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Thoughts on Gritty Realism / Adventuring Week - anyone tried it? (feddit.uk)
submitted 2 years ago by smeg@feddit.uk to c/dndnext@ttrpg.network
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Copying this from a comment I made a few months ago, I'd like to try having an "adventuring week" rather than an "adventuring day", i.e. have X encounters per in-game week(ish) rather than the same number per in-game day. The Gritty Realism variant rules basically provide this though I think the name really puts people off; I'm not trying to add realism, just make it so you can have actual meaningful resource-draining encounters as part of something like a week-long travel (currently I'd need to throw in so many encounters that it becomes tedious, or have one-encounter days which we all know the problems with!)

Has anyone tried Gritty Realism before, and if so how did you implement it and how did you find it? My main question would be:

  • How many days did you have per long rest?
    • I'm thinking probably three (so two short rests per long rest) but that's more a guideline for me the DM when planning rather than mandating a minimum time between long rests.
  • How long were your long rests and did they need to be in a "safe haven"?
    • I think something like at least 24 hours of downtime in a safe-ish place (including two sleeps), though again it's on me the DM to make sure safe havens are common enough.
  • How did you adjust spell times?
    • 1 minute stays as 1 minute, it's meant to last a single combat
    • 1 hour up to several hours, could last multiple combats but doesn't persist after a short rest
    • 8 hours up to several days, lasts most of the adventuring week (e.g. mage armour)
    • 24 hours up to several days, at least as long as the adventuring week
all 20 comments
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[–] kilpatds@mastodon.social 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

@smeg What I’ve done with other systems is to try and turn it a bit more narrative….

Each “episode” (hopefully game day) starts with a long rest. Each “scene” starts with a short rest. If your episode covers a week? One long rest. If you deliberately break one challenge into multiple fights? Still one scene, no rests.

[–] Sandra@idiomdrottning.org 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I've tried it! The players revolted because I was running mixed-level parties and this system exacerbated the issues inherent in that (low-level chars need to rest more often than high-level chars in the same environment).

@smeg @dndnext

[–] smeg@feddit.uk 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I'm guessing it would have been the same situation if you had done the same number of combats per short and long rest for a normal adventuring day, do you think? Also how big a level difference are we talking?

[–] Sandra@idiomdrottning.org 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

If D&D had only been a series of fights, it would've been the same thing, but the revolt happened when one char was doing fun fun village stuff and exploring and social interaction while the other char was healing up from bloody wounds in an inn bed for a week. I think they were only like three or four levels apart.

Now we use https://idiomdrottning.org/oh-injury instead for our HP realism purps. (Basically HP is fatigue/hope/destiny.)

@smeg @dndnext

[–] smeg@feddit.uk 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Ah OK, I wasn't planning on using any of the slow healing / lingering injury rules, I'm not looking for "realism", just to make the days a bit less busy. Also I don't plan on having PCs end up more than 1 level off each other, how did you end up in that situation?

[–] Sandra@idiomdrottning.org 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It usually happens because a character died and that player started over with a new level-one character.

@smeg @dndnext

[–] smeg@feddit.uk 1 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Damn, I've never heard of anyone playing that new characters have to start from level 1, you run a pretty brutal table!

[–] Sandra@idiomdrottning.org 2 points 2 years ago

I know, right? And I've had that group since 2014 and our most recent campaign was 254 sessions and if even players accustomed to that kind of brutality wasn't into the "weeklong healing" rule, that's saying something about how beyond brutal that rule is!

@smeg @dndnext

[–] foyrkopp@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

I'm currently running a campaign that involves a lot of exploration, travel and a dash of politics.

Cramming a full "adventuring day" of 6-8 encounters into each calendar day was just not feasible - "interesting days" will have one, maybe two encounters, occasionaly with several days of travel/downtime in between.

So if adjusted to "SR = a night's rest" and "LR = 24h of downtime" and it fixed the problem immediately.

A LR requires more creature comforts than a fire and a blanket, but if they invest into supplies and hirelings, they can set up a "base camp" that allows a LR even in the wilderness.

As for spell duration: I've just set all spells that are supposed to cover most of an adventuring day (like Mage Armor) to last until the end of the next Long Rest and this has covered all problems so far. Remember to adjust the recovery of charge-based magical items, too.

[–] smeg@feddit.uk 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

This sounds like exactly what I've got in mind, cheers! Any other adjustments you made or pitfalls I should watch out for?

[–] foyrkopp@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

Try to hit the aforementioned 6-8 encircled per LR.

Apply common sense whenever you find a mechanic interacting weirdly with this.

Don't spring an altered test model on your players unannounced.