Hello everyone, so i recently began a new campaign with some friends and im the dm of this run, This is my first time as dm and its going pretty smoothly but with us being all overall pretty new to dnd and such there are some things im having issue with and im not sure exactly how to handle them, passage of time and such are a big one, i want the playthrough to be pretty relaistic and such so how should i handle things like rests for pc's if after combat the players wish to take a rest to restore a cd or so they may have used in combat how do i dictate them being allowed to do that. Its not an issue if they do this ina random encounter but my players keep wanting to rest and such right after combat like say in a dungeon where in real life yuou could expect there to be relative active enemy traffic every once in awhile so taking a rest for 4 hours seems obsurd. it also doesent give them any real reason to reserve there cooldowns for later or for emergencys. i want them to haved fun and be able to pop cooldowns and such but i also want them to have reason to see them as big moves they can use when they need them not just something they can throw around.
Another issue is perception checks, the players are pretty much actively perception checking every single room they enter. and there all trying to roll checks. it seems redundant for any person to want to have a decent perceptrion skill if odds alone on the table are bound to work in the favor of at least one of them. i was thinking that i could just allow maybe only one player to do the check and the others to assist maybe for advantage but not allow everyone to do it. like id really like for them to hit a trap here and there and have to deal with that you know or at least for the theif of thjje greoup to really be able to shine and find them his or herself. Also things like items the charecters carry with them, how many timesshould i allow attempts at something like lockpicking, shey may have 30 or so picks on her but i cant realisticly expedct her to fail 30 times but i dont know what aregument other then just i dont allow that i can use to say you cant keep rolling untill you succeed
Just want some spitballing with you guys on info anything will help :)
"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read." - Terry Pratchett
I see that you see three problems. First, that the party rests too often. Second, that everyone rolls Perception whenever the party enters a new room. And third, that the rogue keeps trying to pick locks until she succeeds, no matter how many times she fails first.
"Random" encounters should be enough to fix your first problem. For the second problem, try just not putting anything hard to find in anywhere until they stop--or explain that everyone rolling each room slows the game to a crawl. For your third problem, unless the time it takes is relevant, just say, "You pick the lock."
I agree that the party rests rest too often. Interrupt them with random encounters during their rests. Or make the conditions immposible to rest in...knee deep water in a flooded dungeon, poisonus air that saps their strength the longer they stay, time constraints, or deafening noise like say in a dwarven foundry or a volcano.
For the multiple perception checks and the multiple lock pick checks the solution is the same..****y take the first check. After the first check is made the rest dont matter and dont uncover anything new. After the first attempt to pick the lock fail your additional attempts only risk breaking the lock or their tools.
Similarly you could have failing at picking a lock potentially alerting whatever is on the other side. Alerting an enemy can have consequences like whatever was on the other side alerting allies and readying a surprise against them.
As far as rests, the above suggestions have probably given you enough ideas. When the party rests, the world around them needs to continue to move. Hazardous environmental conditions, patrolling enemies, or a fleeing target can all make a rest an impossible or bad idea.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hello everyone, so i recently began a new campaign with some friends and im the dm of this run, This is my first time as dm and its going pretty smoothly but with us being all overall pretty new to dnd and such there are some things im having issue with and im not sure exactly how to handle them, passage of time and such are a big one, i want the playthrough to be pretty relaistic and such so how should i handle things like rests for pc's if after combat the players wish to take a rest to restore a cd or so they may have used in combat how do i dictate them being allowed to do that. Its not an issue if they do this ina random encounter but my players keep wanting to rest and such right after combat like say in a dungeon where in real life yuou could expect there to be relative active enemy traffic every once in awhile so taking a rest for 4 hours seems obsurd. it also doesent give them any real reason to reserve there cooldowns for later or for emergencys. i want them to haved fun and be able to pop cooldowns and such but i also want them to have reason to see them as big moves they can use when they need them not just something they can throw around.
Another issue is perception checks, the players are pretty much actively perception checking every single room they enter. and there all trying to roll checks. it seems redundant for any person to want to have a decent perceptrion skill if odds alone on the table are bound to work in the favor of at least one of them. i was thinking that i could just allow maybe only one player to do the check and the others to assist maybe for advantage but not allow everyone to do it. like id really like for them to hit a trap here and there and have to deal with that you know or at least for the theif of thjje greoup to really be able to shine and find them his or herself. Also things like items the charecters carry with them, how many timesshould i allow attempts at something like lockpicking, shey may have 30 or so picks on her but i cant realisticly expedct her to fail 30 times but i dont know what aregument other then just i dont allow that i can use to say you cant keep rolling untill you succeed
Just want some spitballing with you guys on info anything will help :)
To summarize, your two questions are:
How do rests work? And is there a better way to keep track of perception other than perception checks?
Is that correct?
Tooltips | Snippet Code | How to Homebrew on D&D Beyond | Subclass Guide | Feature Roadmap
Astromancer's Homebrew Assembly
"The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read." - Terry Pratchett
I see that you see three problems. First, that the party rests too often. Second, that everyone rolls Perception whenever the party enters a new room. And third, that the rogue keeps trying to pick locks until she succeeds, no matter how many times she fails first.
"Random" encounters should be enough to fix your first problem. For the second problem, try just not putting anything hard to find in anywhere until they stop--or explain that everyone rolling each room slows the game to a crawl. For your third problem, unless the time it takes is relevant, just say, "You pick the lock."
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
yes technically, like i got what happens with each rest and such but not when its ok for me to allow them to happen
I agree that the party rests rest too often. Interrupt them with random encounters during their rests. Or make the conditions immposible to rest in...knee deep water in a flooded dungeon, poisonus air that saps their strength the longer they stay, time constraints, or deafening noise like say in a dwarven foundry or a volcano.
For the multiple perception checks and the multiple lock pick checks the solution is the same..****y take the first check. After the first check is made the rest dont matter and dont uncover anything new. After the first attempt to pick the lock fail your additional attempts only risk breaking the lock or their tools.
Similarly you could have failing at picking a lock potentially alerting whatever is on the other side. Alerting an enemy can have consequences like whatever was on the other side alerting allies and readying a surprise against them.
As far as rests, the above suggestions have probably given you enough ideas. When the party rests, the world around them needs to continue to move. Hazardous environmental conditions, patrolling enemies, or a fleeing target can all make a rest an impossible or bad idea.