D&D General Lifestyle, Resting, and Survival

[Xeviat]

Hi, everybody!

The Pillars of Eternity games had a neat system for representing getting good rest. The survival skill, and different inns, offered various bonuses when resting. Survival has things like damage reduction, movement speed, accuracy bonus against a creature type, and more. Different inns offered various bonuses, like skill bonuses or even stat bonuses.

I was thinking this idea could be neat to add into D&D through lifestyle expenses, giving you resting bonuses based on where you're staying.

Lifestyle	Total	Inn Stay	Meal	Remaining
Wretched	-	-	-	-
Squalid	1 sp	7 cp	3 cp	0
Poor	2 sp	1 sp	6 cp	4 cp
Modest	1 gp	5 sp	3 sp	2 sp
Comfortable	2 gp	8 sp	5 sp	7 sp
Wealthy	4 gp	2 gp	8 sp	12 sp
Aristocratic	10 gp+	4 gp	2 gp	4 gp+

Currently, lifestyle expense is only really for roleplaying. But what if inn stays and meals gave you a little bonus?

Comparing these to spellcasting services (50 gp for a 1st level spell) and scroll costs (25 gp for a 1st level spell), this can't really be too big of a bonus. But also considering it takes 8 hours to long rest, and we have things like ritual spells not costing a spell slot when you take longer to cast them, maybe we could get away with resting bonuses effectively being like getting a spell cast on yourself. Maybe I could look there for bonuses that wouldn't be too fiddly.

So what are some spells with long durations?

Aid (2nd level), +5 hp, +5 for each level above 2. This could be a good baseline.
Darkvision (2nd level); would be weird, but I could see gaining it from resting in a magical place (eyes getting used to the light).
Death Ward (4th level); holy site
Dream (5th level); weird arcane place to sleep
Mage Armor (1st level); arcane place
Water Breathing (3rd level)
False Life (1st level); 2d4+4 temp hp, +5 per level above 1st, could also be a good baseline since it is a single target feature.
Lesser Restoration (2nd level); this isn't too outlandish.
Greater Restoration (5th level); sleeping in a special place could confer greater restoration, I'd buy that.

Heroes' Feast is 6th level, which does set an upper bounds on what any resting bonuses should be able to grant as it costs 1,000 gp and a 6th level spell slot to cast.

Then, the survival skill could allow for granting resting bonuses when you camp. If Wretched is being untrained in survival, then +2 prof can net you squalid, +3 prof poor, +4 prof modest, +5 prof comfortable, and +6 prof wealthy.

What kind of bonuses would you be okay with handing out as well rested bonuses?

 

[Ancalagon]

I think you need to consider the impact this would have on travel, where the party has to rest in the wilderness.

You also have to consider what "quality" of rest using various spells such as tiny hut. It seems it could get quite complicated quickly

 

[Xeviat]

I think you need to consider the impact this would have on travel, where the party has to rest in the wilderness.

You also have to consider what "quality" of rest using various spells such as tiny hut. It seems it could get quite complicated quickly

My thought is the survival skill can be used to set camp. Higher proficiency with survival is comparable to higher quality rest. If everyone is untrained in survival, then that's just squalid rest so no bonuses.

Tiny Hut and Magnificent Mansion would just have a set rest value, so these spells can stand in for survival proficiency. Good pointing them out!

 

[GMMichael]

What kind of bonuses would you be okay with handing out as well rested bonuses?

Erm, not spell effects. Something more like an extra heroic inspiration. Maybe you get Advantage on your first constitution and intelligence checks.

Think about it like this: you perform the same at max hit points or 1 hit point. So what's a good night's rest going to do?

 

[Vendral]

I give out Temporary Hit Dice, or more correctly there is an increasing chance to get Temporary Dice if you stay a week at Comfortable or above.
Temporary Hit Dice have to be used before normal Hit Dice for thing Hit Dice is used for, normally recovering Hit Points as part of a Short Rest.
In my current campaign, with Short Rest being a night and long rest limited to max one per week, Hit Dice can also be used after a short rest to recover part of Long Rest stuff, such as spell slots. This has incentivized my players to spend the money for nicer lifestyles.

 

[Horwath]

Erm, not spell effects. Something more like an extra heroic inspiration. Maybe you get Advantage on your first constitution and intelligence checks.

Think about it like this: you perform the same at max hit points or 1 hit point. So what's a good night's rest going to do?

Since HPs are abstract between wounds, dodge, parry, bruise and basic dumb luck, we can say that higher starting HP just gives you more concentration how to fight in battle to turn a deadly cut into glancing blow.

 

[Merlecory]

My thought is the survival skill can be used to set camp. Higher proficiency with survival is comparable to higher quality rest. If everyone is untrained in survival, then that's just squalid rest so no bonuses.

Tiny Hut and Magnificent Mansion would just have a set rest value, so these spells can stand in for survival proficiency. Good pointing them out!

Since I have also had vague notions of something like this for a fork of 5e, might I suggest that wilderness based resting be closer to the 5e "gritty" variant? Poorer lifestyles (and while traveling, the lifestyle is worse) take longer to get the benefits of a long rest.

Lifestyle	Survival DC	Time to Short Rest	Time to Long Rest
Wretched	0	1 Day	7 Days
Squalid	5	12 Hours	3 Days
Poor	10	4 Hours	1 Day
Modest	15	1 Hour	8 Hours
Comfortable+	Special

While traveling, players would need something like a spell (something better than Tiny hut, IMO), a comfortable ship, or traveling with mounts/carts in a caravan to achieve better lifestyles. This means that resources spent and encounters can have real attritional value in the wilderness.

I also think that rules like Bastions, or some alternate would be a great way for players to build smaller "hunting caps" out in the wilds that let them explore the world more.

 

[MGibster]

I like the idea but I'm not sure if its actually worth the effort. It especially works well in a setting like Greyhawk where you have a sea of wilderness and small islands of civilization. Perhaps it might be better to keep track of lifestyle bonuses on a weekly or monthly basis? The longer you're in the wilderness or away from comfortable sleeping arrangements, the more you're penalized or the less of a bonus you receive. It gives players a reason to return to town and party it up a bit. Spend that money on wine, women (or men, or both), and song.

 

[Merlecory]

I can't speak to official settings, I just find the idea of things like hex crawls very interesting, if not well supported by 5e. I do like that one bad night of sleep can be very deleterious for parties. Given the swingynes of d20 s and 5e's low skill bonuses, it wouldn't take that many nights for a party to look for better accommodations. I suppose a Rogue with reliable talent might make a better wilderness guide than a Ranger, and Druid's should probably get some spell that lets them set camp well.

I guess this is predicated on the idea that a modest lifestyle confers no benefits, and things like comfortable would give minor bonuses.

Speaking of, here are some suggestions:
Cumulatively

Lifestyle	Bonus
Comfortable	Pick one skill. Roll 1d4 and add that to the result of any d20 test using that skill for the next 8 hours. (Basically Guidance on a skill)
Wealthy	Aid
Aristocratic	Gain the effects of the Resistance cantrip on one damage type for 8 hours. I think that there should also be a social buff here, sentient creatures are more likely to have a positive disposition to you.

 

[Clint_L]

Do rich people actually get better rest than middle class people or poor people? I feel like the underlying hypothesis is problematic, to say the least.