3 rules to FIX encounters per day

I'm gonna tell you why you're WRONG about 6-8 encounters per day :)
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[@Lucasfghjsokfdkjheu]

Love everything you said, except "oh, you rolled a 20? Too bad you're casting a spell. That candy is not for you"

[@JasonJones-zn2os]

I encourage more encounters per day. Here is my method. Characters receive 20% XP from combat if they do only one or two encounters before a long rest. Characters receive 30% XP from combat if they complete three encounters. 40% from four and 50% from five. I also give XP for gold at 20% of the value of treasure returned to civilization. The effect on actial play is that my players push themselves to complete a reasonable encounter load while also interacting with the environment to find all the hidden loot. This may not work for every table. If you like it, use it.

[@ZipperonDisney]

I like how this rewards the heroes for doing heroics

[@JesseCuoi]

That link was so interesting! Game theory nerds nerding out. Thanks for this good sir.

[@larrygarms7230]

Very informative!! You and Professor Dungeon Master, from Dungeon Craft, should team up for a video!! You’re both critical thinkers.

[@ZipperonDisney]

That would be cool!

[@irishthump73]

I agree. I'm a big fan of Dungeon Craft, he has some awesome ideas. I subscribed to Zipperon because he talks the same sort of talk!

[@larrygarms7230]

@@irishthump73, they do! Zipperon brings an amazing sense of reality and energy that is unmatched. PDM brings amazing twists to the rules and problem solving. The two together would be an unstoppable force!

[@irishthump73]

Larry Garms yes! Guys, make this happen!

[@yuan286]

Yes 5e does not require you to to run 6-8 encounters per day. If you want to have only one big boss fight per day, go for it. Play the game how ever you want, and make sure your players are having fun. But calsses are going to feel a bit different. Roughly once a month we will see a thread asking if palidins are OP. Any exsperanced DM will tell you they're not, but they are a lot stronger if you obly run one boss per day. They can deal great damage with their smite. Tank with they're high AC and or shield of faith. Take on the role of a healer and more. If you only run one fight per day your palidin will seem a lot stronger then your fighter, or wizard, or monk.

[@ZipperonDisney]

'feeling different' is 100% a-okay. Symmetry is not balance is not play experience :)

[@anthonynorman7545]

The paladin is objectively stronger than the fighter if there's just 1 encounter, though.

[@yuan286]

@@anthonynorman7545 yes, which is qhy running 1 encounter a day is a terrible idea.

[@anthonynorman7545]

@@yuan286 right, so don't say that paladins only _seem_ stronger when they're objectively stronger

[@yuan286]

@@anthonynorman7545 it still depends on the situation. They wont always seem stronger.

[@thatcanadianguy7699]

I wish I found your channel last year! You provide so much good advice that I haven't seen anyone else talk about. Subscribed!

[@ZipperonDisney]

Welcome aboard! I try really hard to put out unique ttRPG content - glad it's appreciated :)

[@GramGramAnimations]

I felt the same when I first came across this channel

[@lhagwatulgabatsuren4902]

23ю2цп2

[@AnthonyAziz]

I love that this seems to be getting more attention lately. Your last point about long rest on travels. That was my biggest problem: party has to travel through 2 weeks of dangerous wilderness, but unless I wanted to spend a dozen sessions on just travel, I ended up skipping interesting encounters or having to make them super deadly set piece encounters just to make the players care. So what I do know is make resting require a RESOURCE. I call them Rest Points. Characters earn.them by completing days of downtime, the higher quality the more points per day. These also have a max. Essentially what this boils down to is the players take a couple weeks of downtime in a city, then head out on an adventure. They have about 2 long rests and 3-4 short rests they can take.ovee the course of that whole adventure. It suddenly makes encounters that aren't a threat more exciting. The pack of wolves isn't a threat to their life, it's a threat to their hit dice, spell slots, etc., Which they need to save for the actual dungeon. It's made a huge difference in my games.

[@ZipperonDisney]

The 'rest points' idea is outstanding. You stock up how refreshed and refitted you are, and it diminishes over time. *VERY* cool!

