Can the PCs Rest During a PFS Module?

[Harles]

I can't find a specific reason why the PCs can't take an 8 hour rest, but I feel it would upset the intended balance of the encounters. The adventure we're specifically playing is Trailblazer's Bounty - which involves a wilderness trek that spans days.

[Pirate Rob]

You can't find a reason because there isn't one.

PCs should definitely be resting along the way.

[NielsenE]

There's a couple of scenarios that have explicit "this has to be done today" or "something bad happens at this set time/this many days", but baring something like that in a scenario there's no default prohibition on resting.

[Ascalaphus]

In many cases, difficulty is actually based on the expectation that you have had time to rest up and heal up.

Low level scenarios tends towards even more forgiving, because it's quite possible the party hasn't yet had time to get expert-level healing feats.

[Tomppa]

Some scenarios explicitly give you an opportunity to rest.

Some imply that there's urgency even when there's not (and it seems like you aren't supposed to rest halfway through a dungeon).

Some scenarios don't explicitly tell you to "rest now" but certainly seem to assume that your characters rest - trailblazer's bounty is one of these, where the journey takes several days. Some encounters might be within the same day and thus you probably don't rest between them, but when the adventure says "after several more days", it's certainly assumed that your group sleeps through the night instead of marching on without rest (which would cause fatique after... I think after 16 hours of traveling without rest, but I haven't checked the actual time limit).

[Sebastian Hirsch]

At least in the scenario you mentioned, players are expected to rest each day.

[Cordell Kintner]

Yes, you become Fatigued after 16 hours without resting. It's assumed that you spend 8 hours asleep, 8 hours of work/activity, which traveling falls under, and 8 hours of other stuff, which includes daily prep, resting for meals, setting up camp, etc.

Further more, your overland travel speed assumes you are only Striding once per round and not using any exploration activities that make you move at half speed. It's pretty tiring to be holding your shield up for hours on end after all.

That's why when my party is simply traveling through a forest for hours with no hint of any problems and they're suddenly accosted by woodland creatures, they more than likely wouldn't be having their exploration activities set.