resting restrictions

mumumomo

I know some people are using some resting restrictions to make the game more realistic (spending 3 days in chateau irenicus makes no sense) and more difficult.

I would like to try that. However i have difficulty to define something satisfying.

Could you share some ideas about that?

Thanks in advance

jackjack

Here's what I do, take it for what you will:
I don't rest in Chateau Irenicus either.
I rest once every 24 hours in the cities.
In a dungeon, if I do it at all, I don't do so until I've cleared whatever floor I'm going to sleep on. I try to avoid resting near "boss lairs" as it seems like an easy death, RP wise, to me.
In the wilderness, I rest as the party begins to complain of fatigue, after 16+ hours of travel, or once every 24 hours (though rarely do I spend that long in the wilderness in BG2).

Lathlaer

Although you have to admit, the idea of Irenicus fighting the Shadow Thieves for several days/hours before a) you resufrace b) any of the Cowled Wizard appears is quite entertaining.

It does seem like a double standard — Irenicus can have his way with bunch of thieves, using powerful spells, destroying part of the Promenade, killing and turning into stone for long time before Cowled Wizards appear. And me? I get a warning for casting a single "Knock" on some random doors.

mumumomo

Thanks for the feedback.
However, the restriction in the city seems a bit severe since there is no travel time and the game times goes by very slowly.

For dungeons i get your point. The resting can get completely silly. Like in cloackwood mines : you kill everyone at the entrance and rest. and yet nobody cares. You proceed to level 2-3. Kill everybody and rest before davaevorn. And he just waits for you to come and kill him...

Fierkraag dungeon (or any dungeon with intelligent beings in it) is the same.

jackjack

Yes, I neglected to mention that I will rest when the party is fatigued in the city. Oops. Also in the city, if I'm completely out of spells or otherwise absolutely need to rest, I'll at least get them all good and drunk first.

Viconia_DeVir

I believe it is simply an adventurer's lot, to find their reprieves only at odd hours. I would wonder how often the whip was intended to be cracked across my back after day-long marches or hours spent roaming the alleyways. Such exertions take their toll, not least after a pitched battle and channeling the will of Shar to crash down upon our foes. Any travelers who make a habit of keeping to regular hours would have my admiration, especially if such hours were out of the blinding sun. Resting within the walls of a city always posed a degree of extra risk for one striving to avoid notice, even while journeying alongside a... colorful band, to say the least.

karnor00

Generally I ask myself how realistic it would be to sit down and have an 8 hour sleep.

So in Chateau Irenicus where I'm trying desperately to escape from the dungeon it makes no sense for me to take a nap. And once I start attacking Firkraag's lair it wouldn't make sense for me to stop and sleep halfway through.

On the other hand, in somewhere like Watchers Keep there isn't really any great time pressure. It's been standing for a long time, and while the containment spells are slowly weakening, there's no implication that they will fail in the next few days. So I feel justified in resting here.

Of course, overlaid upon this is the whole "must get to spellhold to rescue Imoen as soon as possible" - at least for a good aligned party. And while a certain amount of time can be justified as required preparation, completing every last quest would seem to push that rather far. And similarly in Chapter 6, how realistic is it to take weeks and weeks to adventure while Irenicus is attacking Suldanessar?

But really that's a problem with all computer RPGs. The hero always gets there just in the nick of time. Might be nice to have a game where the world actually progresses - e.g. if you don't go to Trademeet in time then either someone else saves it or things get really bad there. Or perhaps if you go there very early on, then it's much easier to resolve the problem. But that would add a lot of complexity to the game which a lot of players wouldn't see.

Heindrich

karnor00 said:

But really that's a problem with all computer RPGs. The hero always gets there just in the nick of time. Might be nice to have a game where the world actually progresses - e.g. if you don't go to Trademeet in time then either someone else saves it or things get really bad there. Or perhaps if you go there very early on, then it's much easier to resolve the problem. But that would add a lot of complexity to the game which a lot of players wouldn't see.

I pretty do what @karnor00 describes. Incidentally karnor00, there is a game where that happens. Avernum 3 (and maybe the other games in the series) features a world under attack by a host of monster plagues. You are free to wander and explore in a totally open world (it's HUGE, dozens of cities/dungeons in a number of regions/provinces, both surface world and underground one), and ignore the main plot. However, cities related to the plagues will visibly deteriorate, NPCs will start to die off and some cities will end up as smoking monster-infested ruins.

If you piss off the religious authorities of an island in the game, for example by stealing from their treasure vault, the entire island and all its cities become hostile! If you accept the teachings of that religion, all your mages lose their arcane spells, but all party members gain divine ones. Talk about decisions that have consequences.

Back to original topic though.

Because I was playing blind in my LP, I was not as strict as I would like to be with regards to 'realistic rest'. For example I rested once in Abazigal's Lair and once in Sendai's Enclave. I reckon I can pull it off without any rest now... but playing blind, I had no idea how much further to go, or how difficult the battles will be.

I make a distinction between 'active dungeons' and 'passive' ones. For example the Cloakwood Mines, Sendai's Enclave etc... are occupied by sentient enemies, who would obviously respond to an attack. Thus resting 8 hours inside seems ridiculous. Leaving and coming back also makes no sense, because surely the defenders would re-double their guards, rather than leaving their crippled defenses exactly as how u left it.

For Durlag's Tower and Watcher's Keep, I allow myself to rest as much as needed. There is no evil mastermind instructing his minions to 'repel the attackers'. It's more like adventuring carefully through a deadly dungeon full of traps and guardians.

Stasis_Sword

In general I go until I'm 90% out of spells and then do what the party naturally would (sleep at an inn, find a safe place to sleep).

Picture what Edwin would be saying if you kept going, "Are you trying to kill me? I'm out of spells you idiot. What you expect me to kill a troll with this twig? Are you mad?"

MonoCanalla

karnor00 said:

But really that's a problem with all computer RPGs. The hero always gets there just in the nick of time. Might be nice to have a game where the world actually progresses

The Last Express

bbear

I think it's fine to nap once in Chateu Irenicus at the dryad section. The dryads are friendly and Irencious' minions wont go there because they wont disturb Irenicus' consorts. For dungeons, the party shouldnt rest unless it makes sense that the particular area is safe in the first place.

For example in De Arnise's Keep, I think it's safe to set up a camp at the golem room. The monsters are afraid of the golem guardians, but Nalia, who has insider knowledge, informs you that you are safe as long as dont steal the stuff they are guarding. In Watcher's Keep level 1, the game informs you that there is a safe room where monsters wont spawn.

mumumomo

So far i went for the no rest in active dungeons, as described by Heindrich.

In cities or the wilderness, i don't care.

As for chateau irenicus, it's more a problem of timeline than a problem of being able to rest or not due to minions : so you sleep for 8 hours and irenicus is still fighting shadow thieves?