[@AnthonyAziz]

@@ZipperonDisney I have a first draft document typed up, but I haven't gone and published it or anything. If you care about the details, I can send that to you. I've only been using it in one campaign over the past 6-8 months, so it probably needs adjustments.

[@CharalamposKoundourakis]

@@AnthonyAziz Heyho there. I would absolutely love to take a look aswell if you feel like sharing. This sounds like a great idea.

[@AnthonyAziz]

@@CharalamposKoundourakis Here's my original rough draft. We played with these rules through the back half of SKT for about a year and it seemed to work out well! The numbers might need tweaking. As they are, it never really felt punishing, but my players definitely opted to skip a Long Rest if they only had a few HP or slots missing. Feel free to ask any questions, there's probably gaps in the wording etc. www.dropbox.com/s/euqvdyknzdqnm1z/Recovery%20Points%20Variant.pdf?dl=0

[@wokenoodle5209]

@@AnthonyAziz Fantastic system, sometimes I really love my habit to lurk the comments) Usually, yet another resource-based system could be argued to bring unnecessary complication to the game, but rest in D&D 5e is so barren and primitive, that your rules fit rigth in, especially being designed quite elegantly. They also make a lot of sense: taken you're not a literal wildman, sleeping under the stars would be restoring you for the first few nights, but with each one it gets more tiresome - not exhaustion-wise, but in a way that you don't feel that energy fountain in the morning after some time. I went hiking for a solid part of the week last month and it felt just like that, at least :p Again, thank you for a cool idea, I'll try to implement it in the next overland-heavy campaing I run.

[@grumpygrognard7292]

I think a lot depends on the pace at which the players are comfortable. 6-8 encounters per day seems excessive for outdoor adventuring. And for exploration of "dungeon" settings, the players can mostly dictate the pace of progress. However, once in a while, throw in a random/wandering monster when they get too comfortable in order to push that sense of urgency and danger. Also, the longer a party is travelling away from civilization a game mechanic should be used to simulate the growing stress/fatigue/weariness of being away from more secure environments.

[@ZipperonDisney]

Right! Exhaustion is too punishing, and hit dice aren't rare enough a resource at high levels. Something in-between representing vitality would be nice. But a lot of DnD players like heroic fantasy - you're superheroes in chainmail!

[@fadeleaf845]

Are you sure the problem with caster resources is crits? A lot of encounter-swinging spells like Fireball already can't crit due to requiring a saving throw. In fact, several other encounter-swinging spells like Hypnotic Pattern don't even deal damage.

[@ZipperonDisney]

most damage dealing spells *are* saving throws rather than attacks. This tweak doesn't really affect damage output as much as it gives martial characters something uniquely theirs. It's a mental/emotional buff

[@thegneech]

I built "no long rests during overland travel" into my previous game using a system similar to the 5E Lord of the Rings game and it worked really well; I've added it to my current Tomb of Annihilation campaign as well, and it really helps make wilderness feel dangerous. Whenever I'm doing a more story-focused and less random-encounter based adventure again, I'll probably use the max HP suggestion as well. And while I get the point re: spells not doing crits, I think having a flat "20 on attack = crit" rule is overall better for the game than tossing a bone to martial characters, so I probably won't bother with that one. Thanks for the vid, good stuff! And especially thanks for the link to the Mearls/Thompson panel, it was illuminating!

[@ZipperonDisney]

If you're doing ToA you might want to check out my vid on random encounters. I use them as a tool to advance the narrative

[@LunaSkye64]

Thank you KZbin for showcasing this wonderful channel! Subscribed immediately!

[@ZipperonDisney]

Glad you found it! There's a whole backlog of DnD videos you might like 👍

[@radkobachvaroff]

I'm chuckling to myself thinking of me and my friends who haven't played much. I generally go for one or two encounters, as we take a long time on turns. I can't imagine going through six separate combats in two hours

[@ZipperonDisney]

well, there doesn't have to be a correlation of one session = one adventuring day

[@hawkname1234]

Yeah, no. That's impossible. Most groups couldn't get through 6 ROUNDS in 2 hours.

