chance to long rest. And spending down time in a dungeon that has not been cleared is very dangerous, the bad guys aren't just going to wait around for them.
First, you don't have to manage Player resources for them; that's their job. In fact, that's part of their fun ( at least for some ), so let them do it. It's not your decision to make. Of course they're going to want to rest/reset as much as possible. That's the smart thing to do.
However - as pointed out - they can't benefit from multiple long rests in a given day.
And the rest of the Dungeon is still active. Dungeons aren't a static map, with monsters waiting around for a Party to stumble through; they should be living ecologies, with creatures going about their daily routine of survival. The chances that they'd be able to find a place to long rest, and not be molested for another 8 hours are pretty slim. They must have gotten really lucky to be able to long rest the first time.
Don't artificially constrain rests - just make the passage of time matter in the game. That's not intuitively easy, since there aren't mechanics built into D&D 5e for that sort of thing ( other than the traditional roll 1d6 every hour, on a 1 there's a random encounter ). For an interesting way to make the passage of time visual, and meaningful for the Party, and maybe make them not want to waste it, see here.
And, of course, if they leave the Dungeon and go rest somewhere safe - well, Dungeons make great lairs. That real estate won't stay empty for long.
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The 15 minute workday is an issue in D&D and one that should be avoided. As a Dungeon Master you should not tell them that they *cannot* attempt another short rest after a particularly grueling fight. Heck, if I have a hard day as a teacher, I am heading directly home after school, making hot tea and refusing to do anything for the rest of the day/night! That said you do not have to take it easy on them. If the players know that they can go "Nova" often and then Long Rest because you are not going to do anything to stop them, they will. If you feel they are well abusing the game by always taking Long Rests make certain that they can't. Make wandering monster checks, make the environment too noxious for rest (like a stench so potent that they just can't adequately relax), or something. If Tiny Huts are used in this abuse: REMOVE them. Old AD&D had a wonderful lil monster named the Rot Grub. Not only could it harm or even kill a PC, the buggers ate Spell/Ritual Books too! Have one of those lil worms DEVOUR that spell and refuse to allow the PC to copy down again because it is not "available".
If the dungeon environment is treacherous, it might simply be impossible for the party to relax enough to gain the benefit of a long or short rest inside the dungeon. And as someone else said, if they leave the dungeon to take their rest, you can always use the old video game tactic of having the monsters inside reset when the party leaves a dungeon without completing it.
as a teacher you don't risk getting attacked during your rest. an adventuring life is dangerous and stressful. if PC's are low on resources and tired... then they better get creative with finding alternative ways to solve situations. Or learn to pace themselves better in the future.
I always try to be as flexible as possible. However, you're within the game's reality, not real reality; and keeping it game real is an essential task for the DM. I sometimes take issue with the mechanics of certain rule details, and I'm like, "why is there even a roll for that? My little niece could do that with her eyes closed." I have to remind myself to think in terms of DnD's reality, not my own. If you've got an easy-going and understanding group of players, then it should be no problem getting on to kill more bad guys before resting. That's what heroes do, right? They press on; they tough it out; they grin and bear it; they can't wait to level up and gain another spell slot. A bit 'rant-y' here, I know. Sorry. I hope you took this reply as support. In a nut shell, you're right to balk at long rests just because the party are beat up and depleted.
I always try to be as flexible as possible. However, you're within the game's reality, not real reality; and keeping it game real is an essential task for the DM. I sometimes take issue with the mechanics of certain rule details, and I'm like, "why is there even a roll for that? My little niece could do that with her eyes closed." I have to remind myself to think in terms of DnD's reality, not my own. If you've got an easy-going and understanding group of players, then it should be no problem getting on to kill more bad guys before resting. That's what heroes do, right? They press on; they tough it out; they grin and bear it; they can't wait to level up and gain another spell slot. A bit 'rant-y' here, I know. Sorry. I hope you took this reply as support. In a nut shell, you're right to balk at long rests just because the party are beat up and depleted.
What in particular do you take issue with needing a roll for? Usually when I hear a complaint like that it's because there's a skill that applies to a task so someone decided to make someone else roll for it. Rolls are for when there's a chance of failure and failure has consequences.
as a teacher you don't risk getting attacked during your rest. an adventuring life is dangerous and stressful. if PC's are low on resources and tired... then they better get creative with finding alternative ways to solve situations. Or learn to pace themselves better in the future.
I did indicate that if the players were *not* abusing the rules and working a 15 minute day they shouldn't be restricted in taking a rest. I also indicated that if the players *are* trying that ploy that as a DM you should not make it easy on them. I personally like the stench option for dungeons. Yeah, it was fine when you were slogging through it, but now that you are just sitting there or laying down trying to get comfy in your cloak and blanket the smell just permeates everything...even in that damned Tiny Hut! No matter what you do your sleep is restless and you either end up with a level of exhaustion for simply trying to sleep/trance or get no benefit from it.
How do you guys handle this? I can see a short rest for adventures like stopping to eat etc and gaining a short rest, but for long rests... that just seems a bit out of place but I dont wanna make it so the party cant function either due to lack of spell slots.
