[Edit: I spent all night writing this super long post on a smartphone for some reason and most of it is pointless. That’s really funny to me, so I’ll hide anything that doesn’t matter instead of erasing it.]

GM4Him, we obviously have different play styles because my LR take a lot more clicks than yours. I’ve launched BG3 just to long rest and count the operations involved.

[I proceed to go through all the steps including after-rest spells and buffs. It comes out to 13 clicks for the actual LR and 11 for day-long buffs. Moving on…]


Upon clicking on LR, the game asks me to confirm that I want to go to camp and end the day. It tells me I don’t have enough food to rest and warns that I’ll only restore up to half hp, half spellslots and no SRs. (Put a pin in that). Already 1 more click for LR than SR (+1).

I send all my food to camp and usually eat supply packs. I need to open the traveller’s chest (+2) and look for the supply packs because they aren’t at the top of the list of random junk that found their way there over 41h37min of gameplay (+3).

I then split the supply pack stack (right click, split stack, confirm split) (+6). It’s noteworthy that the default split is equal stacks, so if I’ve got four or more supply packs that’s another click to split only one from the rest (+7). I’ve only three packs left, but this is a “finished” savegame, where I did everything I set out to do. (Put a pin in that, too). During every LR that mattered, that extra click counted.

I pick the pack up and hit escape (+9), then go to the bedroll, hit auto-select and finally full rest (+12). There’s a short cinematic, then the game brings me back to a completely empty Grymforge (tee hee ^^).

I suppose the takeaway here is that this part of the game badly needs some streamlining. But the clicks aren’t over yet. Now comes the morning routine.

I’m playing Wyll, who starts his day by summoning his imp (select him, find familiar, select imp, select spot) (+16) and making it invisible (select it, select invisibility, click to cast) (+19). I’m also playing Gale, who breakfasts with a tall glass of Mage Armor (select him, select the spell, choose first level, click on Gale) (+23).

That’s a hefty total already! Honestly, it’s half the reason I LR as sparingly as possible. Now, I realize that this depends heavily on the strategic choices I made. But I don’t feel anything I’ve done so far is unreasonable or cheesy. For me at least, the convenience of SR compared to LR is well worth it.

[I go on a tangent where I count how many clicks I would get to if I used every last useful buff and trick I know (65 total). This is just me showing off.]


But wait! I don’t always end there. There’s more power to be squeezed out of the morning routine, which can come in handy depending on the day ahead.

If Wyll can profitably spend both of his spell slots, then a quick SR can bring him back to full power. I usually go with Armour of Agathys (+25) and I like to Hex the imp (+28) and resummon it (+31), which turns Hex into a bonus action, before short resting (+32).

Gale can do something similar with Arcane Recovery. The way I use a second spell slot veers into cheese territory, which I’ll address in a moment, but there are fair ways to do this so please bear with me. I cast Shield of Faith on the barbarian (+35) and recover two level one slots (+38). To maximise prepared spells, I switch back and forth between preparing Shield of Faith and Mage Armor (+44).

That’s the loadout I went with for boss fights and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s over the top but it’s not an everyday occurence nor is it the absolute cheese limit. Most days, I stick to invisible imp plus Mage Armor and look to pick an easy fight in order to spend the relevant spell slots and use rest & recovery to fully power up the party. (Put a final pin here). Conversely, I added the invisibilty ring to the morning routine for the massive Nere fight (+46). In fact, that ring is hella broken. You can pass it around the party to make everyone invisible, which involves opening and closing the party panel three times (+64).

Sixty five clicks per LR is a ridiculous number. To be sure, it’s fueled by UI inefficiencies, strategic decisions, heavy cheese and my own incompetence (I’ve never been able to use hotkeys and when Gale turned invisible he broke concentration on Shield of Faith…) but it shows the steep admin cost of LR compared to SR. As a reminder, my basic LR takes twenty four clicks.

GM4Him, I understand that you wouldn’t use half the tricks I did. I know how you feel about Wizards’ exploits. Maybe Wyll hexing his imp crosses a line for you (though, to me, summoning a creature to sacrifice it for power feels very flavorful for a warlock). Maybe you use no PC that has any use for morning buffs. I believe you when you say you go very quickly through long rests.

