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Lord Gehnvaar
2016-07-11, 02:46 PM
Hey there, I've recently started DMing for a group of friends and we wanted to try a story with tougher versions of standard enemies (extra hp and/or damage) so far they have managed to survive the encounters, but I at the cost of a lot of hp and spell slots, thus being forced to take short and long rests every other encounter and breaking the flow of the game a little.

What I have In mind is to give them an item that would let them use one of their short rests without having to stop whatever they are doing, for example, in the middle of a combat, one of the players could use a standard or a bonus action(not sure which one would be best) to use the item to heal and regain use of spell slots or other abilities, now once the item is used it cannot be used again until they get a long rest.

Since they're constant facing tough challenges I thought this could be a nice little idea, but I want to read your opinions fellow players and DMs, what do you think of it? Is it necessary? Useless? Too much?

Thanks in advance :D

SethoMarkus
2016-07-11, 03:26 PM
First, this would probably fit better in the 5th Ed. subforum.

As for your question, it depends. You are the DM so whatever is most comfortable for you to run with is probably best. That said, how does your group feel about the current pacing? Is everyone happy with the rests and breaks in action? Do you want things to move along faster, or are you concerned with their ability to keep up? Is it possible to scale back encounters that are meant to be throw-away and keep "boss" fights tougher?

I usually try to find a solution within the rules before starting to homebrew, but that's just me.

Lvl 2 Expert
2016-07-11, 03:26 PM
If the item can be used in battle it's a reserve tank. It won't just let them handle more encounters in a day, it will let them handle tougher encounters. To give them the same amount of challenge you'd have to make the encounters more difficult again, bringing you back to square one. That said, it does open up some cool tactical possibilities, both for the group and their enemies. If the goal is just to break the flow of the game less while still giving them the same problems with the encounters (eg if the kobolds run off with the baby they still have to choose whether to follow and fight or break off and rest without the encounter difficulty going up) maybe shorten the duration of a short rest and give them an item that let's them regain some of the stuff of a long rest during a short one ones per day?

Lord Gehnvaar
2016-07-12, 06:38 AM
Hmm... yeah, guess I will take a look at the encounters first. Thanks :D