Dungeons & Dragons: Short And Long Rests, Explained

thegamer.com:

While Dungeons & Dragons puts a significant emphasis on combat, exploration, and interacting with NPCs, no matter how experienced and skilled an adventuring party may be, every adventurer needs to make sure they get enough rest. D&D is filled with a wide range of mechanics and resting is among the most common and important activities for any party at both low and high levels to partake in.

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However, as there are two different types of rest that adventurers can take in Dungeons & Dragons that each has their own benefits, we're going to explore everything that new players need to know about taking rests in D&D.

As the name would imply, resting is when a party of adventurers takes some time to unwind and relax. Whether a party is setting up a brief perimeter to take a breather in a dungeon, setting up camp in the wilderness, taking a break to drink at a tavern, or even just staying the night at an inn, each of these activities can potentially result in the benefits of a rest.

There are two types of rests that players need to know about that offer different benefits: short rests and long rests.

Often easy to squeeze in after a difficult battle or in the midst of a day of travel, a short rest is an hour of relaxation in which a party can pass around stories, eat and drink, tend to their wounds, and replenish energy that may have been exerted earlier in the day.

Much less time-consuming than a long rest, one of the defining elements of a short rest is that players may spend any number of their hit die.

Each time a character finishes an uninterrupted short rest, they may roll any number of their hit die (a character has a number of hit die equal to their