I don’t really like running Dungeons & Dragons 5e. There are a lot of reasons for this, but I could learn to live with or subtly work around most of those reasons. There is one core mechanic in the game, however, that drives me up the wall like nothing else, and I basically never see it discussed anywhere—the long rest. This article is my attempt to make a case for why the long rest isn’t very good.

Not long ago, I created an NPC for my level 3 D&D party to encounter. The NPC is a little kitty in a basement beneath an abandoned tower full of magical treasures. As soon as the party began to take any items from the basement, the cat turned on them, swiping its little claws at the ankles of the daring adventurers. Two floating weapons assaulted the party together with the cat to prevent the party from stealing anything.