Is Resource Management “Fun?”

[Jd Smith1]

Continual Light and Tenser's Disc are in the 1e PH, meaning they were in place before the early 80s.

True, but with a spell slot refresh every 24 hours, non-combat spells usually got dropped.

Interesting; and a bit surprising in a positive way, in that I'd expect video gamers to be accustomed to the game doing the tracking for them and thus their not being impressed with having to do said tracking themselves.

I game online. Automated PC sheets make inventory very easy.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I find the video gamers to be the other way: they hate keeping track of anything. They like video games as the game does it for them.

Automated PC sheets: Find them, employ them.

 

[Kaodi]

Resource management may be fine up until the point where it starts to drag the whole game down. The question should perhaps be: how much time per hour should be taken up by resource management?

 

[CleverNickName]

(shrug) It's not worth much, but my opinion? I think it's pretty fun.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Resource management may be fine up until the point where it starts to drag the whole game down. The question should perhaps be: how much time per hour should be taken up by resource management?

That's a valid assessment. I have detailed resource management in my campaign, and I would say it takes up about 10-15 minutes per four-hour session.

 

[Panzeh]

I've found that resource management beyond the obvious individualistic stuff tends to be a very binary thing- either the group has a player who has a gift for planning and can very skillfully ensure that expeditions are fully provisioned(which for the most part eliminates the stress that resource management is supposed to bring), or nobody's interested in the nitty gritty planning required to mitigate it(in which case, using it as a stress point feels arbitrary). A lot of players talk a big game about how it'll be cool to have resource management right up to the point where i ask them to plan out exactly what you're bringing on an expedition. So, I think i've come to the conclusion that it's something to be used sparingly, as a one-off part of an adventure, something very particular.

I will admit i've never made archers track their arrows, because generally that's not factored into their balance. I don't wish to punish them for using a bow instead of playing a Warlock with Eldritch Blast. At best, i consider the weight of a full quiver for a 'default' loadout and then move on from there.

 

[pemerton]

I've found that resource management beyond the obvious individualistic stuff tends to be a very binary thing- either the group has a player who has a gift for planning and can very skillfully ensure that expeditions are fully provisioned(which for the most part eliminates the stress that resource management is supposed to bring), or nobody's interested in the nitty gritty planning required to mitigate it(in which case, using it as a stress point feels arbitrary).

What RPGs do you have in mind here?

 

[Panzeh]

I've played GURPS, Traveller, and several other games of that level of detail and yeah, most people bounce off the planning aspect of resource management, especially if it's say, "outfit a ship meant to explore a sparsely-explored continent". Or even "Outfit a tramp steamer for a small crew", and often "outfit an expedition meant to go out 100 miles"

Of course, those games, much like d&d, let you either play with full resource management or handwave things.

 

[rmcoen]

Here's my take, after 42 years of playing D&D (and only slightly fewer playing computer RPGs of all types:

1. Many people have said the core thing: Logistics is only interesting when it fails.

2. Like not finding the first trap, logistics failures lead to obsessive over-planning, which can be the height of "unfun".

Currently, my solution is not unlike others I've read here: Occasionally impose #1 for story interest, and most dispense with #2.

Easy example: I was playing DDO last week, wasn't paying attention, and ran out of Thieves Tools in the middle of the adventure (they are a consumable, stacks of 50, use one per attempt). Silly me. But the rest of that adventure, I needed to figure out ways around the traps, and remember which ones were still armed (due to some clover-leaf backtracking). When I got out, I went right to a shop and bought 200 more! This became an issue later, as it used 4 of my precious FTP 40 inventory slots, which is another aspect of Resource Management.

PCs, after adventure #1, generally are never in a bind on what they can afford, only what they can carry. And usually, due to magic, don't need to worry about that after level 2 or 3. Why carry a bunch of miscellaneous tools when you can craft them out of ice, conjure them whole, or reconfigure your pet dogbot to have a lockpick tail?

One of my players offered to try using an Ammunition Die for her hand crossbows, just to see if there was some fun to be had in the occasional "oops, out of bolts!" moments that might pop up. Never happened in 6 sessions - she did resupply a couple times from fallen foes - and she doesn't bother tracking it anymore.

CRPGs use inventory space or carry weight to (try to) limit how much loot/gear you can reasonably truck back to the merchant. (or to microtransaction sell you inventory upgrades) "Yes, all 20 temple guardians had full plate armor. Yes, it's worth 1000gp a suit. But Aha! it weighs 50 pounds each...." Player: "Okay. I can carry 2, the lesser bag of holding can carry 2 more... I'll just make 5 trips. Because I can." So was it really limiting? [DDO again, can't leave the dungeon without penalty -- so I start dropping the 5pp potions so I can pick up the 50pp gems... and then start dropping the 50pp gems so I can pick up the 2000pp magic weapon.]

Is this fun? Not really. I pack an extra 100 arrows (what, 20 sp total), can we move on? We all carry 2 weeks of iron rations, and buy fresh food in towns. The DM makes a comment on day 2 or three of the journey that the fresh food is gone, and we move on. I had a torrential rainstorm (and a bad Survival check) ruin their dried supplies; the ranger hunted, the dwarf fished, a day was lost... and we moved on. It was interesting, it was handled, and then we moved on.

Darker Dungeon works on resource management because it artificially restricts your resources. You get 8 things. Torches, camping gear, healing potions, bandages... you get 8. And the dungeon will demand you use a (somewhat randomly determined) dozen or more. Whereas PCs in a game are going to each be carrying multiples of all of them... and we move on.

So after all this time, I've come down to "I work with the CRPG's restrictions", but in games I run, resources will only matter when the story - or the realistic weather, because I do that - makes it matter in a reasonable situation. Your characters (after level 1) are assumed to have reasonable supplies. the STR 8 rogue is not carrying backup grappling hooks, for example, but I'm not watching or caring about that until she loses one! (Which did happen when running into a laser-shooting golem while scouting alone...)

 

[CreamCloud0]

if 95% of the time they weren't just immediately waived away by having a component pouch or arcane focus/holy symbol would needing to aquire the right material components for spells be categorised as resource management? have any of you played a campaign like that where you actually have to first aquire the piece of cured leather for mage armour, or the lightning-struck twig to cast witch bolt?