Gungor
2022-04-24, 07:00 PM
Greetings Playground!
I've been working on a new rest mechanic for D&D 5e and I would like some feedback on it. The goal of introducing this rest mechanic is that I want an exploration-heavy campaign where players need to make real choices on how to manage their resources and also how to balance certain risks and rewards.
I think that the "default" rest rules are too lenient on a party that has been, say, slogging for a week through an inhospitable environment. On the other hand, "gritty realism" doesn't match what I'm going for either - I want to draw a distinction between the week of adventuring in the badlands and the week where the party can operate out of the relative comfort of an inn, or even an established base camp. The "natural healing" variant (where you roll to recover HP even after a long rest) is interesting but seems to only level the tax on the martials when I want spellcasters to feel the pain as well.
So, my basic idea is two-fold. First, a long rest only succeeds if a character passes a Survival check, whose DC depends on the circumstances. If the party is resting in a ranger's favored terrain, then every party member gets to add the ranger's proficiency bonus to their check. If the check succeeds, the party member gains all of the benefits of a default long rest. If the check fails, the party member instead gains what I call a "medium rest."
The DC for the Survival check is determined by the environment and modified by how safe or unsafe the area is, as well as additional circumstances like the use of an alarm spell.
Base DC: Environment
Environment
Example
DC
Optimal
A warm bed in a comfortable inn
5
Hospitable
A well-struck camp with shelter and warmth
10
Inhospitable
A "cold camp" with minimal shelter or warmth
15
Threatening
Insufficient shelter for conditions; direct exposure to extreme weather
20
Modifiers: Surroundings
Surroundings
Example
DC modifier
Friendly
Your "home town" or an area free of enemies
-5
Neutral
A new town or location, not known to be dangerous
0
Hostile
A dangerous location( e.g. a dungeon) or in the midst of enemies
+5
Modifiers: Circumstances
Circumstance
Example
DC modifier
Exhaustion
As per the condition
+1 per level of exhaustion
Hostile Interruption
Attacked during rest
+2
Non-Hostile Interruption
Non-combat encounter or "false alarm"
+1
Wards
alarm spell, locked door.
-5
Other circumstances can raise or lower the DC at the DM's discretion.
Example: A party is traveling through some woods that they are familiar with, but know is home to some bandits. They decide to make a cold camp to minimize the risk of their being discovered. The party's wizard casts an alarm spell and they spend the night without incident. The DM decides that this was an inhospitable environment, since it is early winter, and that the surroundings were neutral (since the forest isn't teeming with bandits). The overall DC for the rest is 10, taking the alarm spell into account.
A character who fails their Survival check receives the benefits of a medium rest, defined below. They are not able to attempt a long rest for another 24 hours.
Medium Rest: A character who rests for at least 6 hours but fails to achieve a long rest is said to have gained a medium rest. At the end of a medium rest, a character regains 1/2 of their missing hit points, 1/2 of all long-rest recovery abilities (rounded down, minimum of 1), and 1/4 of their hit dice (rounded down, minimum of 1). If a character has more instances of a long-rest ability remaining than they stand to recover, they keep the higher number of uses. A character who completes a medium rest is also assumed to have completed a short rest, regains all short-rest abilities, and can spend hit dice to recover hit points if desired. A medium rest also removes one level of exhaustion.
Example: An 8-th level sorceror with a maximum of 42 HP and a current HP total of 23 completes a medium rest. The sorceror regains (42-23)/2 = 9 HP, bringing their total to 32, and regains 2 hit dice. They also regain 4 sorcery points and can cast (2,1,1,1) spells (listed by level). The player can decide to spend hit dice to raise the character's total HP if they desire. If the sorceror began their rest with 2 3rd-level spell slots remaining, then they would instead have (2,1,2,1) spells they could cast.
I know that the "medium rest" mechanic is a bit fiddly so I'd welcome input on how to modify it. I'd especially like to hear what people think about rolling for rest recovery and how the DCs look. I should mention I don't expect to use such a mechanic past about Tier 2, so I'm less interested in its effectiveness for 20th level characters than, say, 6th level characters.