Here’s the point within the point: I’m having a ton of fun playing exactly the way you’re describing and I think you could too.

[The next part is kinda relevant, explaining how you can be your own DM if you stick to self imposed rules. I’m cutting it anyway because I’m on a roll.]


For my patch 7 playthrough, I took a page out of RagnarokCzD’s playbook and set my own rules. I allowed myself some amount of cheese, but there were also restrictions. No shoving or hiding during combat; no barrelmancy; limited looting; supply packs only, except when roleplaying victory feasts.

More relevantly, the day didn’t end until I felt the party couldn’t take any more of a beating. A day’s worth of punishment might be trying to clear the spider lair, or casting jump on the barbarian and teleporting the party into the hostile goblin camp, or just running around Grymforge, looking for the ancient forge by triggering every trap and ambush.

In this respect, I’m taking on the role of the DM as you’ve described it in this thread. I’m playing the game my way and it’s a blast! Yeah, I’ve been insta-lava-shove-killed more than once, but I gave every bit as good as I got and victory felt all the sweeter because I followed my own code.

I know it’s not the same. When the game imposes restrictions, the player placed in tight corners, which is where things get interesting. If you have to head into the corner yourself, you’ll always have the path to safety in the back of your mind. But for now the resting system is what it is. While we wait for its next iteration, I have a challenge for you, GM4Him.

It’s called supply golf. The aim is to engage with every available quest and encounter while consuming the fewest possible supply packs. You may not consume any other food. You must strive to use “organic packs”: either starting supply packs or those found or looted. You may buy packs from merchants, but not steal packs from them unless coerced by necessity. No stealing supplies from companions you don’t use unless you kill them. (You don’t need to kill everyone you meet, roleplay as you please). Every “organic pack” left over at the end is worth 1 under par. Every pack bought or stolen from a merchant is worth 1 over par.

[Next, I explain why this game is so cool by referencing stuff I’ve mentionned before. This is my magnum opus.]


I think that challenge will make you appreciate the short rest. Remember all those pins we planted ten thousand words ago? Firstly, there are real consequences to having no supplies, which include being deprived of SRs. You might miss them if you need them.

Secondly, supply packs aren’t that plentyful. I finished a 40 hour run with only three supply packs left! Notably, I ate actual food once or twice, bought at least one supply pack and have so far ignored the hag’s swamp, the risen road and most of the underdark. (I just realized that my score’s not doing great, also that I didn’t look all that hard for packs, so maybe there are more than I think.) Supply packs are also strategically placed throughout the maps, giving an indication of how many days each area should take to clear.

Thirdly, the desire to stretch out the day permeates every decision in the game. It’s fun in a cerebral way if you know what lies ahead and can plan your day accordingly. In unknown territory, the fun becomes visceral. Because you don’t know what might be coming around the corner, you start taking more risks to preserve stamina, like using a level 1 Magic Missile though level 2 would clinch it or trying to get through an entire fight without using the barbarian’s rage.

That’s when you have to think about whether to SR early to power Wyll because doing that wastes a bunch of hp and object actions but not doing it could expose him during the first encounter, because he’d be pretty much locked into casting Hex. You start really valuing those SRs, like when you’ve decided to head into the hallway of fire for the third time that day and you still haven’t figured out how not to trigger the traps, which is fine because potions of fire resistance last all day but still a little worrisome because the barbarian had to tank the hallway twice already because you only had three of those potions, and by the way, guys, we’re also down to one potion of greater healing, so let’s SR one last time to heal the barb and try to find the real exit for real, OK?

In conclusion, I suggest you try playing supply golf, GM4Him. See what trouble you get yourself into and find out if it’s fun for you at all. I’d be interested to know your score and read an account of that game. For my part, I’m off to see what the Githyanki patrol thinks of my invisible death machine of a party, and then loot their corpses for supply packs.

Last edited by Flooter; 21/05/22 06:28 AM. Reason: Everything
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