Wait a sec. the DMG suggests 10!? encounters per day???
I couldn't believe that, as it just sounds kinda insane and did a quick search, thought something like: "Assuming typical adventuring conditions and average luck, most adventuring parties can handle about six to eight medium or hard encounters in a day. If the adventure has more easy encounters, the adventurers can get through more. If it has more deadly encounters, they can handle fewer."
Still a lot in my opinion. We had maybe 2-4 encounters so far. Half easy-medium other half medium-deadly (depending on your roles).
With a decent number of short rests it's doable; this makes an adventuring day much more challenging, and really emphasises the difference between long rest and short rest bound characters. People who confidently proclaim that casters are the strongest classes in the game are rarely factoring in just how punishing an adventuring day is supposed to be on long rest resources; you shouldn't be casting a spell every turn unless you really have to, or you're sure you've arrived at the final battle for the day.
Problem is, a lot of DM's don't structure their campaigns in this way, and give long rests too frequently, which massively skews the balance of the game. But the intended encounters and short rests is what makes Durable a more valuable feat.
In terms of how the feat itself is supposed to work, Mike Mearls confirmed that the intention is that the minimum apply to the result (roll plus CON) rather than to the roll, but also confirmed that the way the feat is currently worded you could apply it to the dice roll only and potentially gain more than your maximum roll allows. This isn't an official ruling, it's really just Mike Mearls going "yeah it reads that way". As others have said it probably should have been written that the dice roll itself can't be less than your CON modifier (since you also add your CON modifier anyway). This does make it a fairly weak feat choice though.
One homebrew alternative I considered was changing Durable to allow you to always roll a number of hit dice equal to your proficiency bonus; so when you take a short rest you can always roll at least two hit dice (or three etc.), even if you already spent them all earlier.
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With a decent number of short rests it's doable; this makes an adventuring day much more challenging, and really emphasises the difference between long rest and short rest bound characters. People who confidently proclaim that casters are the strongest classes in the game are rarely factoring in just how punishing an adventuring day is supposed to be on long rest resources; you shouldn't be casting a spell every turn unless you really have to, or you're sure you've arrived at the final battle for the day.
Problem is, a lot of DM's don't structure their campaigns in this way, and give long rests too frequently, which massively skews the balance of the game. But the intended encounters and short rests is what makes Durable a more valuable feat.
In terms of how the feat itself is supposed to work, Mike Mearls confirmed that the intention is that the minimum apply to the result (roll plus CON) rather than to the roll, but also confirmed that the way the feat is currently worded you could apply it to the dice roll only and potentially gain more than your maximum roll allows. This isn't an official ruling, it's really just Mike Mearls going "yeah it reads that way". As others have said it probably should have been written that the dice roll itself can't be less than your CON modifier (since you also add your CON modifier anyway). This does make it a fairly weak feat choice though.
One homebrew alternative I considered was changing Durable to allow you to always roll a number of hit dice equal to your proficiency bonus; so when you take a short rest you can always roll at least two hit dice (or three etc.), even if you already spent them all earlier.
Former D&D Beyond Customer of six years: With the axing of piecemeal purchasing, lack of meaningful development, and toxic moderation the site isn't worth paying for anymore. I remain a free user only until my groups are done migrating from DDB, and if necessary D&D, after which I'm done. There are better systems owned by better companies out there.
I have unsubscribed from all topics and will not reply to messages. My homebrew is now 100% unsupported.