Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Slit518 Jul 10, 2015 16:54:48	How many short rests should the players be allowed to take in 1 day, and still gain it's benefits?   Let's say the day has 24 hours, with 8 reserved for long rests.   That leaves 16 hours for activity.   So, if we hour 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 to 5 to 6 to 7 to 8 to 9 to 10 to 11 to 12 to 13 to 14 to 15 to 16, and count the word to between the numbers, that means there are a potential for 15 short rests!   That seems ridiculous!  Perhaps a limit of 5 short rests a day?  What do you all think?
#2 mellored Jul 10, 2015 16:57:05	2 on average,  according to the DMG.
#3 LordTwig Jul 10, 2015 16:59:17	They can have up to 24. Each takes an hour and there is 24 hours in a day. They don't have to take a long rest.   Of course they won't be doing much but resting.   Has this ever actually been a problem in an actual game? My players are free to have their characters sit around all day if they want. But they haven't.   However, if they are in a dangerous area they are going to get attacked if the keep trying to rest. The world doesn't wait on them to finish a short rest.
(Reply to #2) LordTwig	mellored wrote:
#5 iserith Jul 10, 2015 18:23:10	I don't place limits like that on the players - they can take them whenever they want.   That doesn't mean it won't cost them something, however.
#6 Tempest_Stormwind Jul 10, 2015 19:14:18	LordTwig wrote:
#7 Coredump00 Jul 10, 2015 20:27:07	Also remember, a Short rest is not 1 hour, it is "at least 1 hour".  As DM I would rule that taking two short rests in a row, is really just 1 long short rest.  Even if you did a few push up in between...
#8 Nevvur Jul 10, 2015 21:06:32	Also also remember, the suggested average number of rests is theoretically balanced against a mix of classes who benefit differently from short and long rests. A party with a fighter, warlock and monk is going to benefit a lot more from frequent short rests than a party with a paladin, wizard and barbarian. Take the party's class composition into consideration when balancing the difficulty with rest opportunities.
#9 Slagger_the_Chuul Jul 11, 2015 5:01:12	Slit518 wrote:
#10 Horwath Jul 11, 2015 4:58:53	It depends on the type of adventure you are.   In HotDQ on the road part, it's not unreasonable to have 4 or more short rests. You travel the road for 2 hrs then rest for 1 hr. repeat...   In dungeon filled with goons you're going to be hard pressed to get even one...
#11 Rhenny Jul 12, 2015 7:40:57	I agree with Iserith and Horwath.  The adventure and common sense (and sometimes a check for wandering monsters or a planned surprise) works well.   I think DM and players get to a point where they "know" when it is a good time for a short rest.   As a DM, I will sometimes judge how beat up they are and what they will be facing soon.  If I think they need a rest, I will try to make the conditions suitable for a rest (although I don't tell the players directly...I just tell them that "all seems quiet").   Lately I have been rolling for wandering monsters just to add a little randomness to the equation.  It has worked well.  Sometimes, just one random encounter when the PCs are low on resources is enough to spook them and keep them from resting too often.  The same can be achieved with planned encounters if you don't use wandering monsters.   Short rest is like a pacing tool.  In one adventure I created and ran, the PCs had to find the dead bodies of two lovers who were cursed to remain apart in the afterlife.  The PCs were visited by one of the two spirits and they wanted to help.  Throughout the adventure, the party had to explore a cemetary, and enter three different musoleaums before they could enter the main musoleaum where the body of the lovers were laid to rest and cursed.  Each musoleum was a challenge in itself, so naturally, after each one, the party tried to rest.   If they decided to rest out in the cemetary, there was a chance for undead/demon attacks.  The smart move was to rest inside one of the musoleaums that they already cleared.  That way they could rest without chance of encounter.   Long story short...that adventure they had 3 short rests.
#12 Byakugan01 Jul 14, 2015 5:11:45	Expeditions usually tell you how many rests the players are allowed to take.  in AL, generally you want to give them at least 1 short and 1 long rest.  At a table of 6-7 players you are probably only going to get through 2-3 fights in a night anyways, so whatever the last fight is my players usually try to retreat and rest at the end of the session.  My players tend to make a lot of noise though and the nearby monsters usually come running when the alarm sounds.    Last session, they used the Barbarian lock picker to open the door right next to the floor boss in the dojo, and when she retreated, they chased her right into two more rooms worth of encounters and the party ended up getting Shatter cast on at least 2 -3 of them 5 turns in a row, lol.  None of them died, but there were multiple points where 2 of them were unconscious with 1 or more failed death saves.  They had to retreat directly after the fight after only being there for just over a minute.  The place was still sounding the 'alarm' and they knew they were about to get swarmed.  So next week they get to start out having just finished a long rest going into evening with the monsters having reorganized.
#13 Ralif_Redhammer Jul 14, 2015 7:40:14	Like many others, I don’t sweat over short rests – the spellcasters in the group will generally call for a long rest before the group takes too many short rests. But of course, there are wandering monsters lurking, and the villains’ plans wait for no one.