Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback How to make multiple short rests viable

One of alternate D&D rules with short rest healing states:
(DMG p.266)

So, make it the same. Party can take multiple short rests. But can heal up only if every character would have healing kit in their inventory. Make those fairly expensive, limited on sale. And also craftable, but with more scarce resources needed.
Above all that. If player still will take too many short rest, without taking long rest - party will simply get exhausted (by the lack of sleep).

As of long rest. Simply make it dependable on food consumption. Much better use of food in game, and player will not be able take long rest too often due to that.

I would just limit short rests to X per day, maybe 3. Or progressively increase it each "chapter". Is it gamy - yes, but straightforward.

I wouldn't tie long rest to food. Because this would just add a layer of micromanagement that I don't think the game needs. Plus, you could just steal food from containers and take infinite long rests anyway.

One of variant of resources needed for healing kit:
Bandages (can also stop bleeding) - requires pieces of fabric. Can be crafted by scrapping robes, other clothing, and anything else made of fabric.
Antiseptic (can also be used to attempt heal diseases, acquired via open wounds). Can be crafted by using strong alcohol, or plants with antiseptic qualities. In first case medicine check is required. In second case nature check is needed.
Combining bandages and antiseptic will produce healing kit (medicine check is needed).

I do think that long rests should be limited somehow, and that short rests should be increased in frequency to compensate. It just feels so cheesy to long rest 3 times while scouring a dungeon.

long rest in dungeons should be outright penalized.
Pathfinder: Kingmaker did it more properly. You can take long rest in dungeons. But can't hunt for food while doing that, and you get significantly increased chance of been attacked in the middle of long rest.

BG3 made it too cheesy, where party can easily return to camp regardless of where they are. I would simply deny long rest in dungeons completely. If player still thinks he really need a long rest for the party - he can leave the dungeon, but...
Fast travel in dungeons also should be removed.
You still would be able to take long rests, but would have to travel long way in and out of dungeon every time. That would drive players plan their progression in dungeons relied on short rests, and other forms of healing (spells, and large stock of healing potions)

Short rest takes an hour so a limit of rests per day is fair. Giving a penalty on resting to much is silly though. Dont do that. It would only punish players new to the genre and thats unfair.

The suggestion to require food items for a rest is fair. In dnd you havr to eat as well and even if its trivialized by things as create food or goodberry its still a part of dnd. And this way it could help to balance long rests!

I don't think long rests should be penalized to the extend that you suggest. Maybe on higher difficulty settings, but still.

I don't want a game I play to have busy work like having to run out of the dungeon. Hell, in DnD campaigns leaving a dungeon can be as fast as saying "we leave the dungeon". Which is effectively "fast travel"

That's the point - don't
Just stock up healing potions, prepare healing spells, maybe even save wands with healing spells and such.
Dungeons meant to be harder, and required proper preparation.

You can stalk up on healing potions all you want, they won't get spell slots back. I am not advocating for long resting after each fight, but neither do I want to spend my real time navigating out of the dungeon just so I can run back again to fight.

Sure, now it leads to strange interactions like long resting while being inside a castle full of enemies. But say we implement the "no rest inside dungeon" approach - I would sneak my way out (which face it, players will outwit the AI any day), long rest, return. That is about 10 min irl time wasted on something that is not fun to do.

My idea was to have an in-game day clock (with days and nights). You can camp once every 24 hours (24 hours in Baldur's Gate isn't necessarily 24 real-world hours), and you can rest X-number of times in 24 hours. You can camp ANYWHERE, but if you choose to camp in a dangerous area, there is a chance encounter of being surprise attacked. In this case, you wouldn't receive all the benefits of camping.