There's a question I had that I couldn't find answers to - usually, when reaching a town, a party spends the night at the inn/tavern, spending money depending on the rooms they want, (suiting their lifestyle if they want) and if they really want to, they can try and slum it off in the stables or such. However, I was wondering what stops you from simply sleeping out on the street, or camping it out in some empty space? Anything rule-wise? I understand that this is largely a DM's discretion thing, so if there are no rules you could reference me to, please give me what you would do if your party tries to save money and snore it off in the middle of the road.
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Grappling and knocking prone a young dragon 4 times in a row as aarakocra monk=angery DM
I'm picturing a party of adventurers in a small town sleeping on the street. If they were tough-looking enough, I guess nobody would say anything. But otherwise, I could see them being interrupted by a town guard or the local constabulary and made to move on, thereby interrupting their long rest. In a more rural village, you might even run into some light random encounters, like a pack of dogs attacking them or a group of bandits robbing them in their sleep. Nothing of a deadly challenge, but again enough to interrupt the long rest and hassle them. At any rate, a passer-by the next morning would be overheard making jokes about the group of vagrants who slept in the street last night.
However, I was wondering what stops you from simply sleeping out on the street, or camping it out in some empty space?
The same things that are stopping you from doing that in the real world instead of booking a hotel when you travel. It's not safe, it's not comfortable, and depending no how you go about doing so you might get in trouble with the local authorities.
Anything rule-wise?
Nope. The rules are there to help the group tell a story, not to list in excruciating detail what can and can't be done while playing the game. It's up to the DM to determine the consequences of player actions.
However, I was wondering what stops you from simply sleeping out on the street, or camping it out in some empty space?
The same things that are stopping you from doing that in the real world instead of booking a hotel when you travel. It's not safe, it's not comfortable, and depending no how you go about doing so you might get in trouble with the local authorities.
Anything rule-wise?
Nope. The rules are there to help the group tell a story, not to list in excruciating detail what can and can't be done while playing the game. It's up to the DM to determine the consequences of player actions.
Thanks for the clarification. I just happen to have this annoying player in my party who decides its ok to just hang off a tree branch at night and sleep like that as a home-brewed "harpy" race... (not sure how to apply consequences to this situation haha)
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Grappling and knocking prone a young dragon 4 times in a row as aarakocra monk=angery DM
The more "monstrous" humanoid races might be tolerated in civilisation, but only while they act in a civilised manner. Any hint of bestial nature would likely elicit a negative reaction. Have the character awakened by an angry and scared mob throwing rocks at what they assume is a giant vampire bat or some other beast that has invaded their town in the night: lose a few hp, long rest ruined. People are slightly apologetic later but the local town leader explains in no uncertain terms that to sleep in this town you must hire a private room, no exceptions. Repeat with some more or less serious consequences when they try it again in future.
I’ve played “uncivilized” characters before who were much more comfortable camping outside of town than staying in an inn or tavern and when they were in smaller towns they left town at night, set up a campsite outside of town in a spot where it would be accepted and slept there while the rest of the party slept in town. But when they were in bigger towns they grumbled and slept in the same inn as the rest of the party.
Sleeping in an alley is a great way to get woken up 3-4 times throughout the night and not get a full night’s sleep. I’d say a Constitution save every night spent sleeping in an alley or in a town square to get a full night’s sleep with the PC suffering 1 level of exhaustion if they fail the save sounds about right. You just don’t sleep well with too many interruptions, and there will be interruptions.
Thanks for the clarification. I just happen to have this annoying player in my party who decides its ok to just hang off a tree branch at night and sleep like that as a home-brewed "harpy" race... (not sure how to apply consequences to this situation haha)
I do this all the time on one of my characters. The whole party will get a room in the inn but he'll meditate up in the roof. Elves are so weird.
It is probably illegal to sleep in the streets of your town so feel free to interrupt your players long rest when the police show up... Tapping on the car window startling the crap out of me when I feel drowsy and pull off some place by the highway... If they camp in a field it may belong to a drunken old farmer or whatever, same result.
Now if it isn't impeding the game in some way sleeping in a tree is probably totally kosher, unless you really need the party spending their gold on rooms. They also may miss out on all the great quest chains the inn keeper could offer.
It seems counter-intuitive when your group is used to camping while adventuring, but most people don't like to sleep on the street. Of course, any town or city will have a guard or militia that prevents folk from sleeping in the streets. But beyond that, it's important to remember that this is not a video game where you're exclusively hoarding money to buy magic items; your adventurers make money so they can spend their time in cities not sleeping on the streets. Unless they are particularly miserly or ascetic, an adventurer will happily support the local economy by shelling out pittances from their more-than-the-innkeeper-makes-in-a-lifetime coinpurse.
