d20 reasons why adventurers won't get a long rest

d20 reasons why adventurers won't get a Long Rest

Just because the adventuring party have managed to find an appropriate place and sufficient time doesn't necessarily mean they are going to get a full night's rest - if you've ever slept outside, or even just somewhere new, you will agree.

Here are d20 reasons why they will not be getting their full allocation of HP restored this night: 

1. Birds or bats call and swoop, putting you on edge.
2. Nearby livestock low, munch and shuffle within earshot, disturbing your rest.
3. The loud call of a distant wild beast wakes you with a start. Probably just a fox or an elk or something.
4. The wind gusts into surrounding foliage and your bedclothes, nudging you awake.
5. Irregular rain showers wake you up due to the noise and occasional drips.
6. The ground underneath you becomes wetter and wetter until it is water-logged and starts to seep into your bedclothes.
7. Someone in your party is snoring again.
8. For some reason the usual breathing, shuffling, coughs and other bodily noises of your companions are exceptionally annoying to you this night.
9. You've got a little sniffle e.g. blocked nose, runny nose, sore throat, cough etc. not enough for a tough hero like you to complain about, but enough to prevent a good night's rest.
10. That old battle injury is playing up again causing pain and stiffness.
11. Your muscles are so sore from the days exertions they seem to buzz, making it hard to drop off to sleep.
12. The temperature suddenly drops, waking you and causing you to try to shiver yourself back to sleep.
13. The temperature suddenly rises until the sweating forces you awake to throw off some bedclothes.
14. Maybe it's something you ate or maybe you got too close to that goblin earlier, but your guts are not happy at all - twisting and churning.
15. Too much ale? Or maybe some kind of bladder infection? In any case you've had to be up multiple times in the night to pee.
16. You sorely regret not taking the time to clear your sleeping area of twigs and small rocks.
17. You've somehow gone to sleep on a very slight slope, with your head below the level of your legs. The relentless down-pressure of blood eventually wakes you with a throbbing headache.
18. You've torn or otherwise damaged your bedclothes, cloak, shelter or clothes which causes an annoyance to sleep.
19. Your stomach rumbles for food, waking you for a midnight snack.
20. You wake with mouth open and parched - you really need a drink, mouthbreather.
    

After you've thrown these or similar effects at the party a few times, they may start taking extra precautions against some of these when they describe their camp making activities. This is to be encouraged and increases the realism of the shared narrative (which is the stated aim of this blog after all!). So if you roll something that they've already guarded against, I would describe how their efforts have granted them a good nights sleep and full allowance of HP restoration.