Dyson Logos #Dicember2021 Prompt: Night
We've all seen it: "We make camp in the dungeon." I'm here to cite the rules and tell you my favorite DM phrase, "Yes, But..."
This one is going to quote a lot of rules, if you haven't figured it out I lean heavily into B/X, Holmes, and derivatives of those systems (like OSE and Basic Fantasy).
Wandering Monsters
1-in-6 chance every 2 Turns (20 minutes) or 42% chance each hour. So the party wanted to hole up in a dungeon for 8 hours and "rest" making 3 checks each hour, these are their chances of rolling a 1 on their wandering monster check somewhere along the way. By the end of 8 hours the party will have made no less than 24 wandering monster checks.
2 Hours: 66.5%
3 Hours: 80.6%
4 Hours: 88.8%
5 Hours: 93.5%
6 Hours: 96.2%
7 Hours: 97.8%
8 Hours: 98.7%
Almost, but not quite, impossible to make it 8 hours without being interrupted. Most books seem to refer to sleep needed as "an uninterrupted night" which could be anywhere from 6 to 12 hours so using 8 hours seems fair. Scientifically a "healthy" amount of sleep is 7 to 9 hours.
A wizard cannot get sufficient sleep inside the dungeon to regain spells unless they go to great lengths to make themselves nigh impossible to wake up and their companions are able to keep them protected. Obviously natural healing cannot take place since it requires 24 hours of total uninterrupted rest.
Yes! You make camp in the dungeon. BUT, you regain no spells, abilities, or hit points. Statistically speaking all you did was manage to get into a fight!
NOW! What about overland travel? The grand adventure? Surely camping out under the stars is a viable option!
And it is! The referee will check 1/day by the rules (although it does give them leeway to check more frequently). I will generally check one time every eight hours (morning, noon, night) giving the adventuring party a 42% chance of having an encounter in a 24 hour period. By chunking it into 8 hours it also allows for spellcasters to regain their spells on the first "successful" wandering monster check while resting.
Edited 7/17/2022 for clarity