As long as there is no disruption to the game story why does it matter? You can summon up consequences but I imagine the most common one being if you're found sleeping in an unsafe place you will find people trying to take your stuff. But if a character can find a way to sleep safer while outdoors, is that going to break your game? Nope. My character, a dragonborn wizard, preferred the outdoors and did not like civilisation much, finding beds and things rather uncomfortable. It was a joyful day when he learned to castLeomund's Tiny Hut and he would use this to camp outside the town in safety. It wasn't even about saving gold - we had free accomodation available to us.
Your adventuring at the higher levels could easily allow aristocratic living arrangements and at lower level, even level 1, affording a 1 gp per night room is easy. There's very little reason to make these decisions based on saving gold. I would therefore say character preference is precedent and unless there's a very logical reason to it, why punish a character for making a reasonable in-character decision?
People sleep in parks and in alleys in the real world, why can't they do it in the game? People, even those who own large houses, will go camping and living in a tent for days to weeks for fun. Is it so wrong for that outlander background character to prefer a tent outside the town to a room inside? Perhaps they even prefer foraging and hunting for food over the "weak" way of just buying it?
This kind of roleplaying should be encouraged or at least accepted rather than penalised.
I like the broad range of opinions this is generating. I'll take it all into heart next time I'll play, and though I'm the sort that would punish one for sleeping in the streets lightly, (by filling the street with other beggars so there's no lie down room) in the end I guess it has to do with the DM's opinion and the context surrounding the incident.
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Grappling and knocking prone a young dragon 4 times in a row as aarakocra monk=angery DM
I'll take it all into heart next time I'll play, and though I'm the sort that would punish one for sleeping in the streets lightly, (by filling the street with other beggars so there's no lie down room)
Thieves are a much bigger problem. Even a 1st level character's possessions are worth quite a bit of money.
And it can be messy. For example; they're sleeping on the street. Above, a woman opens her window. She upends a pail. The contents spill down, smattering the unfortunate person below with unpleasantly cold... etc.
The character has just had a toilet emptied on his head.
Leomund's Tiny Hut and he would use this to camp outside the town in safety. It wasn't even about saving gold - we had free accomodation available to us.
SOT: That thing is pretty cheat.
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"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
I'll take it all into heart next time I'll play, and though I'm the sort that would punish one for sleeping in the streets lightly, (by filling the street with other beggars so there's no lie down room)
Thieves are a much bigger problem. Even a 1st level character's possessions are worth quite a bit of money.
I'll take it all into heart next time I'll play, and though I'm the sort that would punish one for sleeping in the streets lightly, (by filling the street with other beggars so there's no lie down room)
Thieves are a much bigger problem. Even a 1st level character's possessions are worth quite a bit of money.
Rats will leave living people alone most of the time, but with chew through packs and bags with impunity; ruining rations, water skins, and rope.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
But if there were punishments to be handed out, they'd be related to the conditions of the part of town which the party are in - in affluent sectors, I'd imagine chances of thieves and beggars are much lower, though chances of authorities (guard, police) and even hired muscle coming along to shoo you off are much higher. (but at the same time the pail out the window is also smaller chance)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Grappling and knocking prone a young dragon 4 times in a row as aarakocra monk=angery DM
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There's a question I had that I couldn't find answers to - usually, when reaching a town, a party spends the night at the inn/tavern, spending money depending on the rooms they want, (suiting their lifestyle if they want) and if they really want to, they can try and slum it off in the stables or such. However, I was wondering what stops you from simply sleeping out on the street, or camping it out in some empty space? Anything rule-wise? I understand that this is largely a DM's discretion thing, so if there are no rules you could reference me to, please give me what you would do if your party tries to save money and snore it off in the middle of the road.
Grappling and knocking prone a young dragon 4 times in a row as aarakocra monk=angery DM
I'm picturing a party of adventurers in a small town sleeping on the street. If they were tough-looking enough, I guess nobody would say anything. But otherwise, I could see them being interrupted by a town guard or the local constabulary and made to move on, thereby interrupting their long rest. In a more rural village, you might even run into some light random encounters, like a pack of dogs attacking them or a group of bandits robbing them in their sleep. Nothing of a deadly challenge, but again enough to interrupt the long rest and hassle them. At any rate, a passer-by the next morning would be overheard making jokes about the group of vagrants who slept in the street last night.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
The same things that are stopping you from doing that in the real world instead of booking a hotel when you travel. It's not safe, it's not comfortable, and depending no how you go about doing so you might get in trouble with the local authorities.
Nope. The rules are there to help the group tell a story, not to list in excruciating detail what can and can't be done while playing the game. It's up to the DM to determine the consequences of player actions.
