Sooner or later the dungeon master will hear this from their players. “We want to sleep in the dungeon and recover health and spells.” Or something along those lines. Now clearly this is a reckless and dangerous thing to do. And if it isn’t reckless and dangerous in your dungeons then it probably should be. It would not take the denizens of the underground labyrinth long to find out that someone new has moved into the neighborhood. And naturally….they would all want to welcome the newcomers….
Random encounter checks. The Dungeon Master’s Guide from 1st edition is silent on the subject of how often these should occur. But let’s be realistic. How long is going to take for the orcs that live two doors down from the room the adventurers are camped in to discover them and come visit? Probably not very long. The Dungeon Master Guide from 5E gives several alternate suggestions. Every hour, once every four to eight hours, once daily and once during a long rest. The 5E DMG suggests that you check by rolling a D20 and a roll of 18-20 indicates an encounter.
My personal advice is this. If someone is sleeping in the dungeon I would go with the check every hour approach. Because this is realistic. Every hour there should be a chance for someone to stumble into the delver’s camp. And with eight chances for a random encounter in a sleep period of eight hours this will effectively eliminate such efforts.
The purpose for such harshness, other than personal enjoyment of the player’s torment, is that the delvers must conserve their resources to succeed in the dark catacombs that you have created for them. They cannot have the wizard blast every goblin with a fireball if they do not wish to run out of spells before completing their expedition. They cannot fight every creature that they meet if the adventurers are taking wounds. Sure spells and healing potions may prolong this but even those run out eventually.
The idea is this. Unless you want these meddling delvers to steam roll everything in your well designed tomb then you need to force them to play the game right. When they make an expedition to some ruined castle, ancient tomb, limestone caverns or dark crypt then you want them to take risks. Allowing the adventurers to rest after a few fights allows them to be at virtually full strength every time they meet a monster. And that just isn’t the way the game should be played. Of course….that is the way that the players wish to have it…..but you run the game. Not them. So make sleeping in the dungeon a very dangerous thing to do. And you will maintain control.
Granted. Sometimes a dungeon is a long way from the nearest town. But the adventurers could make camp in a forest nearby and reduce their risk of an unhealthy visit from wandering monsters. This is why the adventurers make maps (assuming that yours do). So that they know how to return to the surface safely with their ill gotten gains. It is quite easy for them just to follow their map even from the deepest depths of the dungeon and then return again once rested. Of course….this also has a risk. Monsters may be wandering or lurking in the hallways.
In conclusion….keep control of your games. Stamp out this nonsense of sleeping in the dungeon. Use random encounters until your adventurers begin to understand that the dungeon is not a safe place.
