Survival Rules

RESTING

Heroic though they might be, adventurers can't spend every hour of the day in the thick of exploration, social interaction, and combat. They need rest — time to sleep and eat, tend their wounds, refresh their minds and spirits for spellcasting, and brace themselves for further adventure.   Adventurers, AS WELL as other creatures, can take short rests in the midst of a day and a long rest to end it.  

Short Rest

A short rest is a period of downtime, at least 1 hour long, during which a character does nothing more strenuous than eating, drinking, reading, and tending to wounds.   A character can spend one or more Hit Dice at the end of a short rest, up to the character’s maximum number of Hit Dice, which is equal to the character’s level. For each Hit Die spent in this way, the player rolls the die and adds the character’s Constitution modifier to it. The character regains hit points equal to the total (minimum of 0). The player can decide to spend an additional Hit Die after each roll. A character regains some spent Hit Dice upon finishing a long rest, as explained below.  

Long Rest

A long rest is a period of extended downtime, at least 8 hours long, during which a character sleeps for at least 6 hours and performs no more than 2 hours of light activity, such as reading, talking, eating, or standing watch. If the rest is interrupted by a period of strenuous activity — at least 1 hour of walking, fighting, casting spells, or similar adventuring activity — the characters must begin the rest again to gain any benefit from it.   At the end of a long rest, a character regains all lost hit points. The character also regains spent Hit Dice, up to a number of dice equal to half of the character's total number of them (minimum of one die). For example, if a character has eight Hit Dice, he or she can regain four spent Hit Dice upon finishing a long rest.   A character can't benefit from more than one long rest in a 24-hour period, and a character must have at least 1 hit point at the start of the rest to gain its benefits.  

FOOD & WATER

Food

Small or Medium creatures require 1 ration of food per day. They can go without food for a number of days equal to 3 + their Constitution modifier (minimum 1) before suffering 1 exhaustion level per day thereafter. A normal day of eating resets the count of days without food to zero.   A creature on half rations counts as going a ½ day without food (and these half days accumulate until they can eat full rations).  

Water

Small or Medium creatures require 1 gallon of water per day, or twice that in hot weather. A creature on a half ration of water must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution check at the end of each day or suffer a level of exhaustion. If they drink less water than that, they suffer a level of exhaustion automatically. If the character already has one or more levels of exhaustion, the character takes two levels instead of one level in either case.   Waterskins hold a half-ration of water.  

Recovery

Any exhaustion suffered from lack of food or water cannot be removed until after a full day of normal consumption.  

Large & Tiny Creature

Tiny creatures require one-quarter ration of food and water per day. Large creatures (like horses) require four rations of food and water per day.