Thanks for the clarification. I just happen to have this annoying player in my party who decides its ok to just hang off a tree branch at night and sleep like that as a home-brewed "harpy" race... (not sure how to apply consequences to this situation haha)
Grappling and knocking prone a young dragon 4 times in a row as aarakocra monk=angery DM
The more "monstrous" humanoid races might be tolerated in civilisation, but only while they act in a civilised manner. Any hint of bestial nature would likely elicit a negative reaction. Have the character awakened by an angry and scared mob throwing rocks at what they assume is a giant vampire bat or some other beast that has invaded their town in the night: lose a few hp, long rest ruined. People are slightly apologetic later but the local town leader explains in no uncertain terms that to sleep in this town you must hire a private room, no exceptions. Repeat with some more or less serious consequences when they try it again in future.
I’ve played “uncivilized” characters before who were much more comfortable camping outside of town than staying in an inn or tavern and when they were in smaller towns they left town at night, set up a campsite outside of town in a spot where it would be accepted and slept there while the rest of the party slept in town. But when they were in bigger towns they grumbled and slept in the same inn as the rest of the party.
Sleeping in an alley is a great way to get woken up 3-4 times throughout the night and not get a full night’s sleep. I’d say a Constitution save every night spent sleeping in an alley or in a town square to get a full night’s sleep with the PC suffering 1 level of exhaustion if they fail the save sounds about right. You just don’t sleep well with too many interruptions, and there will be interruptions.
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I do this all the time on one of my characters. The whole party will get a room in the inn but he'll meditate up in the roof. Elves are so weird.
It is probably illegal to sleep in the streets of your town so feel free to interrupt your players long rest when the police show up... Tapping on the car window startling the crap out of me when I feel drowsy and pull off some place by the highway... If they camp in a field it may belong to a drunken old farmer or whatever, same result.
Now if it isn't impeding the game in some way sleeping in a tree is probably totally kosher, unless you really need the party spending their gold on rooms. They also may miss out on all the great quest chains the inn keeper could offer.
Extended Signature
What you are describing is "wretched" conditions. https://www.dndbeyond.com/compendium/rules/phb/equipment#LifestyleExpenses
It seems counter-intuitive when your group is used to camping while adventuring, but most people don't like to sleep on the street. Of course, any town or city will have a guard or militia that prevents folk from sleeping in the streets. But beyond that, it's important to remember that this is not a video game where you're exclusively hoarding money to buy magic items; your adventurers make money so they can spend their time in cities not sleeping on the streets. Unless they are particularly miserly or ascetic, an adventurer will happily support the local economy by shelling out pittances from their more-than-the-innkeeper-makes-in-a-lifetime coinpurse.
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile.
As long as there is no disruption to the game story why does it matter? You can summon up consequences but I imagine the most common one being if you're found sleeping in an unsafe place you will find people trying to take your stuff. But if a character can find a way to sleep safer while outdoors, is that going to break your game? Nope. My character, a dragonborn wizard, preferred the outdoors and did not like civilisation much, finding beds and things rather uncomfortable. It was a joyful day when he learned to castLeomund's Tiny Hut and he would use this to camp outside the town in safety. It wasn't even about saving gold - we had free accomodation available to us.
Your adventuring at the higher levels could easily allow aristocratic living arrangements and at lower level, even level 1, affording a 1 gp per night room is easy. There's very little reason to make these decisions based on saving gold. I would therefore say character preference is precedent and unless there's a very logical reason to it, why punish a character for making a reasonable in-character decision?
People sleep in parks and in alleys in the real world, why can't they do it in the game? People, even those who own large houses, will go camping and living in a tent for days to weeks for fun. Is it so wrong for that outlander background character to prefer a tent outside the town to a room inside? Perhaps they even prefer foraging and hunting for food over the "weak" way of just buying it?
This kind of roleplaying should be encouraged or at least accepted rather than penalised.
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I like the broad range of opinions this is generating. I'll take it all into heart next time I'll play, and though I'm the sort that would punish one for sleeping in the streets lightly, (by filling the street with other beggars so there's no lie down room) in the end I guess it has to do with the DM's opinion and the context surrounding the incident.
Grappling and knocking prone a young dragon 4 times in a row as aarakocra monk=angery DM
Thieves are a much bigger problem. Even a 1st level character's possessions are worth quite a bit of money.
And it can be messy. For example; they're sleeping on the street. Above, a woman opens her window. She upends a pail. The contents spill down, smattering the unfortunate person below with unpleasantly cold... etc.
The character has just had a toilet emptied on his head.
SOT: That thing is pretty cheat.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Rats will leave living people alone most of the time, but with chew through packs and bags with impunity; ruining rations, water skins, and rope.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Rest in pieces my attempt at joking
But if there were punishments to be handed out, they'd be related to the conditions of the part of town which the party are in - in affluent sectors, I'd imagine chances of thieves and beggars are much lower, though chances of authorities (guard, police) and even hired muscle coming along to shoo you off are much higher. (but at the same time the pail out the window is also smaller chance)
Grappling and knocking prone a young dragon 4 times in a row as aarakocra monk=angery DM