Basically my weekly session is rise of tiamat and they are in diderius' tomb. They just finished fighting the mummies in room 7 I believe it was, and want a long rest, however they just finished a long rest last session in room 5, so in the adventuring world it's only been like a half an hour since they got up and left camp and went through a couple rooms... so it's tough to decide. In game it's like 10 am and they wanna go to bed for the night because the mummies got lucky and rolled high and they had to blow some spells for healing etc. So we settled on a short rest so they could at least gain hp.
Basically as dm I dont mind if they do a long rest however I dont want them to use it after EVERY battle... the dungeon has to be a little hard. Luckily I have an amazing group who is happy with either decision, but I want feedback from other dms first.
Characters can only benefit from one long rest in a 24 hour period of in game time. Unless they plan to stay in that room for 12 more hours doing nothing, they wont really get a chance to long rest. And spending down time in a dungeon that has not been cleared is very dangerous, the bad guys aren't just going to wait around for them.
First, you don't have to manage Player resources for them; that's their job. In fact, that's part of their fun ( at least for some ), so let them do it. It's not your decision to make. Of course they're going to want to rest/reset as much as possible. That's the smart thing to do.
However - as pointed out - they can't benefit from multiple long rests in a given day.
And the rest of the Dungeon is still active. Dungeons aren't a static map, with monsters waiting around for a Party to stumble through; they should be living ecologies, with creatures going about their daily routine of survival. The chances that they'd be able to find a place to long rest, and not be molested for another 8 hours are pretty slim. They must have gotten really lucky to be able to long rest the first time.
Don't artificially constrain rests - just make the passage of time matter in the game. That's not intuitively easy, since there aren't mechanics built into D&D 5e for that sort of thing ( other than the traditional roll 1d6 every hour, on a 1 there's a random encounter ). For an interesting way to make the passage of time visual, and meaningful for the Party, and maybe make them not want to waste it, see here.
And, of course, if they leave the Dungeon and go rest somewhere safe - well, Dungeons make great lairs. That real estate won't stay empty for long.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Ah I forgot they cant stack them.
Also for the previous long rest they were able to barricade the room and plug the well to keep it safe. So yeah they lucked out. 😃
The 15 minute workday is an issue in D&D and one that should be avoided. As a Dungeon Master you should not tell them that they *cannot* attempt another short rest after a particularly grueling fight. Heck, if I have a hard day as a teacher, I am heading directly home after school, making hot tea and refusing to do anything for the rest of the day/night! That said you do not have to take it easy on them. If the players know that they can go "Nova" often and then Long Rest because you are not going to do anything to stop them, they will. If you feel they are well abusing the game by always taking Long Rests make certain that they can't. Make wandering monster checks, make the environment too noxious for rest (like a stench so potent that they just can't adequately relax), or something. If Tiny Huts are used in this abuse: REMOVE them. Old AD&D had a wonderful lil monster named the Rot Grub. Not only could it harm or even kill a PC, the buggers ate Spell/Ritual Books too! Have one of those lil worms DEVOUR that spell and refuse to allow the PC to copy down again because it is not "available".
If the dungeon environment is treacherous, it might simply be impossible for the party to relax enough to gain the benefit of a long or short rest inside the dungeon. And as someone else said, if they leave the dungeon to take their rest, you can always use the old video game tactic of having the monsters inside reset when the party leaves a dungeon without completing it.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
as a teacher you don't risk getting attacked during your rest. an adventuring life is dangerous and stressful. if PC's are low on resources and tired... then they better get creative with finding alternative ways to solve situations. Or learn to pace themselves better in the future.
I always try to be as flexible as possible. However, you're within the game's reality, not real reality; and keeping it game real is an essential task for the DM. I sometimes take issue with the mechanics of certain rule details, and I'm like, "why is there even a roll for that? My little niece could do that with her eyes closed." I have to remind myself to think in terms of DnD's reality, not my own. If you've got an easy-going and understanding group of players, then it should be no problem getting on to kill more bad guys before resting. That's what heroes do, right? They press on; they tough it out; they grin and bear it; they can't wait to level up and gain another spell slot. A bit 'rant-y' here, I know. Sorry. I hope you took this reply as support. In a nut shell, you're right to balk at long rests just because the party are beat up and depleted.
What in particular do you take issue with needing a roll for? Usually when I hear a complaint like that it's because there's a skill that applies to a task so someone decided to make someone else roll for it. Rolls are for when there's a chance of failure and failure has consequences.
---For an interesting way to make the passage of time visual, and meaningful for the Party, and maybe make them not want to waste it, see here.---
This table is really kool in case you missed it higher in the post.
I did indicate that if the players were *not* abusing the rules and working a 15 minute day they shouldn't be restricted in taking a rest. I also indicated that if the players *are* trying that ploy that as a DM you should not make it easy on them. I personally like the stench option for dungeons. Yeah, it was fine when you were slogging through it, but now that you are just sitting there or laying down trying to get comfy in your cloak and blanket the smell just permeates everything...even in that damned Tiny Hut! No matter what you do your sleep is restless and you either end up with a level of exhaustion for simply trying to sleep/trance or get no benefit from it.
All interesting points