Return to Answer

Combat-like time is a tool to be used when it is needed.

I like to refer to the system of initiative, turns, and rounds as "tactical time" rather than referring directly to combat. Combat is by far the most common reason to use tactical time, but it's not the only one. If the party is trying to deal with a room full of traps, chasing a fleeing thief, or trying to climb out of a canyon before the flash flood hits, there's potential reasons to run in tactical time rather than narrative time. In many of those cases, you could equally well decide to run it purely narratively instead -- it's up to the DM. Going into tactical mode is one powerful tool in the toolbox, but it can be unnecessarily restrictive or just overly complicated for what's actually going on.

Rounds don't only exist when playing tactically.

Rounds and turns clearly still exist in some way when tactical time isn't being used, as there are pieces of rules text that directly reference rounds in contexts beyond combat. For example, the unseen servant spell allows you to issue a command as a bonus action "once on each of your turns", and presumably you wouldn't be asking your magical servant to pour wine or fold laundry only while engaged in life-or-death combat. The only rational interpretation is that you do in fact have ten turns per minute, all the time; we just don't bother to pay attention to it or track them when there's nothing going on that would make it important to do so.

A more direct use of tactical time outside of combat can be found in Xanathar's Guide to Everything, in the section on Traps Revisited. This section includes "Complex Traps" that function like a combat encounter: They activate on an initiative count (often with different elements that activate on different counts), and different parts of the trap can be disabled or destroyed by various methods, such as smashing equipment, making skill checks, or spellcasting. It's certainly possible you could have a complex trap that isn't so detailed that it demands initiative order and turn-by-turn action declarations, while still being based in rounds -- the DM is of course free to manage the game in whatever way makes the most sense (though initiative order might make it easier to track what everyone is doing in a complicated scenario).

As a DM, I've personally done that, where something is going to happen each round, but I just ask the players as a group, "Okay, what're you going to do?" For example, if the walls of a garbage masher are closing in, I know the players have a limited number of actions each before meeting a terrible fate, but I don't see any reason to run initiative order; I'm just going to throw it out to the group and let them narratively deal with the problem. I will of course be keeping an eye out for anyone not declaring actions and call on them as needed -- "Hey, so what's Feena doing while they're working on those braces?"

That said, I can't imagine what set of circumstances would demand using turns and rounds when finishing a short rest, so I'm not really able to address that point.

Combat-like time is a tool to be used when it is needed.

I like to refer to the system of initiative, turns, and rounds as "tactical time" rather than referring directly to combat. Combat is by far the most common reason to use tactical time, but it's not the only one. If the party is trying to deal with a room full of traps, chasing a fleeing thief, or trying to climb out of a canyon before the flash flood hits, there's potential reasons to run in tactical time rather than narrative time. In many of those cases, you could equally well decide to run it purely narratively instead -- it's up to the DM. Going into tactical mode is one powerful tool in the toolbox, but it can be unnecessarily restrictive or just overly complicated for what's actually going on.

Rounds don't only exist when playing tactically.

Rounds and turns clearly still exist in some way when tactical time isn't being used, as there are pieces of rules text that directly reference rounds in contexts beyond combat. For example, the unseen servant spell allows you to issue a command as a bonus action "once on each of your turns", and presumably you wouldn't be asking your magical servant to pour wine or fold laundry only while engaged in life-or-death combat. The only rational interpretation is that you do in fact have ten turns per minute, all the time; we just don't bother to pay attention to it or track them when there's nothing going on that would make it important to do so.

A more direct use of tactical time outside of combat can be found in Xanathar's Guide to Everything, in the section on Traps Revisited. This section includes "Complex Traps" that function like a combat encounter: They activate on an initiative count (often with different elements that activate on different counts), and different parts of the trap can be disabled or destroyed by various methods, such as smashing equipment, making skill checks, or spellcasting. It's certainly possible you could have a complex trap that isn't so detailed that it demands initiative order and turn-by-turn action declarations, while still being based in rounds -- the DM is of course free to manage the game in whatever way makes the most sense (though initiative order might make it easier to track what everyone is doing in a complicated scenario).

As a DM, I've personally done that, where something is going to happen each round, but I just ask the players as a group, "Okay, what're you going to do?" For example, if the walls of a garbage masher are closing in, I know the players have a limited number of actions each before meeting a terrible fate, but I don't see any reason to run initiative order; I'm just going to throw it out to the group and let them narratively deal with the problem. I will of course be keeping an eye out for anyone not declaring actions and call on them as needed -- "Hey, so what's Feena doing while they're working on those braces?"

