Bear with me please, I'm coming fresh from my younger days as early GenX and a basic rules e1 player to starting to DM for e5.
I tried searching on this a bit (not thoroughly) but came up empty handed. - Are there no rules governing the consequences of lifestyle choice?
It would seem to me that characters opting to be cheap and going wretched or squalid should be having to roll at least occasionally for possible disease or even facing a slower HP recovery rate during resting periods.
For that matter, I'm not seeing anything for disease or malnourishment mechanics. Are there any?
I'm assuming there are some for poison even if only for encounters (yes/no?) but I've not run into them yet.
Anyway, just a thought... I'll do more digging but would appreciate some pointers in case my googlefu is still sucking.
5E didn’t do much with disease and the 2024 revision is pretty much getting rid of class features that gave immunity to disease.
You’re an adventurer and a hero in this edition but can come from any background but it has little effect on the game. And with cure wounds and other spells, potions, healing kits etc readily available to characters, lifestyle choices wouldn’t really be an issue anyway.
But you can play it however you like. Maybe the DMG has some guidance on it.
There are the exhaustion rules for not eating/malnourishment, I believe.
There's no RAW mechanical consequence. It's left to the DM if they want there to be anything beyond role playing. Also, I could see how a blanket rule might not make sense. If your character had the hermit background and was used to sleeping on the ground in a cave, living cheaply wouldn't bother them too much, but a noble in the same situation might have more problems.
And beyond that, I can't think of a time when, in my games, we actually deducted living expenses. (I know this is purely anecdotal and some other people might do it regularly.) In this edition, there isn't typically as much downtime. In 1e, you'd need a couple weeks between adventures to get all your hp back. But, now, you get them all back overnight, so its not as important to track how much you spend over time. Now its more like, you get a room at the inn, wake up feeling perfectly fine, and then you're off on the next adventure.
Awesome, thanks for confirming I didn't overlook the obvious.
It wasn't my intention to go down this road but my players (well, one of them) before starting the campaign repeatedly made it a point to tell me that they chose the cheapest (free) lifestyle so now I'm like, WTF, how's this fit in...?
Coming from 1e and with more than enough technical "stuff" going on in my work life, I'm not keen to this level of detail but I guess if its what at least one of my players wants, I guess daily d20 rolls he gets!
Just a bit confusing I guess as they put the lifestyle options in there but then apparently just dropped the topic at that point. (And of course, my players will absolutely scour & find rules to correct me if I wing it and get it wrong...)
.....my players (well, one of them) before starting the campaign repeatedly made it a point to tell me that they chose the cheapest (free) lifestyle so now I'm like, WTF, how's this fit in...?
It might be worth it just to ask, what their intention is with that choice. (maybe it's as simple as they don't want their character to have to pay for a more opulent lifestyle or to have to mess with remembering to substact coin for each long rest). Maybe they have in mind some experience that they want their character to have from leading a wretched lifestyle that you probably wouldn't know about, unless you asked.
I think there are good reasons that "lifestyle' seems to often get ignored. I think that having the possibility that characters in the same party might be leading significantly different lifestyles, economically could potential to cause problems. (weird social socioeconomic vibe) I also don't like the thing about fantasy characters effectively having bills to pay (and having the bill come due everyday), To me bills seem like the the kind of real world stuff that we play fantasy games, in order to escape.
.....my players (well, one of them) before starting the campaign repeatedly made it a point to tell me that they chose the cheapest (free) lifestyle so now I'm like, WTF, how's this fit in...?
It might be worth it just to ask, what their intention is with that choice. (maybe it's as simple as they don't want their character to have to pay for a more opulent lifestyle or to have to mess with remembering to substact coin for each long rest). Maybe they have in mind some experience that they want their character to have from leading a wretched lifestyle that you probably wouldn't know about, unless you asked.
Checking the player's intention is always good advice. There's a lot of stuff more experienced players and DMs all quietly know we're going to ignore, life style being one of them, unless we specifically want to make it part of the campaign. As IntrepidGnome says they may have seen this in the character creation and assumed it's going to be a big thing of you deducting gold everytime they rest and want to head you off. One of my first campaigns a player was obsessive about tracking their rations and always hitting shops to buy extra, it was bordering on a fantasy eating disorder the level of detail they went into, and it turned out it just because no one had told them the DM couldn't care less and they were terrified they'd suddenly be hit with "haha, you all die of starvation because you didn't bring a bag of dried fruit"
.....my players (well, one of them) before starting the campaign repeatedly made it a point to tell me that they chose the cheapest (free) lifestyle so now I'm like, WTF, how's this fit in...?