[@typoko]

The no-crit for casters seems somewhat pointless past early levels where the casters actually don't cast any spells that require attack rolls anyway. Might be better just to call it no-crits for cantrips and it would be more clearer and wouldn't punish those who actually once in a blue moon use a spell that uses an attack roll. *shrug*

[@ZipperonDisney]

Oh yeah, most blast spells are saving throws. IMO the math is like 30% of the rule, the feeling of martial having something special is 70%

[@typoko]

@@ZipperonDisney In my experience, most nerfs are 5% math/actual situations and 95% feeling. :) I have recently only ran games on a public discord server and it has taught me to not even bother to try to correct every actual rule, as the feeling of something is highly more impactful than the actual effect.

[@Viper3220]

Max damage for crits is more of a problem for monster attacks in 5e that have crazy amounts of dice. Knock knock. Who's there? The Remorhaz with his 6D10+3D6 bite+fire I've been toying around with the idea of either limiting it to weapons (Monk though), limiting it to the PCs (I want my humanoid npcs to have a chance too) or just limiting it to humanoids. I can't seem to crack it. Typoko is right though - the feeling is what we wanted to address with our crit rule. Nothing worse than rolling a nat 20 and then snake eyes. Sucks all the joy out of it.

[@anthonynorman7545]

What about the warlocks though?

[@ZipperonDisney]

@@anthonynorman7545 I can only speak to my experience, BUT I did DM a warlock from lv 1-18, and at the end of the campaign I asked the player specifically about this. She said (and she's quite a canny player) that it felt just fine, especially since they had opportunities to short rest.

[@euansmith3699]

Not allowing Long Rests in dungeons (just like on overland travel) can also be thematically appropriate; making returning to the village both a blessed release and an absolute necessity.

[@ZipperonDisney]

I find that's not a rule I need to make because my players learn how foolish sleeping in a dungeon is hehe

[@gastySK9]

This is the best dnd video i've seen al year, insta subed, great great work!!!

[@ZipperonDisney]

Wow, thanks! I hope you fins other content you like. Have you seen the 'Exploration' video? it's along the same lines :)

[@panicpillow6097]

The very first adventure published for 5e gives you XP for the first traps you encounter right after the first encounter in the book. So at least initially Wizard's was saying 'traps provide XP' pretty strongly, it is the second thing you get XP for if you play the starter set. I think we should stop pretending WotC knows what they are doing with 5e. The DMG is a mess, the PHB is bloated, different sources (even within the same book) will give you differing advice on a variety of topics and all the modules I have seen are unplayable right out of the box, eventhough no WotC product teaches DMs to do the work themselves.

[@ZipperonDisney]

Good observation abot LMoP! But, I will say that adventure (like Hoard of Dragon Queen) was written before the rules and DMG were finalized!

[@panicpillow6097]

​@@ZipperonDisney I see that, but to me that just reinfoces that 5e is a bit of an unfocused mess. I don't know if this is what they were going for but it seems that they wanted to appeal to as many people as possible. But in doing so, 5e has very little it does very well. A lot of rules aren't playable and seem to be just tacked on in case someone wants to play a game with that element in mind. At best, the 5e ruleset is a combat simulator, but even that it doesn't really do well imo because they are unwilling to make a commitment to how you should structure combats. I am not saying this is the only way you can play a game of 5e, it is vague enough that you can do most things with it, but I feel like for almost everything you want to do, there is more playable ruleset out there.

[@o.w.7679]

@@panicpillow6097 I do think you're right. I had the luck of being introduced to tabletop roleplaying through other game systems than D&D, and it does tremendously help shape a different understanding of roleplaying. Looking at the internet, you'd be forgiven to think "D&D" means "tabletop roleplaying as a whole", but in truth, D&D 5e really is merely one of the most accessible systems out there. And it also happens to feel unfinished and unfocused in nearly every area of its ruleset. It's no wonder why there's so much homebrew out there. The game is both too bad and too ubiquitous for people to do anything else. I've had, and will have loads of fun playing this game, but it has been and will be mainly be thanks to the narratives my roleplaying comrades and I create, and has had and will have little to do with the merits of D&D 5e's system.

