BG3 Made An Important Change To Long Rests You’ll Definitely Want To Adopt For D&D (2024)

Of all the core mechanics in , getting a long rest is probably the least exciting, which makes sense, but Baldur's Gate 3 managed to make a key improvement. As its name suggests, a long rest requires the party to spend at least eight hours in a restful state in order to recover their hit points, spell slots, and other class resources. Compared to fighting hordes of devils or solving puzzles in a crypt, this part of the game is rather dull.

But Baldur's Gate 3 creates some changes to the DnD system that make the long rest mechanic feel like more than just a pause in the action. The use of a Camp Supplies resource which players must actively gather during the day in order to rest successfully changes the dynamic around long resting in BG3. It makes getting that recovery feel like less of a boring step before the adventure can continue, and more of a reward for thoughtful planning and exploration.

How Camp Supplies Work In Baldur's Gate 3

Consume Gathered Resources In Order To Rest The Full Night

In order to get a long rest, players in Baldurs Gate 3 must have a certain amount of supplies that they have gathered or purchased during their travels. These are represented by different kinds of food, with some being worth more supply points than others. When the party lays down their heads for the night, they choose which supplies to expend, and in return they recover all of their used class, racial, and magic item abilities.

This mechanic means that players must be constantly on the lookout for food they can forage or purchase in order to recover their abilities at the beginning of each day. The amount required for a long rest increases in harder game modes, making the search for larger supply items more paramount on Tactician and Honour Mode difficulty. Often, supplies are not too difficult to find, but the mechanic still makes exploration more rewarding and a successful long rest feel like an achievement in and of itself.

The Problem With Long Rests In D&D (And How This Could Fix It)

The Lack Of Structured Rules Puts Too Much Pressure On DMs

In basic DnD, there is no set requirement for any kind of supplies or shelter that players need in order to get a long rest. This actually can be good. In certain campaigns or with certain groups of players, resource gathering can be tedious and suck the fun out of the game, and players may be fine with just making the long rests quick and without much trouble.

For other campaigns, especially those based on survival or realism, players and DMs may wish for a more structured and challenging mechanic for getting rests in. DMs can, and often do, make their own rules for a survival setting, asking players to make ability checks and searches to find the gear they require. However, homebrew systems like this can be janky or lack consistency, and some DMs may wish for a more established way of running a survival campaign.

The Baldur's Gate 3 Camp Supplies system translates wonderfully to the TTRPG world for cases just like that. Having players do survival checks or explore abandoned homes may allow them to discover certain bits of supplies: barrels of clean water, bits of leftover food, berries and nuts in the woods. The DM can give a numerical value to each item and tell the players a certain amount they have to reach in order to get a long rest, reflective of the number of people in the party or the amount they have done in a day.

Adjustments To The Baldur's Gate 3 System For D&D

DMs Can Balance When It's Best To Apply The Rules

Certain aspects of the video game system can be easily altered for a tabletop setting. DMs could include other kinds of supplies, such as sleeping bags, firewood, and a serviceable area of shelter, as additional kinds of Camp Supplies with their own value. They could also allow this mechanic to work with certain class abilities, such as a ranger's Natural Explorer feature, to give players with them more opportunity to contribute and make their features feel more useful.

DMs could also choose to use this mechanic at certain times, such as when the party is traveling through the wilderness, and forgo its requirements when they are staying in an inn or tavern. This could provide a break from scavenging for groups who grow tired of it, while simultaneously increasing the utility of cities and towns as places with greater available resources. Part of the beauty of DnD is that DMs can adjust rules and mechanics in accordance with their table's preferences, making the Camp Supplies mechanics very customizable.

This feature won't work for every party, and DMs should make sure their players are on board with using it before introducing something like this into their games. But the simplicity and consistency of this mechanic from Baldur's Gate 3 makes it great for Dungeons & Dragons parties looking for that extra challenge. It may be just the thing a group needs to make their survival campaign feel truly immersive and engaging.

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Baldur's Gate 3

Developed and published by Larian Studios, Baldur's Gate 3 is an upcoming role-playing game set to release in August of 2023. Players will create a character to embark on a large-scale journey and can do so solo or cooperatively with a friend. Combat is a turn-based style this time around.

RPG

Franchise

Baldur's Gate

Platform(s)

PC , macOS , PS5 , Xbox Series X

Released

August 3, 2023

Developer(s)

Larian Studios

Publisher(s)

Larian Studios

Multiplayer

Local Multiplayer

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence

Number of Players

1-4

Local Co-Op Support

1-2 Players

Split Screen Orientation

Vertical Only