It might be worth it just to ask, what their intention is with that choice. (maybe it's as simple as they don't want their character to have to pay for a more opulent lifestyle or to have to mess with remembering to substact coin for each long rest). Maybe they have in mind some experience that they want their character to have from leading a wretched lifestyle that you probably wouldn't know about, unless you asked.
Checking the player's intention is always good advice. There's a lot of stuff more experienced players and DMs all quietly know we're going to ignore, life style being one of them, unless we specifically want to make it part of the campaign. As IntrepidGnome says they may have seen this in the character creation and assumed it's going to be a big thing of you deducting gold everytime they rest and want to head you off. One of my first campaigns a player was obsessive about tracking their rations and always hitting shops to buy extra, it was bordering on a fantasy eating disorder the level of detail they went into, and it turned out it just because no one had told them the DM couldn't care less and they were terrified they'd suddenly be hit with "haha, you all die of starvation because you didn't bring a bag of dried fruit"
You're both 100% correct on this, I should find out how deep down the rabbit hole they want to go. As it stands right now, the devil on my left shoulder currently has them doing daily d20 rolls against Con with no explanation. The angel on my right is giving them a hidden +10 modifier for being level 1, young, still full of vigor early in these character's 1st campaign.
These players are my kids though so they know I tend toward chaotic neutral, especially if there are no meaningful real world repercussions that can't be easily rectified.
But yeah, especially if they bring some friends in on future games I should keep in mind that some basic framework expectations should be laid out before things get rolling.
I’ve just had a look through the PHB, DMG and XGtE. There are no “rules” as such, but the PHB describes the social aspects of the lifestyle choices. A squalid lifestyle might be free, but the character’s not going to be rubbing shoulders with the nobility and might be fighting to keep thieves off their hard-won treasure.
Xanathar gives some suggestions for complications of low-, middle- and high-class carousing.
this is about what minute detail of emulation/simulation you find fun.
in 30+ years of DnD, lifestyle has never meant anything at any table i ever sat at.
After all adventures out and about in the world are simply living on what they packed with them, there's no daily expense costs out of pocket in the middle of no where/in most dungeons.
I find the lifestyle trait is really more of a background trait idea to give us a sense of what a PC is accustomed to.
But as being an "adventurer" is kind of an independent merc contractor , rather than salary /paid job. I see lifestyle as referring to out growing up, while actual day to day reality of us is big loot haul = lavish living for a while, until funds run low then we need to find more again soon.
But here the deal: focus.
are we not adventures is that not The Story of interest here?
Then the game time of, rolling dice to see if we caught dysentery, from what can be seen as just a flavors choice, would be a rude GM thing to do, without having first inform4r them that a house rule of yours, for a thing they read as mostly just flavor, will have meaningful dice roll mechanism on them.
more or less this idea as a game play is what we're talking about:
if you are not subtracting X gp per in game day from your money, roll dice for odds on something sucky to happen to you.
OK, so how come they roll those at all? why are they not just -5GP per day to avoid this? And then if we been marching through the woods for the way 5 days, are they -5Gp per day at no bars no inns and no towns?
I see lifestyle cost as mostly just a flavor thing really, and "emulation/simulation" of day to day life minute like that, is not something that sounds like it makes being a sword swinging spell casting adventure more fun.
Focus on where the fun is. If the fun is Sims lifestyle money manager, then i guess it is. Each table finds their own fun, and focus on that.
the whole concept of lifestyles in D&D are pointless IMO. the vast majority of players are on epic quests and sleeping in inns and taverns as they travel or in they wilderness or dungeons they are exploring. Its just a needless mechanic and is nothing but flavor.
The point of lifestyle is that it's a soft way for players to try to manage their social influence; if you've got a modest or comfortable lifestyle then you could well get snubbed by high class types, but middle and lower class people will be more comfortable with you, whereas if you're keeping a wealthy or noble lifestyle the reverse could be the case. Listing lifestyle expenses also helps give at least one model on the relative value of the currency; 10 gold is several month's wages to a lower class person but only about a week or two to someone middle class, which could help ballpark players'/DM expectations on what's a good bribe in a given circumstance.
