Players will see more of a benefit in short rather than long resting.
And the main question stays the same ...
What benefit would this bring except puting minds of strict PnP rules lovers at ease?
I mean concidering that they tied story progression with followers quests to Long rests ... do you really believe they are looking for something that would encourage people to short rest rather than long? :-/
Dont get me wrong here i like the idea ... a lot actualy.
From top to bottom, but i still have to ask. :-/
Well, now, that would need to be a part of the package deal that we've been trying to also get them to do. Untie dialogues and story from Long Rests. Now, I get that some make more sense at Long Rest, such as Raphael showing up at camp at night. MUCH better ambiance there. It'd be weird having him show up during a Short Rest, or something similar during broad daylight.
So why not tie dialogues and story to both Short or Long Rests?
Example. Shadowheart and I defeat the intellect devourers. First time playing, I ignored her advice and got up close. Those nasty things nearly killed me, so I need to rest. However, game suggests Short Rest now instead of Long. So, as a new player, I'm inclined to Short Rest. Tool Tips also kind of explain the difference. Hmmm. I didn't really spend spell slots. All I need is health back. I picked up enough fish and stuff to afford a Short Rest. So I do.
Whisk! Cutscene shows me and Shadowheart walking into the camp for the first time except that it's daylight and not night. "This looks like just as good a place as any," I say, and it shows me and Shadowheart in the camp.
Shadowheart cutscene. "I'm not sure this is a good idea."
"What's not a good idea?" I ask.
"We need to find a healer... etc. etc. etc." she says. The only difference. She doesn't say, "Let's get a move on in the morning," or anything like that. She just says, "Let's take a short rest and move on."
Dialogue ends. You're in the camp. You click on the campfire, per new (suggested) tool tip. Pulls up that nifty Camping Supplies window, but this time it says that the Short Rest requirement is only the number of hit points you need to be full health. Let's say I lost 7 HP. Shadowheart lost none. I only need 7 Camping Supplies for a Short Rest and I'm full health.
Cutscene dialogue was able to be done based on Short Rest, Short Rest was used instead of Long, still the same day, Short Rest expended some Camping Supplies, but not as much as Long Rest... Yeah. I'm inclined to use Short Rest more. It's cheaper, AND I still get my dialogues.
Later, I short rest after Gale joins. Same thing. Bounce to camp. "Go to Hell," Gale dialogue initiates. Gale cast a spell. NOW he can use his Arcane Recovery to regain his spell slot - NOT at any point during his travels. He must wait for a Short Rest. During your Short Rest, the game even reminds you, "Would you like to use Arcane Recover for Gale to regain a missing spell slot?" Suddenly, Gale's Arcane Recovery is not forgotten, as I actually do forget it regularly because I'm used to Arcane Recovery being at Short Rests. Suddenly, a Short Rest is preferred because the mage cannot regain his spell slot until you short rest.
During the same Short Rest, Lae'zel is able to recover her Second Wind AND Action Surge, because both are able to be recovered each and every Short Rest. Again, Short Rest suddenly very much preferred rather than Long Rest. Lae'zel and Gale didn't even lose HP during the adventure so far, so a Short Rest is only being used for them to recover abilities and spell slots, AND we get the dialogue, AND Short Rest isn't just some magic recovery button you click while in the middle of a dungeon surrounded by phase spiders who are looking for you. It indicates, by taking you to camp, that you left and went to a safer spot to recover, even for a short rest.
So why would players use Long Rest? ONLY once they start really feeling like they need to. Gale spent all his spell slots AND has already used Arcane Recovery, Shadowheart has used all her spell slots, everyone's low on HP, so the Camping Cost will be higher anyway, etc.
COULD someone still spam Long Rest? Absolutely. BUT it's no longer encouraged and in fact Short Rest is more encouraged. Spam both if you'd like, but each time you do, you spend Camping Supplies.
That said, there should be at least some minimum Short Rest Camping Supply Cost, like maybe 5 Camping Supplies for every Short Rest, just to make sure people aren't Short Resting after every fight just to recover a hit point or two or just to recover special abilities like Second Wind and Action Surge and Battlemaster's Maneuvers, and so forth. There should, at the very least, be some Camping Supply cost for that reason.
I think this would make the game feel more immersive, because you're using food more even when Short Resting, it would give players more ability to see camp dialogues, it would discourage Long Rest/End Day so that you aren't adventuring for 5 minutes and sleeping 24 hours, it makes warlock spells more valuable because now players will use Short Rests more to recover their spell slots, along with monks in the future, by the way, with their ki, and fighters and barbarians as well, and so forth.
Oh, and Long Rest Camping Supply Cost should not just be a flat 40 every time. I thought they weren't going to do that but base it on level and so forth. I'm not seeing that at all. Regardless, I think the Long Rest Camping Supply Cost should be, as I've stated before, 2 Camping Supplies per Character Level per Character in the Camp. Have MC and 5 characters at camp at level 3? That's 30 Camping Supplies for a Long Rest (2x3=6x5=30). Add Volo to camp, now it's 40 because he's Level 5, or something. Dang! Maybe I should kick Volo from camp. He's eating all my food, the pig. Do I really need him? Withers doesn't eat, so he doesn't cost. Scratch maybe is 2 Camping Supplies, and same with the Owlbear Cub. Halsin is level 5, so he'd be another 10. Hmmm. Do I need him either? Really? What about Barcus? Yeah, maybe I don't even need Astarion, if I'm a rogue, or Wyll, if I'm a warlock. That'll cut down on Camping Supply Costs for Long Rests. So I ask them to leave the party.
Leave it up to the players, and give them a reason to NOT want to keep characters around if they aren't going to need them instead of just having characters sitting at camp doing nothing all the time. Makes it more strategic, especially as you get to higher levels and the Camping Costs get higher for Long Rests. This would ALSO majorly cut down on Long Rest spam at higher levels because suddenly, at level 8, a campsite of 4 only is 2x8=16x4=64. Eek. Wait. I could maybe Short Rest and do some recovery of HP and even use Arcane Recovery to regain spell slots for, let's say 30 total Camping Supplies becuase I need 30 HP back, or I would need to spend 64 for a Long Rest? And if I have 8 people at camp and not just 4, it'll cost 128?!! Yeah. I think I'll Short Rest a lot more at 30 rather than 128 for a Long Rest, and I'll try to use more scrolls and potions and things to supplement my loss of spell slots if I need to because I can't afford 128 Camping Supplies on a regular basis.