[@axbx7139]

Seems like warlocks would be in trouble. I faced the problem of short/long rest characters with warlocks. Rules you give nerf casters as presumably long rest characters (at least second rule). But warlocks are not

[@ZipperonDisney]

Fair point! But again, the raw math of 'no crits on spells' I don't think is all that important. It's more about making martials feel cool

[@axbx7139]

@@ZipperonDisney I often feel like warlocks are more underrated than martials. But probably it differs between groups. My own suggestion for this: give benefits of long rests only on second or third sleep. It makes game grittier for low levels, but seems to be fine on 5+ levels. But my players don't like that idea at all :(

[@jelte3754]

I experienced the same issue for my party with 8h SR, 24h LR. But the key here is that warlocks really only get 2 spells per encounter (or SR) so if it didn't work out as well as hoped, they're back to EB again (which can indeed be nerfed for that 5% chance not critting). Wizards get 3 or 4 slots of their highest level per day up to 6th level, so the difference is not that great. Bard/sorcerer/cleric/druid get other benefits. (I buffed my bardic inspiration a bit to have 1 free BI pick from all subclasses too haha)

[@bodywhey8]

You videos deserve waaaaay more likes and views. I’m a new subscriber and I intend on binge watching your content. Good work man!

[@ZipperonDisney]

I appreciate that! ❤️ Welcome aboard!

[@oOPPHOo]

Can anyone else confirm the crit solution actually working? Outside of cantrips, there are very few spells that require an attack roll so we still have the issue of the evocation wizard nuking everything with a fireball. In fact, we often have to burn through a lot of saving throw targeting spell slots before the long rest based spell casters even consider using cantrips. The overland travel solution is worth looking in to for me but, since my next campaign will likely be set in an urban setting for the first 5 levels, it would be hard to really implement when every adventuring day will likely end back home safely in the same inn.

[@BeyondTheScreenRPG]

*Great video as usual!* I don't often run more than 2 encounters per adventuring day, so I usually go with a hard & deadly if I REALLY want to challenge them. Using MAX HP is an excellent call. Another way to compensate for non-caster characters is giving them magical items that need a long rest to recharge. The problem with these is that they make the party a lot stronger as a whole, so caution is advised.

[@aaroncruze4638]

For long rests while in the wild, I like to make the players only recover half of their hit dice. This kind of simulates the uncomfortable nature of camping in the woods. It also gives the village tavern that feeling of relief with a fresh meal, a clean bath, and a soft bed.

[@ZipperonDisney]

That's a good idea! I think Hit Dice are supposed to represent the wear and tear a character goes through, and your take matches up with that nicely :)

[@fadeleaf845]

The simpler option is that camping out in the wild gives you the benefit of a short rest instead. Strictly by the table you'll only find like 1 or 2 wandering monsters a day in the wild, which should be manageable like that.

[@jeepersmcgee3466]

That's just RAW though. On a long rest, you recover half your maximum hit dice, rounded down. If an 11th-level Fighter uses 9 hit dice then long rests, they have 7 to use the next day

[@guyman1570]

Wait so... hmm oh... I think I understand... this could make exploration routes interesting... Normal travel = it's still dangerous-ish, no LR but you can have SR. Reckless travel = same as normal, but extra dangerous as in plenty of risky encounters will likely be put in by DM. Cautious travel = Allows a LR but requires quite a few hoops to ho through in order to benefit from LR.

[@severian83]

I've discovered you too late, what options are left to get Galder's?

[@ZipperonDisney]

You can sign up on the kickstarter page for the mailing list and playtest packets. The book will be available for purchase on DriveThruRPG when published :) www.kickstarter.com/projects/zipperondisney/galders-gazetteer-a-5e-expansion

[@severian83]

@@ZipperonDisney may have done that twice now. Love your ideas and presentation. The thought you put into the game is greatly helpful in revealing blind spots! Keep it up...please!

[@johnandrewbellner]

Another great video! Amazing!

[@ZipperonDisney]

Thanks again!

[@johnwhite2412]

Great tips. I love the no long rest benefits during overland travel. I would add dungeons to that too

[@allisonniesen3230]

I never get through 6-8 encounters with my "cats" I have to herd (aka players). But I really like your idea of not benefitting from long rest on overland travel. I probably wouldn't do that for every travel my players have been doing, but they have some travel in "special" places coming up, and in a dangerous location where their characters will be on edge the whole time, or uncomfortable due to environmental issues, that's a perfect way to deal with such things! Great ideas as always :D

[@ZipperonDisney]

Thanks for joining my patreon and for watching the stream the other day!