5e has one really key thing you can do if you want consequences for sleeping cheap: long rests.
In this game, there are things you get back after a good nights sleep (basic rules -- options for more tough stuff).
abilities often depend on it. in the old days we said 1/day, these days they say 1/long rest.
Not getting a long rest can stop that. It can also lead to Exhaustion if you don't get good sleep.
now, depending on how the poor sleep in your world, the PC's choice of not letting go of hoarded coin (which is why they charge you, to suck money out of them) could lead to them starting the next day tired, cranky, fatigued, and without a use of an important ability.
An ability which might be handy later that same day.
One of the common house rules I see is "a long rest can only be taken in a nice comfy bed" -- not my style, but a thought, and the gritty realism optional rules are also available in the DMG.
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Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
If you have the required ability, sleeping rough* in nature is almost certainly healthier than in a town or city with open sewers. It does require some skill at hunting and preparing wild game - or finding other sustenance - as well as making camp, but if that's taken care of, sleeping in nature is better than sleeping in week-old straw in what passes for a bed at the local tavern.
Of course, that might not be what the player means. Sleeping in week-old straw in the tavern is no doubt healthier than sleeping in straw of unknowable age in the stables. And even the latter propably isn't actually free.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Bear with me please, I'm coming fresh from my younger days as early GenX and a basic rules e1 player to starting to DM for e5.
I tried searching on this a bit (not thoroughly) but came up empty handed. - Are there no rules governing the consequences of lifestyle choice?
It would seem to me that characters opting to be cheap and going wretched or squalid should be having to roll at least occasionally for possible disease or even facing a slower HP recovery rate during resting periods.
For that matter, I'm not seeing anything for disease or malnourishment mechanics. Are there any?
I'm assuming there are some for poison even if only for encounters (yes/no?) but I've not run into them yet.
Anyway, just a thought... I'll do more digging but would appreciate some pointers in case my googlefu is still sucking.
By all means, re-introduce that valuable part of the gaming experience back into your games. It never left mine. As many are fond of saying, you can add or subtract any rules you see fit. There are multiple sources out there that have extensive tables on disease, how it can be contracted, and the effects the myriad ones out there in the D&D world. They may not exist in the newest iteration, but the DMG I have in my possession, circa 2014, plus ones from older editions, most definitely have diseases in them, and how they can be contracted. It is perfectly logical that someone who is sleeping/living in pest infestations will get diseased.
Bear with me please, I'm coming fresh from my younger days as early GenX and a basic rules e1 player to starting to DM for e5.
I tried searching on this a bit (not thoroughly) but came up empty handed. - Are there no rules governing the consequences of lifestyle choice?
It would seem to me that characters opting to be cheap and going wretched or squalid should be having to roll at least occasionally for possible disease or even facing a slower HP recovery rate during resting periods.
For that matter, I'm not seeing anything for disease or malnourishment mechanics. Are there any?
I'm assuming there are some for poison even if only for encounters (yes/no?) but I've not run into them yet.
Anyway, just a thought... I'll do more digging but would appreciate some pointers in case my googlefu is still sucking.
By all means, re-introduce that valuable part of the gaming experience back into your games. It never left mine. As many are fond of saying, you can add or subtract any rules you see fit. There are multiple sources out there that have extensive tables on disease, how it can be contracted, and the effects the myriad ones out there in the D&D world. They may not exist in the newest iteration, but the DMG I have in my possession, circa 2014, plus ones from older editions, most definitely have diseases in them, and how they can be contracted. It is perfectly logical that someone who is sleeping/living in pest infestations will get diseased.
Diseases are in all levels of the social structure, if squalor and wretch are rolling for their common disease, then the wealthy and middle class should be rolling for theirs too.
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CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
1) lifestyle is background - how you lived before becoming an adventurer, and maybe how you are living at L1 & 2 but by the end of L2 and beyond you have enough coin that you can live almost any lifestyle you want, and after L10 it really is any lifestyle. 2) have fun bringing back disease for your players - but don't make it the focus - even in the middle ages and ancient worlds if you survived to adventuring age you could generally expect to live another 20-40 years (unless you were a woman who retired and started having babies - birth complications were a major sore of adult female deaths. 3) if disease is going to play a significant part of the game your talking major epidemics like the plague or the "Spanish" flu (actually American - case 0 & 1 were on an American military base) Given the often crowded sleeping conditions of towns and the sorts of materials for bedding sleeping out in nature may be a far more restful places to sleep (with the right precautions). I've been camping most of my life including survival camping and even in storms and other adventures I've always managed a full and restful sleep. yes, modern mattresses and bedding are great, but they aren't needed to get a good night's rest.