That said, I can't imagine what set of circumstances would demand using turns and rounds when finishing a rest. In theory, the end of a rest would also be the end of your turn, if it really matters. However, since there is no turn order outside of initiative, there's likely to be a lot more 'simultaneous' things happening, and trying to use very detailed rules about how tactical time works in a situation that is very clearly not operating in tactical time (like resting) is likely to cause problems, so it's really more up to the DM to figure out.

Combat-like time is a tool to be used when it is needed.

I like to refer to the system of initiative, turns, and rounds as "tactical time" rather than referring directly to combat. Combat is by far the most common reason to use tactical time, but it's not the only one. If the party is trying to deal with a room full of traps, chasing a fleeing thief, or trying to climb out of a canyon before the flash flood hits, there's potential reasons to run in tactical time rather than narrative time. In many of those cases, you could decide to run it purely narratively instead -- it's up to the DM, and going into tactical mode is one powerful tool in the toolbox. In some cases it's appropriate to go tactical; in others it's unnecessarily restrictive.

Rounds don't only exist when playing tactically.

Rounds and turns clearly still exist in some way when tactical time isn't being used, as there are pieces of rules text that directly reference rounds in contexts beyond combat. For example, the unseen servant spell allows you to issue a command as a bonus action "once on each of your turns", and presumably you wouldn't be asking your magical servant to pour wine or fold laundry only while engaged in life-or-death combat. The only rational interpretation is that you do in fact have ten turns per minute, all the time; we just don't bother to pay attention to it or track them when there's nothing going on that would make it important to do so.

A more direct use of tactical time outside of combat can be found in Xanathar's Guide to Everything, in the section on Traps Revisited, which includes "Complex Traps" that function like a combat encounter: They activate on an initiative count (often with different elements that activate on different counts), and different parts of the trap can be disabled or destroyed by various methods, such as smashing equipment, making skill checks, or spellcasting. It's certainly possible you could have a complex trap that isn't so detailed that it demands initiative order and turn-by-turn action declarations (though that might make it easier to track what everyone is doing), while still being based in rounds -- the DM is of course free to manage the game in whatever way makes the most sense.

As a DM, I've personally done that, where something is going to happen each round, but I just ask the players as a group, "Okay, what're you going to do?" For example, if the walls of a garbage masher are closing in, I know the players have a limited number of actions each, but I don't see any reason to run initiative order; I'm just going to throw it out to the group and let them narratively deal with the problem, while keeping an eye out for anyone not declaring actions and calling on them -- "Hey, so what's Feena doing while they're working on those braces?"

That said, I can't imagine what set of circumstances would demand using turns and rounds when finishing a short rest, so I'm not really able to address that point.

Combat-like time is a tool to be used when it is needed.

I like to refer to the system of initiative, turns, and rounds as "tactical time" rather than referring directly to combat. Combat is by far the most common reason to use tactical time, but it's not the only one. If the party is trying to deal with a room full of traps, chasing a fleeing thief, or trying to climb out of a canyon before the flash flood hits, there's potential reasons to run in tactical time rather than narrative time. In many of those cases, you could equally well decide to run it purely narratively instead -- it's up to the DM. Going into tactical mode is one powerful tool in the toolbox, but it can be unnecessarily restrictive or just overly complicated for what's actually going on.

Rounds don't only exist when playing tactically.

Rounds and turns clearly still exist in some way when tactical time isn't being used, as there are pieces of rules text that directly reference rounds in contexts beyond combat. For example, the unseen servant spell allows you to issue a command as a bonus action "once on each of your turns", and presumably you wouldn't be asking your magical servant to pour wine or fold laundry only while engaged in life-or-death combat. The only rational interpretation is that you do in fact have ten turns per minute, all the time; we just don't bother to pay attention to it or track them when there's nothing going on that would make it important to do so.

A more direct use of tactical time outside of combat can be found in Xanathar's Guide to Everything, in the section on Traps Revisited. This section includes "Complex Traps" that function like a combat encounter: They activate on an initiative count (often with different elements that activate on different counts), and different parts of the trap can be disabled or destroyed by various methods, such as smashing equipment, making skill checks, or spellcasting. It's certainly possible you could have a complex trap that isn't so detailed that it demands initiative order and turn-by-turn action declarations, while still being based in rounds -- the DM is of course free to manage the game in whatever way makes the most sense (though initiative order might make it easier to track what everyone is doing in a complicated scenario).