[@kendenk8766]

Dude, I find your videos interesting, relaxing, and thought provoking. You seem like a cool dude. Thanks for all the work you do.

[@creeperproductionsbr573]

very good chanel, you should be proud

[@ZipperonDisney]

Thank you!

[@armorclasshero2103]

Talking to the duke actually *does* have a cr attached. You get rewards for *overcoming* encounters, not just killing.

[@Viper3220]

I've been using max hp for a decade and I'll never go back

[@ZipperonDisney]

Heck yes!! What was your highest HP fight?

[@Viper3220]

@@ZipperonDisney The absolute highest was definitely the CR 16 Greater Stone Golem which clocked in at 460 - or 42d10+40 from 3.5 edition. Back then, plants, vermin, and constructs often had crazy high hit dice in relation to their CR. I introduced it as a guardian for a lich villain I was preparing to introduce. The theory being they fight this incredibly hard monster and then realize it had a master. The funny thing is they actually beat it by pushing it through a gate to the plane of earth. The wizard used the gate scroll he'd been saving and had the Goliath dungeoncrasher fighter/barb bullrush it through. They later found out how golems are made (binding an elemental) and they like to laugh about having sent it home in its final form. Good times.

[@ATMOSK1234]

I dont really get the spell crit thing. Besides cantrips the number of spells that require an attack role is small. Most spells function off of saves so besides an eldritch blasting warlock you arent really depriving spellcasters much by that rule.

[@matthewquan9083]

What I would do is instead of rolling twice the dice for criticals, don't roll dice for damage and just maximize them.

[@DungeonClass]

Excellent video, Zipperon. We love how you share bold ideas like “no crits for spells”. That may be unpopular for some people but is something that would indeed balance the encounter so it makes sense.

[@ZipperonDisney]

Glad you liked it! What do you do for encounter pacing?

[@armorclasshero2103]

The entire point of advertising and pr is that people like what they're told to like.

[@soMeRandoM670]

3:12 you talked about video below description what is it?

[@jelte3754]

No crit on Shocking Grasp and Eldritch blast, okay. But wait a minute! If we would also appy this to Shadow Blade and Divine Smite (can't be used in anti-magic field, though greater works), then Paladin crits are suddenly not crazy overpowered anymore!

[@ZipperonDisney]

Let me know how that goes for you!

[@VosperCDN]

I like the idea of restricting long rests, and have several ideas in mind based around various "grim & gritty" mods. The idea of no long rests on overland travel is interesting also, but you speak of only allowing it once they get to their destination. Would it apply if they are, as example, heading to a known dungeon some distance away but spend a night at a wayside inn along the way? Or would that be something you consider a 'destination', on the way to the real destination?

[@ZipperonDisney]

I'd cout an Inn as a LR worth place. In practice, I usually have my players roll for some encounters when doing overland travel; those are the ones I want to catch them with when down on resources.

[@anthonynorman7545]

No crits on spells. Warlocks are crying.

[@Calebgoblin]

Dude your channel is so nutritious. I look forward to your uploads regardless if they are immediately relevant to my game!

[@ZipperonDisney]

I appreciate that! Glad I gave you some food for thought :)

[@LordDungeonMaster]

I have used the no long rests while traveling rule and it works great. Action oriented monsters should help with the problem of the PCs going Nova. EDIT: I meant swingy battles being the problem, not the players going Nova. That was poor phrasing on my part

[@ZipperonDisney]

I guess I don't think of it as a problem per se. I want the players to feel cool and powerful and see their effects in action. But what did you have in mind?

[@LordDungeonMaster]

@@ZipperonDisney Matt Colville had a video on action oriented monsters a few months ago. Monsters designed that way can go against a party using all of their abilities even if action economy would normally go against them. You should definitely check it out if you haven't already.

