Converting short rest recoveries to encounter recoveries

[Skrum]

This is an idea I had after getting into very long discussions with my dnd group about resting, warlocks, and the particular format we are playing. The problem, in a nutshell, was that DM's were giving almost no short rests (it's not worth explaining the whole thing but there's a good reason for it), and that was leading to certain classes to be hurt by it.

So, I thought of bringing in a mechanic that debuted in 3.5, but is much more associated with 4E. Encounter powers. Get rid of short rests (almost) entirely, and balance around getting back powers essentially when initiative is rolled. Long rests are still fine and spellcasting is still based around it, but most other powers have been changed to encounter-based recovery.

I personally also find encounter powers to be a much better fit for martial abilities. Spamming your best move over and over is obviously not very reflective of RL combat, but neither is using a move and not being able to use it again for hours and hours (or maybe just an hour! who knows!). Being able to use them 1-2 times per fight feels just right. It also increases the choices martials get to make, which I think is a huge boon.

Anyways, I've written up how it works, as well as what barbarian, bard, cleric, druid, fighter, and warlock would look like (that is, I've listed the specific powers that would change and how they're different. If it's not hear, it's the same). Would love to hear what anyone thinks!

How Encounter Powers Work
An ability that has X/encounter uses may be used however many times is listed, and replenishes when an encounter begins. The vast majority of the time, an encounter begins when initiative is rolled, and ends when the characters are no longer in initiative. However, a DM may also want to apply the term for things like skill challenges or even until a particular goal is reached (for instance, the characters may be attending a social event with a goal of finding a particular person that is attending, but disguised. The time it takes them to find the target is the “encounter”).

Using encounter powers out of an encounter: This is very straight-forward; powers have exactly the amount of uses that are listed, and they may be used as the player wants. They replenish when the character next enters an encounter. If a power is used during an encounter, it is spent and not available until the character enters a new encounter and the power is refreshed.

Short Rests still exist in the game, but they are *only* for spending hit dice. Abilities that modify a short rest, like bard’s Song of Rest, work the same. Abilities no longer replenish with a short rest.

Barbarian
Rage: 1/encounter at first level. Rage lasts for a number of rounds equal to 1 + Con modifier. +1 use at 7th level

Subclasses
Ancestral Guardian
Consult the Spirits: useable 3/long rest

Path of the Berserker
Frenzy: you may make an extra melee weapon attack the turn you enter rage

Bard
Font of Inspiration: beginning at 5th level, if you have no uses of bardic inspiration left, you gain one use when you begin an encounter

Superior Inspiration: at 20th level you gain back all uses of Bardic Inspiration when you begin an encounter

Subclasses
College of Glamour
Enthralling Performance: usable 2/long rest
Unbreakable Majesty: usable 1/encounter. Duration is changed to until the end of your next turn

College of Whispers
Words of Terror: usable 2/long rest
Mantle of Whispers: usable 2/long rest

Cleric
Channel Divinity: usable 2/long rest. At 6th level, it can be used 3 times/long rest. At 18th level, if you have no uses left when you begin an encounter, you regain a use.

Subclasses
Knowledge Domain
Visions of the Past: 2/long rest

Druid
Wildshape: can be used 3 times/long rest

Subclasses
Circle of the Moon
Combat Wild Shape: this ability also grants “when you begin an encounter with no uses of wild shape, gain 1 use.”
Circle of the Shepherd
Spirit Totem: usable 2/long rest

Fighter
Second Wind: usable 2/long rest
Action Surge: 1/encounter

Subclasses
Arcane Archer
Arcane Shot: 2/encounter
Ever-Ready Shot: 4/encounter

Battle Master
Combat Superiority: 3 dice/encounter. This rises to 4 dice at 7th and 5 dice at 15th
Relentless: (remove this ability)

Echo Knight
Shadow Martyr: 1/encounter

Psi Warrior
Psionic Power: lose the power to regain a psionic dice using a bonus action. Instead, if you begin an encounter with no psionic dice, regain 2 dice
Psi-Powered Leap: this ability may be used 1/encounter, or additional times by spending a psionic energy die

Rune Knight
Rune Carver: each rune can be used 1/encounter
Master of Runes: each rune may be used 2/encounter

Warlock
Pact Magic Spell Slots: At 1st level, warlocks have a single spell slot to cast their spells. At 3rd level, they gain another 1st level spell slot (so one 2nd level slot, and one 1st level slot in total). At 5th level,the warlock has one 3rd level slot and one 2nd level slot. At 7th level, a warlock has one 4th level slot and one 3rd level slot. At 9th, one 5th level and one 4th level slot. At 11th level, both slots are 5th level. At 15th level, they gain a 3rd spell slot of 5th level. At 20th level, they gain a 4th spell slot of 5th level. Regardless of how many slots granted by this feature, they may be used one each/encounter.

