[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":262},["ShallowReactive",2],{"page-\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Fbetween-scenes":3,"navigation-main":146},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"description":138,"extension":139,"meta":140,"navigation":141,"path":142,"seo":143,"stem":144,"__hash__":145},"wiki\u002Fwiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F7.between-scenes.md","Between Scenes",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":130},"minimark",[9,13,18,27,31,60,68,72,89,92,96,109,117],[10,11,12],"p",{},"Not everything at the table is a scene. Some of what happens between the\ninteresting parts is worth playing out in real time, and most of it is not\n— the skill is telling the difference quickly, without stopping to think\nabout it. Travel, light, hazards and rests do not have their own rules on\nthis page; the player chapter already covers what each of them does. What\nfollows is what they do to your pacing, which is the DM's problem alone.",[14,15,17],"h2",{"id":16},"travel-and-exploration","Travel and Exploration",[10,19,20,21,26],{},"Ask one question before you narrate a stretch of travel: can anything go\nwrong on it, and is anyone deciding anything. If the answer is no to both,\nsay so in a sentence and move on — a week on the road that passes without\nincident does not need a week of table time. The moment either answer flips\nto yes, it stops being travel and becomes a scene, and you run it like any\nother: describe the situation, let the players decide what they do about\nit, and see what happens. The rules that govern movement, light and hazards\nalong the way are on\n",[22,23,25],"a",{"href":24},"\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fexploration","Exploration","; this page is only about\ndeciding when they are worth reaching for.",[14,28,30],{"id":29},"light-is-a-tool","Light Is a Tool",[10,32,33,34,39,40,44,45,49,50,54,55,59],{},"Light is not a fact about a room that you look up once and forget — it is\nsomething you place, the same way you place a monster or a locked door.\n",[35,36],"tooltip",{"label":37,"tooltip-key":38},"Bright Light","rules\u002Fbright-light",",\n",[35,41],{"label":42,"tooltip-key":43},"Dim Light","rules\u002Fdim-light"," and\n",[35,46],{"label":47,"tooltip-key":48},"Darkness","rules\u002Fdarkness"," are the three\nsettings you are choosing between whenever you decide what a torch, a\nwindow or a shut door leaves behind. What each one causes is the part\nworth planning for: dim light leaves a space\n",[35,51],{"label":52,"tooltip-key":53},"Lightly Obscured","rules\u002Flightly-obscured",",\nand darkness leaves it\n",[35,56],{"label":57,"tooltip-key":58},"Heavily Obscured","rules\u002Fheavily-obscured"," —\nthe second is a far bigger deal than the first, and it is worth knowing\nwhich one you are setting up before you commit to it.",[10,61,62,63,67],{},"Check ",[35,64],{"label":65,"tooltip-key":66},"darkvision","rules\u002Fdarkvision"," before\nyou set the scene, not after. A dark room is atmosphere to a party that\ncan see through it and an obstacle to one that cannot, and those are two\ndifferent scenes to run — know which one you are building before someone\nopens the door.",[14,69,71],{"id":70},"hazards","Hazards",[10,73,74,75,79,80,44,84,88],{},"A ",[35,76],{"label":77,"tooltip-key":78},"hazard","rules\u002Fhazard"," is damage with no\ncreature behind it, and the two that come up most often are\n",[35,81],{"label":82,"tooltip-key":83},"falling","rules\u002Ffalling-hazard",[35,85],{"label":86,"tooltip-key":87},"suffocation","rules\u002Fsuffocation-hazard",". Both\nare entirely avoidable and both are entirely unforgiving once they are\nnot, which is what makes how you present one matter more than which one\nit is.",[10,90,91],{},"A hazard the party can see coming is a decision: cross the crumbling\nbridge or find another way round, take a breath before the door seals or\ndo not go through it yet. A hazard they cannot see coming is just a tax on\nwhoever fails the roll. Prefer the first kind wherever you can — telegraph\nthe cracking ice, the sinking floor, the door grinding shut, before it\nhappens. The danger loses nothing by being visible, and seeing it coming\nis what turns it into a choice instead of a trap you sprang.",[14,93,95],{"id":94},"what-the-rests-do-to-your-pacing","What the Rests Do to Your Pacing",[10,97,98,99,103,104,108],{},"The player chapter tells you what a rest gives back; here is what it does\nto you. A ",[35,100],{"label":101,"tooltip-key":102},"Short Rest","rules\u002Fshort-rest"," is\nthe lever that turns one dangerous fight into several in the same day —\nspend an hour and the party is most of the way back to full, ready for\nwhatever comes next. A\n",[35,105],{"label":106,"tooltip-key":107},"Long Rest","rules\u002Flong-rest"," clears the board\nentirely and starts the day over.",[10,110,111,112,116],{},"Which makes how often the party gets to rest a bigger difficulty knob than\nany monster you choose. The budget on\n",[22,113,115],{"href":114},"\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Fbuilding-an-encounter","Building an Encounter","\nassumes a party that walks in with its resources intact — the same fight\nagainst a party that already burned two Short Rests' worth of spells and\nhit points, and one that spent none, are not the same fight, even though\nnot a single monster changed.",[10,118,119,120,124,125,129],{},"Deny the rest for long enough and you get\n",[35,121],{"label":122,"tooltip-key":123},"Exhaustion","rules\u002Fexhaustion-condition",",\nwhich is what accumulates when the party pushes on past the point where\nthey should have stopped. It is the cost