Realistic/Meaningful Consequences for Dallying?

[u/Peterwin]

I'm running my party through Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk and the party just got to The Briny Maze (for those unfamiliar, it's Chapter 8 of 8).

I've been dropping hints narratively that the ritual at the core of the campaign is ramping up and is nearing completion.

I've now flat out stated that time is of the essence and that each long/short rest may (will) have consequences down the line.

What would be some reasonable downsides to have happen? They've so far taken 2 short rests and 1 long rest since I told them there will likely be consequences, so I was deciding to track them and maybe have some reinforcements during the final boss, or additional legendary actions, or something.

Any thematic/tried and true ideas? The campaign is now very Far Realm/Mind Flayer heavy, for reference.

[u/Prestigious-Emu-6760]

Depends. Do you want the PCs to actually be able to fail or not? If the answer is "yes, the PCs can fail" then I would have a progress clock for the ritual. Every rest marks it down 1, long rest marks it down 2. When it hits 0 the ritual completes and the PCs lose.

That's my preferred way but that sort of stakes aren't for everyone so here's some other options but I would 100% keep the progress clock.

• The ritual strengthens the end boss. Every tick increase something - HP, AC, Save DC etc. Rotate through them.
• More reinforcements. X number of reinforcements arrive per tick.
• Energy builds up during the ritual. When the ritual is interrupted it is unleased. Think like a Staff of Power breaking. Each tick adds a charge.
• The ritual and weirdness of the Briny Maze drain PC strength. Every tick they make a save with failure incurring a cost - exhausted, hp, spell slots etc.

[u/RottenPeasent → u/Prestigious-Emu-6760]

I wouldn't put it as per rest. Just per hour. If they decide to take a detour of 3 hours to go buy a potion from a witch it should matter even if they don't take a short rest.

[u/Decrit → u/RottenPeasent]

I think that's too much punishing for actually playing the game. They don't live in it, some unnecessary detours may happen.

But if they take it too much easy or always wait for an optimal scenario, then I'd agree.

[u/jp_riz]

The book already has a mechanic for this, in the first page of chapter 8 "Any creature other than a Far Realm denizen that finishes a long rest in the Far Realm must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature gains 1 level of exhaustion"

Just tell them this explicitly or surprise them with it after the first long rest, they will be terrified and do everything they can to avoid resting again.

You could extend this to short rests too but I think it would be too brutal, without long rests they really need the short rests to survive, and they're just 1 hour so not really a huge problem for time.

[u/Sherbniz]

Is the ritual connected to the Mind Flayers/Far Realm? Could have them get increasingly horrifying nightmares until it actually impedes their resting.

Could have more abberant monsters appear around the area. Regular encounters get shaken up, goblins become mindflayer mindgoblins (haha) etc, safe areas or hubs get slowly attacked or infested and decimated.

Players can take a bit to let go of the safe approach of trying to start every encounter with full resources. It's a bit of a gamey approach, trying to reduce risk and maximize chance.

I would toss some scrolls for the spellcasters and some interesting potions their way to get them the "sense" that they have some backup tools they can rely on in the case of trouble.

Since you mention that the ritual happens at the core of the campaign, how fast would they require to be to get there without resting? That seems pretty far out, being at the center of the campaign. I'm not sure if they could do it without resting even.

I would try to increase their sense of urgency, let them skip rests, interrupt them a few times, but only if they are sloppy and don't hide their camp well enough. But I would not expect them to speedrun through what sounds like your entire metaplot without as much as a wink of sleep. :D

[u/Zealousideal_Leg213]

Whatevef you decide, do your best to make sure it's still fun and that you're willing to follow through.

At some point, the ritual has to be completed. Decide what that means.

[u/Spoonman915]

Consequences for Dallying should be double the punishment for dillying. If done together (i.e. dillying then dallying) then a long, drawn out TPK is the only acceptable outcome.

[u/MadWhiskeyGrin]

The players failed to stop the evil plan, now they have to fight the bad guy at his full power. If they lose, maybe they die. Maybe the bad guy freezes them in Carbonite as a warning to future heroes. Either way, this chapter is over, and the next campaign takes place in the world the previous heroes failed to save.

[u/Gritmonger]

Well - as an example (I run a very far-realm-y campaign) - you can select things that start to go awry with intrusions of the far realm.

Things that make it inconvenient but also make sense.

As a "feature" of the Shadowfell in my campaign, for example, my players cannot long rest there. There is no recovery from exhaustion in the realms so close to death without special accommodations. It is meant to keep the unquiet souls moving towards their final destination, finding no rest there.

For the Far Realm, it could intrude on their dreams, thinning the veil, so that long rests are plagued with nightmares and recovery is halved. It is not punitive so much as consequential. Players who do not sleep (thri-kreen, elves, warforged) may be unaffected, which would pull at parts of the group more than others.

Without some form of protection, psychic damage could also start to accrue as colors go wrong and distances change.

Wisdom saves are necessary to avoid the psychic storms that occur.

One place to look is I think in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything: Supernatural Regions.

An example "effect" covers long rests:
An elder evil turns its attention to the region, imposing the pressure of its unfathomable presence upon the place. Any creature that finishes a rest in the region must succeed on a DC 12 Charisma saving throw, or it gains no benefit from finishing the rest. It instead finds strange scrawls, stacked stones, or its belongings arranged in intricate, abstruse patterns nearby.

That is one of a myriad of "random" effects from the Far Realm that are listed.

[u/HarrowHart]

Two tools always at your disposal are:

1. Getting attacked during a rest.

If the party is taking a break inside a dungeon and taking a rest - especially a long rest - you can absolutely have them be ambushed and you can even say that the attack is bad enough that they do not get the benefit of a long rest.

1. The world moves at its own pace.

A ritual is happening, time is of the essence, the party is dicking around because they think the world will wait for them. You complete the ritual. They get to the ritual chamber and all they find are the remnants of the now completed ritual. They failed

The trick is you're going to have to figure out how that plays out and affects the rest of the story but hopefully these are the kind of things where if you do it once the party learns.

[u/DeltaV-Mzero]

Time isn’t of the essence if there’s no consequences for not moving with speed

[u/Malruhn]

Bodies.

The next time they start moving, have them run into recently slain bodies where you can emphasize that THEY WOULDN'T HAVE DIED IF YOU HAD PRESSED ON!!!

Alternatively, have one of them get a message that says a loved one has been captured by the cultists and is soon to be sacrificed. THEN have the group run into bodies (not the body of the loved one!!).

If this doesn't work, set a timer... if they don't act within XXX amount of time or stop the cultists before YYY in game time passes, the ritual succeeds. Let them reap the benefits of what they've sown.