Most D&D worlds have medical knowledge that's better than what was available in Medieval Europe. Additionally, even low level adventurers can generally afford to go to the local temple to get a round of Lesser Restoration if they get sick (assuming the party can't deal with it themselves).
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
In the past, my DMs would often demand that each player allocate a certain amount of their loot to life style expenses and the like. Currently, this detail is left up to each player.
I am accustomed to deducting my daily or weekly expenses just to keep everything honest. The 2024 PHB lists the costs for the various life styles, along with some of the consequences of living top cheaply or too extravagantly. In fact, I even keep an accounting book where I list my share of the loot, my daily expenses and any other things bought.
In 'the real world's, I have to keep a running total of expenses so it is only second nature to do the same in the fantasy world.
If your DM does not care about your character's lifestyle away from adventuring, that is fine for your campaign. For most campaigns, though, keeping an eye on your expenses is essential for knowing approximately how much you can spend on buying a Cloak of Protection. Lifestyle expenses can also be a factor in how easily a character can request an audience with a wise sage or a scholarly priest. Characters with a Wealthy lifestyle will probably be able to stroll into an important NPC's presence on a moment's notice; while a character with a Wretched lifestyle will probably be dumped into the cess pool of a manor house's garderobe. (Garderobe is the medieval term for an indoor privy.)
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Bear with me please, I'm coming fresh from my younger days as early GenX and a basic rules e1 player to starting to DM for e5.
I tried searching on this a bit (not thoroughly) but came up empty handed. - Are there no rules governing the consequences of lifestyle choice?
It would seem to me that characters opting to be cheap and going wretched or squalid should be having to roll at least occasionally for possible disease or even facing a slower HP recovery rate during resting periods.
For that matter, I'm not seeing anything for disease or malnourishment mechanics. Are there any?
I'm assuming there are some for poison even if only for encounters (yes/no?) but I've not run into them yet.
Anyway, just a thought... I'll do more digging but would appreciate some pointers in case my googlefu is still sucking.
5E didn’t do much with disease and the 2024 revision is pretty much getting rid of class features that gave immunity to disease.
You’re an adventurer and a hero in this edition but can come from any background but it has little effect on the game. And with cure wounds and other spells, potions, healing kits etc readily available to characters, lifestyle choices wouldn’t really be an issue anyway.
But you can play it however you like. Maybe the DMG has some guidance on it.
There are the exhaustion rules for not eating/malnourishment, I believe.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
There's no RAW mechanical consequence. It's left to the DM if they want there to be anything beyond role playing. Also, I could see how a blanket rule might not make sense. If your character had the hermit background and was used to sleeping on the ground in a cave, living cheaply wouldn't bother them too much, but a noble in the same situation might have more problems.
And beyond that, I can't think of a time when, in my games, we actually deducted living expenses. (I know this is purely anecdotal and some other people might do it regularly.) In this edition, there isn't typically as much downtime. In 1e, you'd need a couple weeks between adventures to get all your hp back. But, now, you get them all back overnight, so its not as important to track how much you spend over time. Now its more like, you get a room at the inn, wake up feeling perfectly fine, and then you're off on the next adventure.
Awesome, thanks for confirming I didn't overlook the obvious.
It wasn't my intention to go down this road but my players (well, one of them) before starting the campaign repeatedly made it a point to tell me that they chose the cheapest (free) lifestyle so now I'm like, WTF, how's this fit in...?
Coming from 1e and with more than enough technical "stuff" going on in my work life, I'm not keen to this level of detail but I guess if its what at least one of my players wants, I guess daily d20 rolls he gets!
Just a bit confusing I guess as they put the lifestyle options in there but then apparently just dropped the topic at that point. (And of course, my players will absolutely scour & find rules to correct me if I wing it and get it wrong...)
Anyway, thanks again!
