D&D 5E Crazy house rule idea: One Level Exhaustion to take a Long Rest

[BookTenTiger]

Here's a crazy house rule idea we came up with tonight in our session:

Long Rest: A Long Rest takes one full week.

Long Rest With a Cost: During an adventure, as an action, a character may take on one level of Exhaustion in order to gain the benefits of a Long Rest.

We came up with this idea in order to try to prevent Long Rests from disrupting the forward momentum of an adventure. Instead of stopping the adventure to debate whether to take a long rest or not, the characters can just take a level of exhaustion and instantly gain the effects of a Long Rest.

How do you think this would effect adventuring? Please note, I have put literally no more thought than this into the House Rule idea.

 

[Li Shenron]

That's pretty extreme... one single action means, that in the middle of the combat a spellcaster can regain all the used spell slots by skipping a turn. If it's the first level of exhaustion, it also doesn't usually hinder a spellcaster that much (I'd say it is more costly for characters focused on exploration). I would be very cautious allowing this, but of course you can try it out and see how it goes.

With a full week as a default for a long rest, I assume you don't have as many combat encounters as typical, so the PCs won't probably use this option every day (which would lead to more levels of exhaustion, and by the way I also guess that with your house rules you don't remove exhaustion levels with a long rest) so maybe that's ok.

Probably I would have gone with taking 1 hour instead of 1 action, to avoid this happen in the middle of combat, but I can also see the appeal in having a "sudden boost". Are you going to allow the enemies doing the same in combat? Now that would be neat

 

[Don Durito]

Here's a crazy house rule idea we came up with tonight in our session:

Long Rest: A Long Rest takes one full week.

Long Rest With a Cost: During an adventure, as an action, a character may take on one level of Exhaustion in order to gain the benefits of a Long Rest.

We came up with this idea in order to try to prevent Long Rests from disrupting the forward momentum of an adventure. Instead of stopping the adventure to debate whether to take a long rest or not, the characters can just take a level of exhaustion and instantly gain the effects of a Long Rest.

How do you think this would effect adventuring? Please note, I have put literally no more thought than this into the House Rule idea.

It seems...awkward.

It strongly incentivises a long rest right before a final battle, which strongly favours long rest over short rest classes - and kind of removes any point of wearing players down over time before that final battle.

I've had exhaustion for a short rest as a once only deal per long rest before.

I'd ask whether it's really necessary for a long rest to be a week. I've found that either or both limiting long rests to a particular kind of stress free environment (ie a quiet room in an inn) or 36 hours (so a full day of inactivity) is generally enough.

 

[AnotherGuy]

Here's a crazy house rule idea we came up with tonight in our session:

Long Rest: A Long Rest takes one full week.

Long Rest With a Cost: During an adventure, as an action, a character may take on one level of Exhaustion in order to gain the benefits of a Long Rest.

We came up with this idea in order to try to prevent Long Rests from disrupting the forward momentum of an adventure. Instead of stopping the adventure to debate whether to take a long rest or not, the characters can just take a level of exhaustion and instantly gain the effects of a Long Rest.

How do you think this would effect adventuring? Please note, I have put literally no more thought than this into the House Rule idea.

Absolutely terrible idea and I have actual table experience on this and similar such rules due to house rules we have experimented with.
@Li Shenron's first sentence sums it up. You do not want an instant refresh on everything, particularly the later levels.

 

[Fanaelialae]

This makes Greater Restoration (which can fix exhaustion) too good. At a minimum, you shouldn't allow Greater Restoration (or similar spells) to heal exhaustion gained this way, else they essentially become spells that grant all the benefits of a long rest.

 

[clearstream]

Here's a crazy house rule idea we came up with tonight in our session:

Long Rest: A Long Rest takes one full week.

Long Rest With a Cost: During an adventure, as an action, a character may take on one level of Exhaustion in order to gain the benefits of a Long Rest.

We came up with this idea in order to try to prevent Long Rests from disrupting the forward momentum of an adventure. Instead of stopping the adventure to debate whether to take a long rest or not, the characters can just take a level of exhaustion and instantly gain the effects of a Long Rest.

How do you think this would effect adventuring? Please note, I have put literally no more thought than this into the House Rule idea.

Exhaustion is a good cost - I use it in my own longer rests rules - but as an action is for sure crazy.

My rules apply three costs to long rests

1. you gain the unconscious condition
2. the rest takes 24 hours
3. you gain a level of exhaustion at the end of the rest

Short rests are similar

1. you gain the unconscious condition
2. the rest takes 8 hours

And short rests flow into long rests. Note that long and short rests don't give HP or HD recovery in my rules. 1 hour breathers let you spend HD. Sleep (or trance) lets you regain HD. There is no rests regain-all for HP.

 

[commandercrud]

Long rest taking a week. That's fine. I do that.

An action to get a level of exhaustion to get a long rest makes no damn sense. Exhaustion to long rest. Think about the logic there.

 

[clearstream]

Long rest taking a week. That's fine. I do that.

An action to get a level of exhaustion to get a long rest makes no damn sense. Exhaustion to long rest. Think about the logic there.

I've rethemed rests that refresh abilities such as class features (e.g., ki, spell slots etc) as a form of intense meditation in-world. Exhaustion after a 'long rest' then made sense to us, because it is after 24 hours of unbroken meditation.

 

[commandercrud]

I've rethemed rests that refresh abilities such as class features (e.g., ki, spell slots etc) as a form of intense meditation in-world. Exhaustion after a 'long rest' then made sense to us, because it is after 24 hours of unbroken meditation.

Then what is sleep?

 

[BookTenTiger]

Okay, to be fair, I was a couple of beers into my first in-person game in over a year and a half when I came up with this idea.