How To Use Narrative Resting For Great Games

I share my methods and ideas about changing the Fifth Edition rest systems. These rules are meant to encourage roleplay, balance game pacing, and allow both freedom and control to the GM and players.

If you have come here from my post about why resting kind of sucks, then I am sure you are hungry for more info on this fabled Narrative Rest. Let’s start with some more of the benefits and ideas for using this type of resting mechanic and why you’ll want to try it out.

Fine control over your pacing.

When I am running long campaigns or a single session, I establish a pace for gameplay. During a time-ticking-down rush to stop an approaching warband, that pace will be quite fast. For my longer campaigns, revolving around a changing and growing world, the players’ experience will vary in pace from fast to slow.

In those longer campaigns, I bring moments of speed or importance that are spread apart by times for downtime and player-led quests. With this changing set of pace simply applying the rules for Gritty Realism, where a long rest takes a week, would be inadequate. The longer rests would work well for some scenarios. For example, delving into dungeons and riding the edge of danger. For others, this would completely curb-stomp my plans for the timeline of events.

So how do I decide?

So when does the party get to long rest? I have tried out many versions of resting some for more realistic and rough games that I ran. Others I have left resting less concrete and relied more on the general feeling of the players and current events. Now I have begun to settle on a system based around locations and the resources available.

Let’s start with location. If the party is adventuring they might not have a chance to rest until they’ve met one of the following.

• They have arrived at a zone of safety within the delve. These could be locations or NPCs that provide security for the players.
• The party expends a set of resources or spells to secure their respite. The GM and players discuss what will be required.
• Time spent in a town, hold, or other familiar locale for downtime and roleplay. When between adventures they get a chance to breathe.

Zones of safety.

Safe havens found within a dungeon or stretch of wilderness could take many forms. A blessed glade with restorative waters could be discovered in the forest of many evils. If the party is raiding an ancient tomb they might stumble into a polite undead who longs to take guests in for the night.

Whatever form it takes or method you use be sure to communicate clearly what this location is. I do not suggest having tricks or rug pulls when it comes to supplying safety zones and NPCs. Too many of these antics will erode player trust. The adventurers should know when they have discovered a true resting spot.

Creating safety.

A long run through the wilds might require the party to spend time making camp. Selecting watch schedules with hired hands and trained beasts. Consuming fantastic food and drink, with the party bard supplying entertainment and hope to the adventurers. These preparations give the party the chance to choose their long rests, provided they have sufficient supplies or planning.

Downtime locations.

When the players are between quests they should be able to prepare for the next leg of their adventure. Time spent in cities, secure fortresses, or the party’s favorite tavern ought to allow for proper recuperation. You can time the pacing of your fights and encounters between these different places of civilization. This will allow your dungeons and wilderness exploration to feel more dangerous and unruly in comparison.

What should it cost?

With the idea of securing or discovering a location to rest covered let’s go over the resource aspect. Most tables only vaguely apply the ideas of supplies in their games. Often the only resource spent for a gaming group is a few gold pieces at whatever local inn or tavern they end up at. Many modern players and game masters don’t wish to spend what precious time they have on tracking rations and blankets.

This is where I suggest that your bookkeeping be as simple as possible. If you want to still track items important for rest and survival you can use time or tickmarks to keep track. Instead of indivuval food, tents, and torches, simply track how long the current supplies will last. I just tell my players they have a week of fuel and food in our sky sailing games. This lets them know when they will have to spend gold for a resupply. For tick marks, you can just mark off several ticks for food, torches, etc. Whenever the party needs to use that resource remove a tick, and for simplicity I suggest you limit how much stockpile.

Find what’s best for you.

If you try out narrative resting with your table whether you are a game master considering it or a player suggesting it, remember one thing. Everyone at the table is playing the game. The game master should be considering what they believe is a good time to rest or what it should take. However, the players also have input to give! The table as a whole should discuss how they wish to proceed with game systems like this. Whether you all want to have a tightly managed system, or something loose discuss what type of resting system will be best for your game.

You can keep checking back to find new posts and fully-written game mechanics as they are released. Until next time adventurers!