Summary
Short rests are a cornerstone ofDungeons & Dragonsgameplay, but for something so critical to the adventuring experience, they were missing a key point of a clarification in the 2014Player’s Handbook.As the easiest way for characters to regain some health and abilities without risking a full night’s rest in the middle of a dungeon crawl, short rests are something that no party can afford to ignore.The 2024Player’s Handbookmakes short rests more useful than ever before by tying more class features into them, hopefully solving some arguments about whether it’s worth taking one.
Rather than explaining themechanics of short restsin a chapter on adventuring, the 2024Player’s Handbooksticks the detailed description in the new Rules Glossary found in the back of the book. The entry is a bit easier to reference in the general course of gameplay, but more importantly, it breaks down each attribute of the short rest more clearly than before. Most significantly, it leads with a description of short rests and a quick clarification of the basic requirement to take one, something that the 2014Player’s Handbookessentially omitted.
D&D: Every Class & Subclass In The 2024 Player’s Handbook
The 2024 Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook has a strong lineup of classes and subclasses to choose from, even if things have shifted a bit.
Short Rests Require 1 HP In the 2024 Player’s Handbook
Unconscious Characters Have An Uphill Battle
AccordingDnD’s 2024Player’s Handbook,a character “must have at least 1 Hit Point” to take a short rest. In the 2014 book, this requirement was noted for long rests, but no such information was offered regarding short rests. This lack of specificity led many players to assume that it was possible to take a short rest while a character was at 0 hit points but stable, and lead designer Jeremy Crawford ended up clarifying the point onTwitter, noting that short rests specifically did not require any hit points.
Although the 2024Player’s Handbookputs some previous Jeremy Crawford Twitter rulings into print, like the clarification that thegreasespell isn’t intended to be flammable,the new book directly contradicts the prior edict in this case. For any parties that stuck to the prior ruling and plan to adopt the new rules, this could be a significant change, potentially throwing a wrench into healing for low-level parties on dungeon crawls. Other tables may have already been assuming a character needed hit points to heal with a short rest, but it’s a change in the letter of the law at any rate.
D&D’s 2024 Player’s Handbook Brings Back One Of The Best Parts Of D&D 4e
Dungeons & Dragons 4e had some good ideas, and the 2024 Player’s Handbook finally returns to one that never should have been cut to begin with.
Other Rest Changes In D&D’s 2024 Player’s Handbook
Long Rests Get A Useful Buff
The 2024Player’s Handbookalso goes into detail on what exactly would constitute an interruption of a short rest, negating the benefits for those attempting to heal up and recharge abilities. The three noted short rest shutdowns are as follows:
In the case of long rests, interruptions are actually treated with less severity than in the 2014Player’s Handbook.While interruptions previously negated any benefits from the long rest, following the same rules as short rests, it’s now possible to resume long rests after being interrupted. Each interruption adds an hour to the amount of rest necessary, but it’s a ruling that makes a lot more sense with the actual nature of rests than the previous all-or-nothing approach.
In addition to the three interruptions that they share with short rests, long rests are also interrupted by an hour of any physical exertion like walking.
The additional clarifications and tweaks to rests inDnD’s 2024Player’s Handbookshow off the book’s biggest strength, which lies in its ability to act as an easier reference material andmore helpful teaching methodfor playingDnD. It’s certainly not perfect across the board, and a loss of much of the 2014Player’s Handbook’s flavor text feels like an unnecessary sacrifice, but there’s still a lot to like in the new volume.
Preferences regarding the short rest ruling will ultimately come down to each game table, and sticking to the old rules is well within the right of any group that prefers how things were. Regardless of which side of the debate an adventuring party falls on, however, it’s nice to have clarified wording in the 2024Dungeons & DragonsPlayer’s Handbook.
Source:Jeremy Crawford/Twitter
Dungeons and Dragons
Dungeons and Dragons is a popular tabletop game originally invented in 1974 by Ernest Gary Gygax and David Arneson. The fantasy role-playing game brings together players for a campaign with various components, including abilities, races, character classes, monsters, and treasures. The game has drastically expanded since the ’70s, with numerous updated box sets and expansions.