It might be worth it just to ask, what their intention is with that choice. (maybe it's as simple as they don't want their character to have to pay for a more opulent lifestyle or to have to mess with remembering to substact coin for each long rest). Maybe they have in mind some experience that they want their character to have from leading a wretched lifestyle that you probably wouldn't know about, unless you asked.
I think there are good reasons that "lifestyle' seems to often get ignored. I think that having the possibility that characters in the same party might be leading significantly different lifestyles, economically could potential to cause problems. (weird social socioeconomic vibe) I also don't like the thing about fantasy characters effectively having bills to pay (and having the bill come due everyday), To me bills seem like the the kind of real world stuff that we play fantasy games, in order to escape.
Checking the player's intention is always good advice. There's a lot of stuff more experienced players and DMs all quietly know we're going to ignore, life style being one of them, unless we specifically want to make it part of the campaign. As IntrepidGnome says they may have seen this in the character creation and assumed it's going to be a big thing of you deducting gold everytime they rest and want to head you off. One of my first campaigns a player was obsessive about tracking their rations and always hitting shops to buy extra, it was bordering on a fantasy eating disorder the level of detail they went into, and it turned out it just because no one had told them the DM couldn't care less and they were terrified they'd suddenly be hit with "haha, you all die of starvation because you didn't bring a bag of dried fruit"
You're both 100% correct on this, I should find out how deep down the rabbit hole they want to go. As it stands right now, the devil on my left shoulder currently has them doing daily d20 rolls against Con with no explanation. The angel on my right is giving them a hidden +10 modifier for being level 1, young, still full of vigor early in these character's 1st campaign.
These players are my kids though so they know I tend toward chaotic neutral, especially if there are no meaningful real world repercussions that can't be easily rectified.
But yeah, especially if they bring some friends in on future games I should keep in mind that some basic framework expectations should be laid out before things get rolling.
I’ve just had a look through the PHB, DMG and XGtE. There are no “rules” as such, but the PHB describes the social aspects of the lifestyle choices. A squalid lifestyle might be free, but the character’s not going to be rubbing shoulders with the nobility and might be fighting to keep thieves off their hard-won treasure.
Xanathar gives some suggestions for complications of low-, middle- and high-class carousing.
this is about what minute detail of emulation/simulation you find fun.
in 30+ years of DnD, lifestyle has never meant anything at any table i ever sat at.
After all adventures out and about in the world are simply living on what they packed with them, there's no daily expense costs out of pocket in the middle of no where/in most dungeons.
I find the lifestyle trait is really more of a background trait idea to give us a sense of what a PC is accustomed to.
But as being an "adventurer" is kind of an independent merc contractor , rather than salary /paid job. I see lifestyle as referring to out growing up, while actual day to day reality of us is big loot haul = lavish living for a while, until funds run low then we need to find more again soon.
But here the deal: focus.
are we not adventures is that not The Story of interest here?
Then the game time of, rolling dice to see if we caught dysentery, from what can be seen as just a flavors choice, would be a rude GM thing to do, without having first inform4r them that a house rule of yours, for a thing they read as mostly just flavor, will have meaningful dice roll mechanism on them.
more or less this idea as a game play is what we're talking about:
if you are not subtracting X gp per in game day from your money, roll dice for odds on something sucky to happen to you.
OK, so how come they roll those at all? why are they not just -5GP per day to avoid this? And then if we been marching through the woods for the way 5 days, are they -5Gp per day at no bars no inns and no towns?
I see lifestyle cost as mostly just a flavor thing really, and "emulation/simulation" of day to day life minute like that, is not something that sounds like it makes being a sword swinging spell casting adventure more fun.
Focus on where the fun is.
If the fun is Sims lifestyle money manager, then i guess it is. Each table finds their own fun, and focus on that.
the whole concept of lifestyles in D&D are pointless IMO. the vast majority of players are on epic quests and sleeping in inns and taverns as they travel or in they wilderness or dungeons they are exploring. Its just a needless mechanic and is nothing but flavor.
The point of lifestyle is that it's a soft way for players to try to manage their social influence; if you've got a modest or comfortable lifestyle then you could well get snubbed by high class types, but middle and lower class people will be more comfortable with you, whereas if you're keeping a wealthy or noble lifestyle the reverse could be the case. Listing lifestyle expenses also helps give at least one model on the relative value of the currency; 10 gold is several month's wages to a lower class person but only about a week or two to someone middle class, which could help ballpark players'/DM expectations on what's a good bribe in a given circumstance.