of that choice, not a separate\ndanger you added on top of it. The loop all of this sits inside —\ndescription, decision, result — is on\n",[22,126,128],{"href":127},"\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Frhythm-of-play","Rhythm of Play",".",{"title":131,"searchDepth":132,"depth":132,"links":133},"",2,[134,135,136,137],{"id":16,"depth":132,"text":17},{"id":29,"depth":132,"text":30},{"id":70,"depth":132,"text":71},{"id":94,"depth":132,"text":95},"Travel, light, hazards and rests — the parts of a session that are not a scene, and what they do to your pacing.","md",{},true,"\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Fbetween-scenes",{"title":5,"description":138},"wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F7.between-scenes","OaqLY4kcH6LSWlRbi0QcnTGItox122M751yOBaIIHoI",[147],{"title":148,"path":149,"stem":150,"children":151},"Wiki","\u002Fwiki","wiki\u002F1.index",[152,153,157,199,229,233],{"title":148,"path":149,"stem":150},{"title":154,"path":155,"stem":156},"Introduction","\u002Fwiki\u002Fintroduction","wiki\u002F2.introduction",{"title":158,"path":159,"stem":160,"children":161},"Playing the Game","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F1.index",[162,163,167,171,173,177,181,185,189,193,195],{"title":158,"path":159,"stem":160},{"title":164,"path":165,"stem":166},"Damage and Healing","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fdamage-and-healing","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F10.damage-and-healing",{"title":168,"path":169,"stem":170},"Conditions","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fconditions","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F11.conditions",{"title":128,"path":127,"stem":172},"wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F2.rhythm-of-play",{"title":174,"path":175,"stem":176},"The Six Abilities","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fthe-six-abilities","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F3.the-six-abilities",{"title":178,"path":179,"stem":180},"D20 Tests","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fd20-tests","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F4.d20-tests",{"title":182,"path":183,"stem":184},"Proficiency","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fproficiency","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F5.proficiency",{"title":186,"path":187,"stem":188},"Actions","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Factions","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F6.actions",{"title":190,"path":191,"stem":192},"Social Interaction","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fsocial-interaction","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F7.social-interaction",{"title":25,"path":24,"stem":194},"wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F8.exploration",{"title":196,"path":197,"stem":198},"Combat","\u002Fwiki\u002Fplaying-the-game\u002Fcombat","wiki\u002F3.playing-the-game\u002F9.combat",{"title":200,"path":201,"stem":202,"children":203},"Creating a Character","\u002Fwiki\u002Fcreating-a-character","wiki\u002F4.creating-a-character\u002F1.index",[204,205,209,213,217,221,225],{"title":200,"path":201,"stem":202},{"title":206,"path":207,"stem":208},"Choosing a Class","\u002Fwiki\u002Fcreating-a-character\u002Fchoosing-a-class","wiki\u002F4.creating-a-character\u002F2.choosing-a-class",{"title":210,"path":211,"stem":212},"Origin","\u002Fwiki\u002Fcreating-a-character\u002Forigin","wiki\u002F4.creating-a-character\u002F3.origin",{"title":214,"path":215,"stem":216},"Ability Scores","\u002Fwiki\u002Fcreating-a-character\u002Fability-scores","wiki\u002F4.creating-a-character\u002F4.ability-scores",{"title":218,"path":219,"stem":220},"Alignment and Details","\u002Fwiki\u002Fcreating-a-character\u002Falignment","wiki\u002F4.creating-a-character\u002F5.alignment",{"title":222,"path":223,"stem":224},"Equipment","\u002Fwiki\u002Fcreating-a-character\u002Fequipment","wiki\u002F4.creating-a-character\u002F6.equipment",{"title":226,"path":227,"stem":228},"Beyond Level 1","\u002Fwiki\u002Fcreating-a-character\u002Fbeyond-level-1","wiki\u002F4.creating-a-character\u002F7.beyond-level-1",{"title":230,"path":231,"stem":232},"Rules Glossary","\u002Fwiki\u002Frules-glossary","wiki\u002F5.rules-glossary",{"title":234,"path":235,"stem":236,"children":237},"Dungeon Mastering","\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering","wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F1.index",[238,239,243,247,251,253,257,258],{"title":234,"path":235,"stem":236},{"title":240,"path":241,"stem":242},"Running the Game","\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Frunning-the-game","wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F2.running-the-game",{"title":244,"path":245,"stem":246},"Preparing a Session","\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Fpreparing-a-session","wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F3.preparing-a-session",{"title":248,"path":249,"stem":250},"Setting Difficulty","\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Fsetting-difficulty","wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F4.setting-difficulty",{"title":115,"path":114,"stem":252},"wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F5.building-an-encounter",{"title":254,"path":255,"stem":256},"Running a Combat","\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Frunning-a-combat","wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F6.running-a-combat",{"title":5,"path":142,"stem":144},{"title":259,"path":260,"stem":261},"Rewards","\u002Fwiki\u002Fdungeon-mastering\u002Frewards","wiki\u002F6.dungeon-mastering\u002F8.rewards",1767225600000]