So I've been tinkering with this concept, and I'm putting out an initial beta to get people's initial reaction. This is very much a rough draft, the numbers will certainly need tweaking, but it shows clearly what I am going for, so people can tell me if they like the concept of if I'm going in completely wrong direction.
The Purpose of this System
So one common complaint in 5e is the balance between Short and Long rest classes. 5e implicitly expects a large number of encounters, and a decent amount of short rests, in a day to maintain proper balance. However, many DMs prefer games with fewer encounters, and often fewer rests. In these circumstances, long rest classes can often "Nova" with their abilities, and short rest classes don't get their abilities enough.
This system is designed for that model, for DMs who prefer fewer encounters and their players to push forward instead of being encouraged to take lots of rests.
The main focus of the system is:
5e Drive Recharge System v .1 (aka Beta)
Drive
Often what marks a hero is how they rise to the challenge. The more fatigued, the more hurt these characters become, the greater they fight back.
Note: The Drive Recharge rules replace the Short Rest recharge mechanic. Long rest and Long rest abilities are not affected by this system. Players no longer need to keep track of how many hitdie they have remaining in a given day.
Using Drive Abilities
An ability that could previously be recovered by Short Rest is now refreshed by spending Drive. Such abilities have this format (A, B). Spending drive is a free action.
A: The amount of drive it costs to refresh this ability when you are not in an encounter
B: The drive cost when you are in an encounter. A value of “X” means this cannot be used during an encounter.
Example: Action Surge (1, 3). After an encounter, it takes 1 drive to refresh the ability. However, if you wish to refresh action surge during an encounter, it costs 3 drive.
Gaining Drive
Example Drive Abilities (very much a work in progress)
General
Healing Surge (1, X): (All characters gain this ability) Roll a number of hitdie equal to your level. Gain Fast Healing 1 for a number of rounds equal to half the total result (minimum 1 round). At 10th level, the Fast Healing is increased to 2. At 15th level, its increased to 4. The fast healing stops if a new encounter starts.
Fighter
Second Wind (1, 2)
Action Surge (1, 3) – At 17th level, it becomes (1,2).
Monk
Ki (1, 2) – Recover half of your total Ki
Warlock
Spellcasting (1, 2) – Recover 1 spell slot.
Example: A 3 full fight adventuring day
Our party is in the lair of Magnus, the Archmage seeking to rule their kingdom. After a long campaign, they have finally found his whereabouts’, and seek to stop him once in for all. Borlon the 8th level fighter leads the group.
Encounter 1
Pushing into the lair, Borlon first encounters a hoard of acolytes for the archmage. He uses Action Surge and Second Wind in the encounter.
After the fight, Borlon now has 1 Drive. He decides to spend it to recover Action Surge. Borlon took 20 damage in the fight, and uses Healing Surge. He rolls his 8d10 and gets a 45, which is 22 when halfed. Over 20 rounds Borlon will heal his 20 damage.
Encounter 2
The party faces a series of magically modified monsters and a living spell from the archmage’s lab. This is a tough fight, and Borlon decides to use his Action Surge again. The fight lasts a full 4 rounds, so Borlon gains 1 Drive. He takes 40 damage as well.
Borlon gains 2 drive after the encounter, so 3 in total. He spends 1 drive on Healing Surge, this time heals 23 damage on a decent roll, leaving him with 17 damage. The party debates whether to fight or pull back. Ultimately they know this may be their last chance to catch the archmage, and so they decide to push forward. Borlon decides to spend another drive to refresh action surge, and his last one on Second Wind, letting the party’s cleric heal him the rest of the way.
Encounter 3 – Final Fight
At last, the Archmage!!! This is the final fight, everything has been building to this moment. The DM notes that because this is a final fight, every player starts the Encounter with 1 drive.
But what is that necklace the Archmage is wearing? Its…Borlon’s wife’s necklace! And as the villain monologues Borlon learns the truth. He always knew his wife had been killed, but it wasn’t just anyone…it was the Archmage who orchestrated the deed! Borlon swears to kill the Archmage, now not just for his kingdom, but for the memory of his wife as well. (The DM decides to give Borlon an additional 1 drive, as this is a fight now connected with his backstory. Borlon now has 2 drive).