[@meraduddcethin2812]

Very interesting video and well thought out. Thank you for continuing to make great content. One thing I note about the play-test material (which, as you so rightly pointed out, informed how Mearls et. al. shaped the game) is that most of the crawls are Tier 1 and Tier 2 modules (levels 1 - 10....ish). That may help to explain why the general CR system and encounters/day tends to break down as one gets higher in level. I whole-heartedly agree with you that most rule changes are about the 'feeling' over the 'math'. The game can be balanced to dance on the head of a pin, but if it _feels_ unbalanced, then it's still unsatisfying (You can intellectually know probabilities, but a pair of "1's" still feels horrible).

[@ZipperonDisney]

I *think they also released 'Dead in Thay' and used 'Vault of the Draco Lich' for tier 3. (someone should double check me on that...) But again, those were both dungeon crawlers

[@meraduddcethin2812]

@@ZipperonDisney They did for both, but Dead in Thay is levels 6-8 and Draco-lich was level 4-ish.

[@russelminer9888]

I always run my bbegs at max HP, but now I'm gonna use rule 2 behind the screen and 3 situationally. Awesome!

[@ZipperonDisney]

BBEGs I run at 2x XP mwhaaaahahahaa

[@jelte3754]

That's actually pretty great advice! Dungeon Dudes suggested making a long rest take 24 hours if you have traveled for more than 4 hours in a day. I really like the concreteness of it. My long rests now take 24h, short rest 8, but I might change it

[@ZipperonDisney]

Honestly, Im not sure changing from 8 to 24 hours really changes much. Why do you think so?

[@jelte3754]

@@ZipperonDisney this is what I chose when I started my campaign for the Essentials Kit and Storm King's Thunder. 24h long rests alters the party's travel speed (considering time pressure), as well as raise the dangers of taking a LR (e.g. not in a dungeon or in enemy territory). However does not step on player agency (which is important for some people/groups), meaning they can decide for themselves when they think taking a LR is a good idea. This is good when traveling has more focus and you don't want to kill your party on the way. Or they might not even have a set destination at all.

[@jelte3754]

@@ZipperonDisney if I want to create a journey that has its toll on the PCs I would probably use the Adventures in Middle Earth journey rules, which work great! It doesn't allow long rests either. I've played in a LotR campaign for some time and it could be brutal. If your players are up for it. That being said, I'm looking forward to your exploration video! :D

[@Streamweaver]

Pretty much zero modules use the encounters per day formula, that should be a sign.

[@ZipperonDisney]

Good observation! Except for maybe Yawning Portal or Mad Mage, which are dungeons...

[@Streamweaver]

@@ZipperonDisney Yes, very true. I'd still say those do the same and prove the point of your video. There is little in those modules to force the encounters per day mechanic and it's up to the party more or less, who will generally take a rest when they are down 50% or so in my experience. So in terms of module examples, the only real modules this applies to it isn't even a central part of the design. If it were, it would include some kind of reason why you can't rest until some kind of choke point, but it doesn't. This should be a signal as to how important the designers found that (they don't). Again though, this is kind of the point of your commentary. Well done!

[@dominichough7020]

Definitely some food for thought! My group much prefer exploring the land rather than dungeon diving for too long. I recently introduced the 'no long rests while travelling' rule which the party really liked as it gave for dangerous, exciting travel!

[@ZipperonDisney]

Have you checked out my overland travel vid? It's the first one I made so the production value isn't as good and the editing isn't as tight, BUT the ideas I think are still worth hearing

[@dominichough7020]

@@ZipperonDisney production value is still excellent my man! And to answer your question, yes. A whole bunch of your videos, very inspiring and thought provoking. I particularly like your take on combat flow and description. I was beginning to get bogged down in the details during combat. Its somtimes fun for the players to describe exactly 'how they want to do this' during actions, especially if the vibe is right at the table. Keep up the great work!

[@GimmeYourShoes]

I don't think anything is wrong with your fixes but every day that goes by, it seems like 5e needs more and more fixes. The system as a whole just doesn't seem very robust anymore and seems to fall apart around level 8 - 10

[@typoko]

Imho big problem with games falling apart around level 9 is the next level of spells and that DMs in general have a lot less experience in running these games. At least that is the case on my part and I feel like it's the same for many others. For example my poison based encounter became quite harmless when the monk of the group was completely immune to poisons.