I've been working on a new rest mechanic for D&D 5e and I would like some feedback on it. The goal of introducing this rest mechanic is that I want an exploration-heavy campaign where players need to make real choices on how to manage their resources and also how to balance certain risks and rewards.
I think that the "default" rest rules are too lenient on a party that has been, say, slogging for a week through an inhospitable environment. On the other hand, "gritty realism" doesn't match what I'm going for either - I want to draw a distinction between the week of adventuring in the badlands and the week where the party can operate out of the relative comfort of an inn, or even an established base camp. The "natural healing" variant (where you roll to recover HP even after a long rest) is interesting but seems to only level the tax on the martials when I want spellcasters to feel the pain as well.
So, my basic idea is two-fold. First, a long rest only succeeds if a character passes a Survival check, whose DC depends on the circumstances. If the party is resting in a ranger's favored terrain, then every party member gets to add the ranger's proficiency bonus to their check. If the check succeeds, the party member gains all of the benefits of a default long rest. If the check fails, the party member instead gains what I call a "medium rest."
The DC for the Survival check is determined by the environment and modified by how safe or unsafe the area is, as well as additional circumstances like the use of an alarm spell.
Base DC: Environment
Environment
Example
DC
Optimal
A warm bed in a comfortable inn
5
Hospitable
A well-struck camp with shelter and warmth
10
Inhospitable
A "cold camp" with minimal shelter or warmth
15
Threatening
Insufficient shelter for conditions; direct exposure to extreme weather
20
Modifiers: Surroundings
Surroundings
Example
DC modifier
Friendly
Your "home town" or an area free of enemies
-5
Neutral
A new town or location, not known to be dangerous
0
Hostile
A dangerous location( e.g. a dungeon) or in the midst of enemies
+5
Modifiers: Circumstances
Circumstance
Example
DC modifier
Exhaustion
As per the condition
+1 per level of exhaustion
Hostile Interruption
Attacked during rest
+2
Non-Hostile Interruption
Non-combat encounter or "false alarm"
+1
Wards
alarm spell, locked door.
-5
Other circumstances can raise or lower the DC at the DM's discretion.
Example: A party is traveling through some woods that they are familiar with, but know is home to some bandits. They decide to make a cold camp to minimize the risk of their being discovered. The party's wizard casts an alarm spell and they spend the night without incident. The DM decides that this was an inhospitable environment, since it is early winter, and that the surroundings were neutral (since the forest isn't teeming with bandits). The overall DC for the rest is 10, taking the alarm spell into account.
A character who fails their Survival check receives the benefits of a medium rest, defined below. They are not able to attempt a long rest for another 24 hours.
Medium Rest: A character who rests for at least 6 hours but fails to achieve a long rest is said to have gained a medium rest. At the end of a medium rest, a character regains 1/2 of their missing hit points, 1/2 of all long-rest recovery abilities (rounded down, minimum of 1), and 1/4 of their hit dice (rounded down, minimum of 1). If a character has more instances of a long-rest ability remaining than they stand to recover, they keep the higher number of uses. A character who completes a medium rest is also assumed to have completed a short rest, regains all short-rest abilities, and can spend hit dice to recover hit points if desired. A medium rest also removes one level of exhaustion.
Example: An 8-th level sorceror with a maximum of 42 HP and a current HP total of 23 completes a medium rest. The sorceror regains (42-23)/2 = 9 HP, bringing their total to 32, and regains 2 hit dice. They also regain 4 sorcery points and can cast (2,1,1,1) spells (listed by level). The player can decide to spend hit dice to raise the character's total HP if they desire. If the sorceror began their rest with 2 3rd-level spell slots remaining, then they would instead have (2,1,2,1) spells they could cast.
I know that the "medium rest" mechanic is a bit fiddly so I'd welcome input on how to modify it. I'd especially like to hear what people think about rolling for rest recovery and how the DCs look. I should mention I don't expect to use such a mechanic past about Tier 2, so I'm less interested in its effectiveness for 20th level characters than, say, 6th level characters.