Rest Rules
Medium Grit Rests
Continuing the rest rules from last time with a few changes. I realized the week long waits with out-of-session activities and field rests get really close, if not equal to, a full heroic rest. Not really what I was going for, but I don't want to nerf in-session rests, so I made a small adjustment to out-of-game rests. NEW: When taking rests in-between sessions, you can only benefit from one Field Rest when doing other out-of-session activity over the same period of time as a Heroic Rest. Thus, in this campaign, an out-of-session Field Rest can take place once every three days. With this system, there are 4 types of rest. Each rest includes all the benefits of all lesser types of rest. From greatest to least, they are:| Rest Type | Duration | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Heroic Rest | 3 Days | "Long Rest"+, Full Recovery |
| Field Rest | 8 Hours | Regain some Hit Dice (HD) overnight |
| Girding Up | 2 Hours | Spend HD for spell slots or “Training” |
| Breather | 10 Minutes | “Short Rest”. Spend HD for hit points |
Heroic Rest
A heroic rest requires the players to spend 3 days of downtime at a Waypoint. A “Waypoint” means a place with its own bedding and shelter (Liamunds Tiny Hut does not count), where most local inhabitants are not hostile, and where you don’t need to forage or stand watch. In Lumen Campaign, where most of your time was spent in a city, I keept the time at 7 days to compensate for your relative 24/7 environmental safety. This campaign, I'm returning to the regular 3 days BUT with the restriction of safe resting. Benefits: counts as a standard Long Rest. Regain all features, spell slots, hit points, HD, ability scores, and exhaustion. After this, gain any benefits of Girding Up and a Breather that wouldn't normally be included in a Heroic Rest. A Heroic Rest is interrupted by any of the following:- Rolling Initiative
- 1hr consistent walking/ physical exertion, with the exception of "leisurely walks"
- Taking substantial damage (I'm not going to punish you for a paper cut over 3 days, but more than 1 or 2 HP is significant)
- Casting a leveled spell
Field Rests
A Field Rest is a period of extended downtime—at least 8 hours long. During a Field Rest, you sleep (remain Unconscious) for at least 6 hours and spent the rest on light activity, such as standing watch, reading, talking, or eating. You can take only 1 Field Rest per day; going 24h without one risks exhaustion (see the section on New Exhaustion below). Benefits: When you finish a Field Rest, regain hit points (hp) equal to 1/10 of your maximum, or set your current hp to half your maximum, whichever is greater. (Round up for both.) Then recover one of the below:- Hit Dice: Regain a number of HD equal to your Proficiency Bonus (PB).
- Exhaustion: Recover one level of exhaustion. Then, make a DC15 Endure check to recover 1 additional level, or a DC 20 Endure check to recover 2 additional levels.
- Features: Counts as finishing a Long Rest (or for Arcane Recovery, a “day”) for all features except spell slots.
- Rolling Initiative
- 1hr walking/ physical exertion
- Taking any damage
- Casting a leveled spell
Girding Up
Girding Up is a period of at least 2 hours of downtime, during which you spend at least 1 hour concentrating on preparations like meditation, study, training, or prayer. Benefits: When you finish Girding Up, you gain the benefits of a Breather (below; same as Short Rest), and can do any combination of the below:- Re-preparation: Change any choices that you make at the end of a long rest (eg, prepared spells).
- Spell Slots (Base): Spend X HD, where X is one less than your Proficiency Bonus. For each spell level up to X, if you have less than two slots of that level remaining, regain one.
- Spell Slots (Any): Spend 1 HD per slot level to regain spell slots of any level. For example, 4 HD can get you four 1st level slots, two 2nd level slots, one 4th level slot, or one 1st level slot and one 3rd level slot.
- Training (Non-Casters and Rangers Only): Spend 2 HD. Roll 1d6. Find the benefit on this table below. You can reroll for 1HD per roll, but use only the last result
| Roll | Training Benefit |
|---|---|
| 1 | Gain one Heroic Inspiration (AKA an inspiration dice; essentially a luck point you can spend whenever). |
| 2 | Turn one hit from a weapon into a critical hit. This can be done any time before the next Field Rest. Alternatively, you can grant this ability to an ally by using the Help action on them. They can then use this critical hit at any point in the next minute. |
| 3 | Gain one extra Bonus Action or Reaction. This can be done any time before the next Field Rest. |
| 4 | Gain the ability to take the Help action as a free action once. This can be done any time before the next Field Rest. |
| 5 | Gain the ability to disengage as a free action once. Doing so grants you +15 movement speed that turn. This can be done any time before the next Field Rest. |
| 6 | Gain the ability to dodge as a Bonus Action once. If you are a Monk, this becomes a free action. This can be done any time before the next Field Rest. |
Breather
A Breather takes 10 minutes of resting/tending wounds. You can take a Breather up to twice per day. Benefits: Gain the benefits of a standard Short Rest****to regain all Pact Magic slots, you must spend 1HD, or 2HD if they are at least 3rd level slots. Bonus to “Song of Rest”: A party with a bard can take one additional Breather per day.
Misc Rest Rules
Heroes’ Feast: When cast by the party OR by a beneificary of a higher level (or equivalent CR value) than the party, the targets of the spell get the benefits of a Field Rest.Catnap: This spell gives the benefits of Girding Up, during which the cost of one benefit is reduced by 1HD.
New Exhaustion
The new exhaustion rules seemed a bit easier to manage, even though they weren't as impactful. That's my fault for not handing it out more often, really. Still keeping with these changes. For each level of exhaustion you have, you get -1 to all your d20 checks and DCs. With 4+ levels of exhaustion, your speed is halved; 8+, your speed is 5 feet; and at 10+, you die. You can gain exhaustiuon in a number of ways that I might rule in game; if you fail a saving throw against exhaustion by 10 or more, you get 2 levels. Below are standard ways you will gain exhaustion:- You immediately get a level of exhaustion when you fall to 0hp.
- After >24h without sleep, you must make a DC10 Endure check against exhaustion. Repeat this saving throw every 12 hours, increasing the DC by 3 each time.
- After using the Dash Action more than (3 + Con modifier) times in a row (watch this video for rules on how a chase works in D&D), you must make a DC10 Endure check against exhaustion. Each subsequent turn spent dashing increases this DC by 3.
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