There are some individual points in the last few posts that I want to respond to, but I think I am just going to try and resist my urge to be stubborn and defensive and let it go for now.

I will add a clarification though; the 20% per encounter and 80% per adventuring day are averages, not some hard rule, and I absolutely due vary it up a bit.


Overall, I think the root problem for my game might be a sort of "cancelled the Christmas bonus," deal. I have put rules into the game to reward good play and encourage players to play smart and conserve resources, but now this has become an expected part of the reward structure and thus it feels like a punishment when the players have a session that is merely average.