Eldritch Master: this ability now has two uses. As an action, the warlock may recover all of their spent spell slots granted by Pact Magic. Or, with a 1 minute of uninterrupted effort, they may recover a single spell slot granted by Mystic Arcanum. Regardless of which one is used, this ability may not be used again until you finish a long rest.

Subclasses
Archfey
Fey Presence: 1/encounter
Misty Escape: 1/encounter
Dark Delirium: 1/encounter

Celestial
Celestial Resistance: this ability may be used when rolling initiative. It grants temporary HP equal to your proficiency bonus + cha modifier to all creatures it affects

The Fathomless
Fathomless Plunge: 1/encounter

The Fiend
Dark One’s Own Luck: 1/encounter

Great Old One
Entropic Ward: 1/encounter

Hexblade
Hexblade’s Curse: 1/encounter. It lasts until the end of your next turn

Undying
Indestructible Life: 1/encounter

[Magikeeper]

Per encounter works great for combat abilities, less so for abilities with mixed usage.

Like, those Warlocks that now recharge Spider Climb by picking a bar fight or something.

To fix warlocks it'd be better to introduce a new mechanic, like in addition to their paltry spell slots they can, 1/encounter, use their Patron's Bestowal to cast any spell they know without using a spell slot. If they do, the spell's duration is reduced to 1 minute if it would normally be longer. Also, reduce their number of spellslots by 1 at levels 2+ since they can always reserve those slot(s) for utility now.

There's still some potential for "picking a fight so they can fly up a ledge" but it'd be more niche, at least. This would definitely need playtesting though, I am not at all confident about this warlock change idea. >.>

Battlemasters also have some non-combat dice options. They're less an issue than warlock stuff, but still - picking a fight with a rabid dog because they need to boost their upcoming stealth check...

[Skrum]

Well. I would encourage dm's to not allow such obvious brinkmanship. It's also worth pointing out that short rests are potentially abusable as well - if the characters have no particular threat around them or specific time pressure, they can, RAW, rest as much as they want. This is prevented by dm's not allowing BS.

And encounter powers can be used out of combat; they just come back when the next encounter begins. I really don't see this as any more gameable than taking short rests.

[Anymage]

One hour short rests have the drawback that if you try to chain them, you quickly wind up blowing several hours. If you can leisurely spend that much time, the problems you're facing probably aren't that serious and there are probably other time intensive solutions you could be using.

If you want to have more abilities be up on a per encounter basis, the easiest thing to do is shorten short rests. Fifteen minutes or even five should do the trick. Balancing between at will based characters, encounter based ones and long rest ones will still be tricky, but at least you won't have the awkwardness of the short rest characters asking everybody to sit around for one hour but not eight.

[Magikeeper]

Well. I would encourage dm's to not allow such obvious brinkmanship. It's also worth pointing out that short rests are potentially abusable as well - if the characters have no particular threat around them or specific time pressure, they can, RAW, rest as much as they want. This is prevented by dm's not allowing BS.

Per-encounter limits for combat abilities make sense because the number of combats per rest is kind of arbitrary.

But! The number of combats per non-combat situation is also arbitrary! The suggestion in the opening post is easy to follow for combats but leaves non-combat recharges much more vague and optional-sounding. If the DM doesn't calibrate non-combat recharging they're going to end up with the same rest starvation issue.. or bar-fight recharging.

If the system is going to include non-combat abilities it needs to view them - and the timing of their recharges - as more than an afterthought. There's also the issue that some non-combat abilities are lasting, like, an hour and the like.

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Honestly might be better to convert the combat abilities to per-encounter and the non-combat abilities to long-rest but that would a more extensive overhaul than fiddling with uses per day. Warlocks in particular would need sizable changes.


Or the more common solution of just making short rests, like, 5 minutes and limiting them to 2/day.