Borlon rushes in to the Archmage’s guards with everything he has, using Action Surge right off the bat. Borlon takes a lot of damage but won’t be denied. He uses Second Wind to recover. On the 3rd round of combat, Borlon gains 1 drive (he gets an extra drive for every 2 rounds of a critical fight). The guards circle him to finish the job, Borlon reaches deep, to that well of heroism that only manifests in the most dire of circumstances.
Borlon spends his 3 drive to refresh Action Surge during the encounter, and he continues to mow through the honor guard.
The battle is brutal and long, and the party’s mettle is fully tested. At the start of the 9th round, things are looking grim. But Borlon takes a long look at the necklace hanging from the neck of his enemy, and finds a will within himself that even he didn’t know he had (Borlon has gained 1 drive after rounds 4, 6, and 8. With his 3 drive, he refreshes Action Surge again in the encounter).
With all of his will and might and screaming the name of his beloved wife, Borlon uses Action Surge and cleaves the Archmage in two! The guards run terrified. The villain is dead, the kingdom is saved, and Borlon’s wife is avenged!
The Purpose of this System
So one common complaint in 5e is the balance between Short and Long rest classes. 5e implicitly expects a large number of encounters, and a decent amount of short rests, in a day to maintain proper balance. However, many DMs prefer games with fewer encounters, and often fewer rests. In these circumstances, long rest classes can often "Nova" with their abilities, and short rest classes don't get their abilities enough.
This system is designed for that model, for DMs who prefer fewer encounters and their players to push forward instead of being encouraged to take lots of rests.
The main focus of the system is:
- Give Short Rest classes the ability to recover their abilities more often in the face of limited rests.
- Allow short rest abilities to "Nova" on occasion, to keep pace with the long rest classes that will often do that.
- Give players extra "toys" when they engage in tough, long fights...and push ahead instead of resting. Aka encourage action over rest.
- Give DMs an option to grant additional abilities to players for certain special circumstances.
5e Drive Recharge System v .1 (aka Beta)
Drive
Often what marks a hero is how they rise to the challenge. The more fatigued, the more hurt these characters become, the greater they fight back.
Note: The Drive Recharge rules replace the Short Rest recharge mechanic. Long rest and Long rest abilities are not affected by this system. Players no longer need to keep track of how many hitdie they have remaining in a given day.
Using Drive Abilities
An ability that could previously be recovered by Short Rest is now refreshed by spending Drive. Such abilities have this format (A, B). Spending drive is a free action.
A: The amount of drive it costs to refresh this ability when you are not in an encounter
B: The drive cost when you are in an encounter. A value of “X” means this cannot be used during an encounter.
Example: Action Surge (1, 3). After an encounter, it takes 1 drive to refresh the ability. However, if you wish to refresh action surge during an encounter, it costs 3 drive.
Gaining Drive
- Gain 1 Drive after the 1st encounter, and 2 drive after each additional encounter. (reset after a long rest)
- DM’s note: DMs are encouraged to tweak this number to fit their campaigns. For example, a DM may choose not to award drive for a particularly easy encounter.
- Gain 1 Drive after every 4 rounds of an encounter (or 2 rounds of a “critical or final” encounter)
- All drive is lost upon a long rest
- Accomplish a key or special aspect of a battle (save a civilian, stop a key ritual): Gain 1 drive
- Critical or “Final” Fight: Players gain 1 drive.
- Examples: Final boss, overwhelming CR encounter, or party member dies during fight
- Encounter has special background significance to a Party member: Party member gains 1 Drive.
Example Drive Abilities (very much a work in progress)
General
Healing Surge (1, X): (All characters gain this ability) Roll a number of hitdie equal to your level. Gain Fast Healing 1 for a number of rounds equal to half the total result (minimum 1 round). At 10th level, the Fast Healing is increased to 2. At 15th level, its increased to 4. The fast healing stops if a new encounter starts.
