Quote Originally Posted by Mister_Squinty View Post
I would argue the exploration and social pillars of the game the designers intended would disagree with this assessment.

On these points we are in complete agreement.
No.

Social and Exploration challenges should consume party resources. Maybe the guard needs to be bribed. (gold) Maybe they need to wait for their noble patron to catch up before they get to work. (time) Maybe they need to use magic to impress the king with their superb capabilities as adventurers. (spell slots) Maybe they need to out-drink the local thug to get him to open up about the carta's operations in the city. (HP/Gold/Time) Maybe getting to the tower requires you to forge through an intense thicket of razor vines. (HP)

If there are no resources being expended and/or no consequence/possibility of failure, these encounters are a waste of time.

Should I do a formal write-up of my rulings I made to make gritty realism work in 5e? IE, what I did to handle things like spell duration, magic item acquisition, and the like?