I try to make it pretty balanced. Dnd isn’t really balanced around constantly long resting, and I think resource management is part of the fun. Low level spells are pretty meaningless if you always have high level spells slots to blast through and such.
So my approach is this:
Only long rest after my 2 short rests
Short rest when reasonable, such as when the party has a good chunk of HP missing.
Generally aim for 3-4 encounters per long rest (encounters don’t have be combat, can be anything you expend resources on, such as healing or charming an NPC)
So far it’s worked out pretty nicely. It makes the game more challenging and rewarding, imo.
I was doing the same thing initially. My natural instinct was to horde supplies because I’ll definitely need then later, and just barely make it through a few fights before finally resting. I was also avoiding expending spell slots on anything that wasn’t absolutely necessary, so I could last longer before needing to rest. Then I noticed I was having issues with my carrying capacity. What am I carrying around that’s so heavy? Ah, yes, the massive buffet I’m dragging around everywhere I go. That’s when I finally accepted that there is no food shortage in the area. The game is actually a lot more enjoyable now that I can just blast out all those spells. I also learned that you can just send all of that food to camp, and when you go to the campfire to rest it’ll just pull it out of the camp storage box. No need to drag any of it around with you.
I feel like he’s a well written character, and people underestimate how much he changes based on player choices.
When you first meet him he’s desperate and clearly hiding something, but a nice enough fellow. Then you learn he used to be a REALLY big deal (ie. Level 20 Wizard) but flew too close to the sun. Fair enough, a megalomaniac who has learned his lesson.
Then he’s offered a deal: sacrifice yourself to save the world, absolve yourself of your sins, die a hero. The the thing is at first he’s ON BOARD with this. The first time this solution is proposed, he can totally see the logic of it. And on face value, blowing up the Absolute right there in act 2 is the best case scenario for everyone. The enemy and all their army wiped out in one hit, without risking it all trying to fight them one by one. He has a chance to die a hero and save literally thousands of lives with his own.
But what happens is that players want to play the game. They want to see Baldur’s Gate. So they convince Gale not to sacrifice himself, to make the selfish choice and choose to live. So they miss their chance to kill all three and the brain in one spot, and have to traipse around the city gathering allies for a super risky final battle.
In the process, the players turn Gale BACK into the megalomaniac he started as. Because we coached him into ignore the advice of his (very wise) peers like Mystra and Elminster, he starts thinking he’s God’s gift all over again. Starts coveting power, first to save his own skin, but then just for power’s sake. And in the end, if you let him, he learns absolutely nothing from his whole saga: he’s the same power tripping manchild he started as.
I think if theres poor writing, it’s having the choice of blowing himself up in act 2. That’s way too soon: if you want to see a third of the game, you HAVE to convince him to ignore him most treasured mentors and be selfish. It feels very railroady and the only version of Gale you can play as/with in act 3 is someone who has turned completely away from the path to redemption
Spoilers for Act 3 stuff. Prewarning because spoiler tags don’t work on some mobile apps.
Act 3 RomanceShadowheart feels very liberated once you’ve spared the Nightsong, and Halsin is very much a free love character. There’s even a scene where the PC and Shadowheart can hire a pair of sex workers and invite Halsin to join.
I’m waiting for a mod to allow the back travel for my second play through, also hoping the level 20 mod gets updated to allow you to level your main class past 12
FWIW, you’re correct; you haven’t finished Act 2, and you actually got the bad ending.
Honestly such a great game, I really appreciate that a deus ex machina like that is an option and will just end the game; it fits in quite nicely with how D&D itself works
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