As a DM, I've personally done that, where something is going to happen each round, but I just ask the players as a group, "Okay, what're you going to do?" For example, if the walls of a garbage masher are closing in, I know the players have a limited number of actions each before meeting a terrible fate, but I don't see any reason to run initiative order; I'm just going to throw it out to the group and let them narratively deal with the problem. I will of course be keeping an eye out for anyone not declaring actions and call on them as needed -- "Hey, so what's Feena doing while they're working on those braces?"

That said, I can't imagine what set of circumstances would demand using turns and rounds when finishing a short rest, so I'm not really able to address that point.

I like to refer to the system of initiative, turns, and rounds as "tactical time" rather than referring directly to combat. Combat is by far the most common reason to use tactical time, but it's not the only one. If the party is trying to deal with a room full of traps, chasing a fleeing thief, or trying to climb out of a canyon before the flash flood hits, there's potential reasons to run in tactical time rather than narrative time. In many of those cases, you could decide to run it purely narratively instead -- it's up to the DM, and going into tactical mode is one powerful tool in the toolbox. In some cases it's appropriate to go tactical; in others it's unnecessarily restrictive.

Xanathar's Guide to Everything has a section on Traps Revisited which includes "Complex Traps" that function like a combat encounter: They activate on an initiative count (often with different elements that activate on different counts), and different parts of the trap can be disabled or destroyed by various methods, such as smashing equipment, making skill checks, or spellcasting. It's certainly possible you could have a complex trap that isn't so detailed that it demands initiative order and turn-by-turn action declarations (though that might make it easier to track what everyone is doing) while still being based in rounds -- the DM is of course free to manage the game in whatever way makes the most sense.

As a DM, I've personally done that, where something is going to happen each round, but I just ask the players as a group, "Okay, what're you going to do?" For example, if the walls of a garbage masher are closing in, I know the players have a limited number of actions each, but I don't see any reason to run initiative order; I'm just going to throw it out to the group and let them narratively deal with the problem, while keeping an eye out for anyone not declaring actions and calling on them -- "Hey, so what's Feena doing while they're working on those braces?"

That said, I can't imagine what set of circumstances would demand using turns and rounds when finishing a short rest, so I'm not really able to address that point.

Combat-like time is a tool to be used when it is needed.

I like to refer to the system of initiative, turns, and rounds as "tactical time" rather than referring directly to combat. Combat is by far the most common reason to use tactical time, but it's not the only one. If the party is trying to deal with a room full of traps, chasing a fleeing thief, or trying to climb out of a canyon before the flash flood hits, there's potential reasons to run in tactical time rather than narrative time. In many of those cases, you could decide to run it purely narratively instead -- it's up to the DM, and going into tactical mode is one powerful tool in the toolbox. In some cases it's appropriate to go tactical; in others it's unnecessarily restrictive.

Rounds don't only exist when playing tactically.

Rounds and turns clearly still exist in some way when tactical time isn't being used, as there are pieces of rules text that directly reference rounds in contexts beyond combat. For example, the unseen servant spell allows you to issue a command as a bonus action "once on each of your turns", and presumably you wouldn't be asking your magical servant to pour wine or fold laundry only while engaged in life-or-death combat. The only rational interpretation is that you do in fact have ten turns per minute, all the time; we just don't bother to pay attention to it or track them when there's nothing going on that would make it important to do so.

A more direct use of tactical time outside of combat can be found in Xanathar's Guide to Everything, in the section on Traps Revisited, which includes "Complex Traps" that function like a combat encounter: They activate on an initiative count (often with different elements that activate on different counts), and different parts of the trap can be disabled or destroyed by various methods, such as smashing equipment, making skill checks, or spellcasting. It's certainly possible you could have a complex trap that isn't so detailed that it demands initiative order and turn-by-turn action declarations (though that might make it easier to track what everyone is doing), while still being based in rounds -- the DM is of course free to manage the game in whatever way makes the most sense.

As a DM, I've personally done that, where something is going to happen each round, but I just ask the players as a group, "Okay, what're you going to do?" For example, if the walls of a garbage masher are closing in, I know the players have a limited number of actions each, but I don't see any reason to run initiative order; I'm just going to throw it out to the group and let them narratively deal with the problem, while keeping an eye out for anyone not declaring actions and calling on them -- "Hey, so what's Feena doing while they're working on those braces?"

That said, I can't imagine what set of circumstances would demand using turns and rounds when finishing a short rest, so I'm not really able to address that point.