[@ZipperonDisney]

For one thing, the game is near 6 years old and the paint is starting to chip off, you know? But the designers did think ahead and build a system that is flexible enough for DMs to tinker with freely. I like high level play just fine (current group is Lv 11), but I think i have a much different paradigm than most for how to run those games. But that's the subject for another vid...

[@ryanmulholland7802]

Wow.

[@thechaotimagnet]

I recently started running sunless citadel and can agree that dungeons hold players to the 6-8 encounters. Perhaps another question is how many full rounds of combat is it expected for each adventure day. Right now my lv2 players have 1-2 rounds for their 6 encounters.

[@ZipperonDisney]

What did they do with Meepo?

[@thechaotimagnet]

@@ZipperonDisney the paladin took him on as a squier, the he shortly died to the white dragon. The player were really sad.

[@ZipperonDisney]

@@thechaotimagnet Yeaaaaassssss!!!

[@roberticvs]

I like your video essays. Sometimes I put them on in the background and imagine you're wearing a black t-shirt and have cool art behind you like a proper gamer. Keep sharing your experience!

[@tukman16]

Finally a videos that shows why the short rest feature is core to maintaining balance to the game. I already try to apply the approach but never considered the alternative of your 3 rules. I'll see how that goes later, especially the overland travel idea

[@CharalamposKoundourakis]

I love your nuanced aproach to the game. Found the removing Crits from spells odd as ceitting a target is a big positive feel for players and taking that away can impact their experience. I'm absolutely going to implement your travel rest ideas.

[@Domina7ion]

No long rests on overland travel is genius. Such a simple idea but I think it sorts out most of the issues.

[@f.b.3263]

Good to have you back! Watched the video with Mike and Rod and it’s really interesting, wonder why so few views... thank you for sharing it!

[@ZipperonDisney]

Yeah, most of my creative time is devoted to the book, but I wanna keep making vids too 😁

[@HowtoRPG]

The Adventuring day arguments have always been pointless. I look forward to seeing your exploration video.

[@ZipperonDisney]

It's like player *enjoy* using their abilities and feeling powerful. The exploration vid is gonna be cool too! It's just taking me a while to organize my notes and thoughts into a coherent script ;P

[@HowtoRPG]

@@ZipperonDisney Fair enough. I know that problem.

[@ChubbiestLamb6]

I like the no long rests during travel bit. Here's where my head went with it, which might be an interesting variation: Long resting during overland travel is inadvisable due to the dangerous, exposed nature of it. Who knows what might spring upon you if you let your guard down? So the party is allowed to attempt a long rest if they choose, but they have to roll on a table of "overworld encounters" to do so. They may be assaulted by a group of bandits, or find that they set up camp in the hunting grounds of a wild beast, or simply have terrible weather interrupt their night. If they manage to roll a safe option, they get their long rest. Otherwise, it gets downgraded to a short rest and the party must deal with the encounter! Likely with a surprise round against them. You can add depth by creating safer/more dangerous tables depending on where they set up camp (maybe they are truly in a bind and elect to go for a long rest deep behind enemy lines), or give them some bonus (e.g. no surprise round penalty, advantage on roll, idk) if one or more party members forgo the long rest to stand guard. That way, "short rest classes" can hold down the fort while the others recharge fully. Any thoughts?

[@ZipperonDisney]

Rolling for random encounters overnight and not letting characters get a long rest if interrupted are both styles of play I've done before. It depends on how much time you want to spend at the table doing overland travel

[@ChubbiestLamb6]

@@ZipperonDisney that's true. I guess it could bloat the space between points A and B with basically irrelevant stuff, depending on the campaign. I think I'll try it out though!

[@Akeche]

Tiny Hut. There, I have gotten around all of the supposed dangers you just proposed.

[@ТсссПссс]

Here is what I do: 1. No more long rests! 2. Short rest - 8hrs! 3. Let them roll d6 at the end of a short rest. Who got 6 - gets long rest futures instead. This way I can have only 1 or maybe 2 quick combats at the end of a session. And as a bonus the party is never at their full power.

[@ZipperonDisney]

That sounds like it might be really swingy - the players can't plan ahead well. Let me know how it goes!!

[@TwinSteel]

🥳🫂👍🏿 Just passing thru again