So, an old lady here, started in 79, blah blah.
5e has one really key thing you can do if you want consequences for sleeping cheap: long rests.
In this game, there are things you get back after a good nights sleep (basic rules -- options for more tough stuff).
abilities often depend on it. in the old days we said 1/day, these days they say 1/long rest.
Not getting a long rest can stop that. It can also lead to Exhaustion if you don't get good sleep.
now, depending on how the poor sleep in your world, the PC's choice of not letting go of hoarded coin (which is why they charge you, to suck money out of them) could lead to them starting the next day tired, cranky, fatigued, and without a use of an important ability.
An ability which might be handy later that same day.
One of the common house rules I see is "a long rest can only be taken in a nice comfy bed" -- not my style, but a thought, and the gritty realism optional rules are also available in the DMG.
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
If you have the required ability, sleeping rough* in nature is almost certainly healthier than in a town or city with open sewers. It does require some skill at hunting and preparing wild game - or finding other sustenance - as well as making camp, but if that's taken care of, sleeping in nature is better than sleeping in week-old straw in what passes for a bed at the local tavern.
Of course, that might not be what the player means. Sleeping in week-old straw in the tavern is no doubt healthier than sleeping in straw of unknowable age in the stables. And even the latter propably isn't actually free.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
By all means, re-introduce that valuable part of the gaming experience back into your games. It never left mine. As many are fond of saying, you can add or subtract any rules you see fit. There are multiple sources out there that have extensive tables on disease, how it can be contracted, and the effects the myriad ones out there in the D&D world. They may not exist in the newest iteration, but the DMG I have in my possession, circa 2014, plus ones from older editions, most definitely have diseases in them, and how they can be contracted. It is perfectly logical that someone who is sleeping/living in pest infestations will get diseased.
Diseases are in all levels of the social structure, if squalor and wretch are rolling for their common disease, then the wealthy and middle class should be rolling for theirs too.
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
some thoughts from the peanut gallery
1) lifestyle is background - how you lived before becoming an adventurer, and maybe how you are living at L1 & 2 but by the end of L2 and beyond you have enough coin that you can live almost any lifestyle you want, and after L10 it really is any lifestyle.
2) have fun bringing back disease for your players - but don't make it the focus - even in the middle ages and ancient worlds if you survived to adventuring age you could generally expect to live another 20-40 years (unless you were a woman who retired and started having babies - birth complications were a major sore of adult female deaths.
3) if disease is going to play a significant part of the game your talking major epidemics like the plague or the "Spanish" flu (actually American - case 0 & 1 were on an American military base)
Given the often crowded sleeping conditions of towns and the sorts of materials for bedding sleeping out in nature may be a far more restful places to sleep (with the right precautions). I've been camping most of my life including survival camping and even in storms and other adventures I've always managed a full and restful sleep. yes, modern mattresses and bedding are great, but they aren't needed to get a good night's rest.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Most D&D worlds have medical knowledge that's better than what was available in Medieval Europe. Additionally, even low level adventurers can generally afford to go to the local temple to get a round of Lesser Restoration if they get sick (assuming the party can't deal with it themselves).
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
The party I'm in plays very homebrew, and we usually don't use this system to begin with.
In the past, my DMs would often demand that each player allocate a certain amount of their loot to life style expenses and the like. Currently, this detail is left up to each player.
I am accustomed to deducting my daily or weekly expenses just to keep everything honest. The 2024 PHB lists the costs for the various life styles, along with some of the consequences of living top cheaply or too extravagantly. In fact, I even keep an accounting book where I list my share of the loot, my daily expenses and any other things bought.
In 'the real world's, I have to keep a running total of expenses so it is only second nature to do the same in the fantasy world.
If your DM does not care about your character's lifestyle away from adventuring, that is fine for your campaign. For most campaigns, though, keeping an eye on your expenses is essential for knowing approximately how much you can spend on buying a Cloak of Protection. Lifestyle expenses can also be a factor in how easily a character can request an audience with a wise sage or a scholarly priest. Characters with a Wealthy lifestyle will probably be able to stroll into an important NPC's presence on a moment's notice; while a character with a Wretched lifestyle will probably be dumped into the cess pool of a manor house's garderobe. (Garderobe is the medieval term for an indoor privy.)