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A lot of races and classes have abilities that can either be used proficiency bonus times per long rest, or that can be used once per short or long rest.

For evaluating homebrew races, you often need to compare abilities, and sometimes while the effects are similar, the difference is the formula used for how often per long rest the abilities can be used. Obviously, this changes over time, as the levels and with that the proficiency bonuses increase, so proficiency bonus uses will become comparatively better, and it also depends on how many short rests a given group tends to take.

Are these two models comparable in strength? How can you assess this?

V2Blast
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Nobody the Hobgoblin
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3 Answers3

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Proficiency bonus times is better.

You’ve pointed out the only variable: short rest frequency. In my experience one short rest per day is the most common, with two coming on particularly tough days. Three or more short rests in a single day almost never happens (again, in my experience). So in terms of “uses per day”, proficiency bonus gives 3 every day starting at 5th level, where short/long rest abilities only give three uses in those occasional days where you take two short rests. And obviously, if your table usually takes more short rests per day, you’ll get more mileage out of your short rest feature.

But the real kicker here is that proficiency bonus abilities can be used multiple times between rests. You don’t have to wait for a rest to get the ability back. You can dump all your uses in one fight or situation if you feel that’s necessary. Proficiency bonus abilities are more flexible, and will generally offer more uses.

Thomas Markov
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    My party usually takes 3 short rests a day, but we play particularly hard campaign with most fights having real chance to kill at least some of characters. That means - once per short rest has the option to pump daily uses higher if you really need them. – Mołot Sep 25 '22 at 11:13
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    +1. I think the multiple uses per single fight is a good observation. Your estimated numbers (which tend to match the 2 short rests assumed in the DMG) would make it slightly weaker maybe in tier one. – Nobody the Hobgoblin Sep 25 '22 at 11:14
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    To be fair this was the express reason for changing to a PB-based setup -- once per short rest makes the characters stronger in a campaign that favors many smaller encounters per day, and if you tend to have only one really big fights, that makes your short rest abilities practically the same as a long rest ability. Basing it on PB gives you more flexibility to ration out the uses based on what your campaign is doing. – Darth Pseudonym Sep 25 '22 at 17:16
  • @DarthPseudonym Interesting, I was not aware about this motivation. I like short rest-based better personally, as PB means more bookeeping. With short rest powers you can typically remember if you used them since the last rest, without extra tracking. – Nobody the Hobgoblin Sep 25 '22 at 19:17
6

Frame challenge: 1 ability in the hand is worth 2 in the bush

This mostly came from a comment I made but I have seen questions from people with a similar mentality to my own asking how to avoid it, so I know I am not alone here.

But to me PB times per long rest is something that I feel I have less control over than X times per short rest.

With long rest features I am far more likely to save them for later, sometimes ending the day with several uses left.

With short rest features, I can (somewhat) control or predict when I am going to be able to rest. It matters less how many rests I will get, only how many fights it will be before I get that rest, and with things like tiny hut and rope trick short rests are very easy to obtain.

So PB may be more times, but if you don't use an ability then it is worthless.

That said, unless you use constant time pressure, short rest can easily be more

As mentioned above, a short rest can be made almost entirely safe with a rope trick (single action cast) or a tiny hut (10 minutes cast so a bit more DM discretion) and can be done almost any time. Many people don't play with constant short rests because the standard day at a lot of tables tends to be only a few fights, but players have much more control over short rests, so effectively can often have as many as they need. If that doesn't make short rest powers used more often than PB it is because they don't need to use them that much, so it makes no difference anyway.

To answer the premise of the question:

The reason you asked was to evaluate both options for balance, and while this is opinion, it is educated opinion; I would count them as equal.

Generally PB is likely more, but short rest has enough benefits that it comes out either even in terms of value, or very close to it in my eyes.

It is also telling that a lot of formerly short rest powers have been changed to PB with little actual change, which tells me they can change to the latest flavour while still being balanced.

SeriousBri
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It depends

Someone else can do the math on this, but there are some notable considerations.

  1. Frequency of short rests
  2. Time-sensitive campaigns like ToA.
  3. scaling ability vs. scaling PB
  4. Special cases (e.g. coffeelocks)
  1. Is the most obvious variable. If you can manage P.B. short rests per day, both options are equivalent.
  2. Sometimes, you can't take a long rest. But can only manage a short rest.
  3. As you level, PB scales. So if you're playing at a high level, likely PB will be better. But, sometimes recharging SR Abilities scale as well, e.g. Channel Divinity
  4. Edge cases may skew the average. A CoffeeLock would get a lot more value out of recharging SR Abilities.

Ultimately, the DM adjusts the encounter CR relative to the party. So, this is a very contextually sensitive question.

nonymous
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    Thank you for taking the time to answer; to clarify, I am not asking about abilities that can be used muliple times per short rest (those I think would be better at least in tier 1-2), I am asking about those that are usable once per short rest. All the other points you make like time pressure, scaling, or special classes that will drive more short rests are valid considerations; to answer the question I'd hope for some analysis of how they affect the balance. – Nobody the Hobgoblin Sep 25 '22 at 16:31
  • I see. Ok, let me think about it. – nonymous Sep 25 '22 at 16:46
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    One big consideration I have is that I don't mind using short rest features because I know I can control my short rests (or I know I can't, situation depending) but with PB I can't control the whole day so am more likely to save and end the day with powers I haven't used. I really strongly dislike PB personally because of this. – SeriousBri Sep 25 '22 at 17:20
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    @SeriousBri I have a similar issue with the Divination wizard's Portent. One tactic I tried is to just use it at any decent opportunity, and not fret about then potentially not having it a a critical point later on. That has in practice led to a lot less wasted applications (and a better feeling about it), and I only had a situation where I wished I had not once or twice. – Nobody the Hobgoblin Sep 25 '22 at 19:12
  • @GroodytheHobgoblin yeah it is definitely a phycological issue, but people remember the times they said "I wish I still had a portent left" better than the "what a time to use portent!" uses, so not having it when you need it feels so bad for so long that I actually prefer to end the day with one left (and then I just use it to mess with my group). But to me these aspects are more important than how many uses, I really hope they still keep both in all honesty, to make room for both kinds of people. – SeriousBri Sep 26 '22 at 07:49
  • @GroodytheHobgoblin also thank you, I was so preoccupied trying to "argue" I ignored the fact you were giving helpful advice! – SeriousBri Sep 26 '22 at 07:51
  • @SeriousBri No worry, did not feel argumentative to me. I also prefer the short rest version, but mostly because it is less bookkeeping work as it is easier to remember if you used it or not since the last rest. – Nobody the Hobgoblin Sep 26 '22 at 07:55