Longer Rest Model: If you prefer a longer recovery time, change the fast healing to the following: Recover 1 hit point a minute over a number of minutes equal to half the total result (minimum 1 minute).
--Designers Note: So this ability replaces the short rest healing system, but works differently. So a first note is that everyone gets 1 use of Healing Surge "for free". Beyond that, you have to balance ability recovery and healing by the expending of drive. Further, I removed any hard rest requirements, but the fast healing itself means that players need to avoid encounters for a bit of time to heal up their damage, so it’s a more organic rest instead of a hard 1 hour, or 5 minutes, etc.
Fighter
Second Wind (1, 2)
Action Surge (1, 3) – At 17th level, it becomes (1,2).
Monk
Ki (1, 2) – Recover half of your total Ki
Warlock
Spellcasting (1, 2) – Recover 1 spell slot.
Example: A 3 full fight adventuring day
Our party is in the lair of Magnus, the Archmage seeking to rule their kingdom. After a long campaign, they have finally found his whereabouts’, and seek to stop him once in for all. Borlon the 8th level fighter leads the group.
Encounter 1
Pushing into the lair, Borlon first encounters a hoard of acolytes for the archmage. He uses Action Surge and Second Wind in the encounter.
After the fight, Borlon now has 1 Drive. He decides to spend it to recover Action Surge. Borlon took 20 damage in the fight, and uses Healing Surge. He rolls his 8d10 and gets a 45, which is 22 when halfed. Over 20 rounds Borlon will heal his 20 damage.
Encounter 2
The party faces a series of magically modified monsters and a living spell from the archmage’s lab. This is a tough fight, and Borlon decides to use his Action Surge again. The fight lasts a full 4 rounds, so Borlon gains 1 Drive. He takes 40 damage as well.
Borlon gains 2 drive after the encounter, so 3 in total. He spends 1 drive on Healing Surge, this time heals 23 damage on a decent roll, leaving him with 17 damage. The party debates whether to fight or pull back. Ultimately they know this may be their last chance to catch the archmage, and so they decide to push forward. Borlon decides to spend another drive to refresh action surge, and his last one on Second Wind, letting the party’s cleric heal him the rest of the way.
Encounter 3 – Final Fight
At last, the Archmage!!! This is the final fight, everything has been building to this moment. The DM notes that because this is a final fight, every player starts the Encounter with 1 drive.
But what is that necklace the Archmage is wearing? Its…Borlon’s wife’s necklace! And as the villain monologues Borlon learns the truth. He always knew his wife had been killed, but it wasn’t just anyone…it was the Archmage who orchestrated the deed! Borlon swears to kill the Archmage, now not just for his kingdom, but for the memory of his wife as well. (The DM decides to give Borlon an additional 1 drive, as this is a fight now connected with his backstory. Borlon now has 2 drive).
Borlon rushes in to the Archmage’s guards with everything he has, using Action Surge right off the bat. Borlon takes a lot of damage but won’t be denied. He uses Second Wind to recover. On the 3rd round of combat, Borlon gains 1 drive (he gets an extra drive for every 2 rounds of a critical fight). The guards circle him to finish the job, Borlon reaches deep, to that well of heroism that only manifests in the most dire of circumstances.
Borlon spends his 3 drive to refresh Action Surge during the encounter, and he continues to mow through the honor guard.
The battle is brutal and long, and the party’s mettle is fully tested. At the start of the 9th round, things are looking grim. But Borlon takes a long look at the necklace hanging from the neck of his enemy, and finds a will within himself that even he didn’t know he had (Borlon has gained 1 drive after rounds 4, 6, and 8. With his 3 drive, he refreshes Action Surge again in the encounter).
With all of his will and might and screaming the name of his beloved wife, Borlon uses Action Surge and cleaves the Archmage in two! The guards run terrified. The villain is dead, the kingdom is saved, and Borlon’s wife is avenged!
