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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BlubSeabass" data-source="post: 5269474" data-attributes="member: 87308">We've seen several answers and solutions to this 15-minutes work day, and I'd liked to summarize them a bit. First, I'll try to explain what's the problem with the 15-minute work-day, and why it can hurt the gameplay experience. Then I'll go through some of the interesting things posted here. I'll give some links to things I found relevant, for people just tuning in or wanting to reread that post. I shamelessly may have copied one of your opinions, but certainly not all said in the links is represented in my post, especially not the counter-arguments.What is the problem with the 15-minute work day?Skip this if you already agree =). To see the problem we need to make a few premises:1) Resource management, or the problem of how to spend your resources, is a vital part of strategy.2) Different strategies is what makes the game fun. The ability to tackle problems on several ways, one more effective then the other, is a major aspect of RPG's in general.3) Nova, or using all resources from best to worst to create a large spike of damage, is the superior resource management strategy if those resources can be re-used in the next challenge.4) Optional- Full resources strongly favor spellcasters, while low resources favor warriors.The 15-minute work day is the problem in which the PC's can immidiately regain their resources after a challenge by resting. This and premise 3, results into Nova always being the superior strategy. The players will be strongly encouraged to Nova, and probably will do this if able. This and premise 1 result in the strategy mostly being the same all the time, since one strategy is  superior. This and premise 2, lead to a boring and repetitive game (always using the same superior strategy). The balance is directly gone with premise 4 and the option to always regain your resources.Conclusion: The 15-minutes work day encourage the same superior tactic, which leads to boredom and imbalance.Relevant posts IMO: <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day.html#post5264958" target="_blank">Stalker0</a>, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day.html#post5265047" target="_blank">Cerebral Paladin</a>, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day.html#post5265340" target="_blank">Dannyalacatraz</a>, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-2.html#post5265387" target="_blank">Arscott</a>, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/blogs/michaelsomething/1790-blog-post-43-im-sleepy.html" target="_blank">MichealSomething's blog</a>, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-3.html#post5267539" target="_blank">Doug Mcrae</a>, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-4.html#post5268153" target="_blank">Lost Soul</a>, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-4.html#post5268666" target="_blank">Jgbrowning</a>, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-4.html#post5268830" target="_blank">Myself =D</a>, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-4.html#post5268907" target="_blank">Storminator</a> <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-5.html#post5268961" target="_blank">Beginning of the End</a> and <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-5.html#post5268965" target="_blank">Dausuul</a>How do we fix this?It's pretty obvious that in this case, rest should be discouraged, or not resting should be encouraged. Here are some of the solutions, with my opinion.DM's mercy: Most people here who didn't find the 15-minute work day a problem, agreed that resting, and therefor when the party regains resources, is at the hand of the DM. The DM is the one who decides when rest is available. He could control this by environment, but also by bad consequences. Since the DM can be unpredictable, players are forced to take more care of resource management. The bottom line is, the environment, not the mechanics, discourage the rest.My opinion: It's basically what most good adventures do right now. It works fine in reality, but I have three problems with it. First, it is taking away the option from the player, something I wish to avoid. Second, the DM has to prepare for the things the PC's are going to try to get a rest. I think some here could write a book about "How the DM got rope-tricked." Penelizing this creativity with, " you just can't" is not something I like. Finally, it doesn't solve the mechanic, it just walks around it.Relevant posts: <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day.html#post5265340" target="_blank">Dannyalacatraz</a>,  <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-3.html#post5267787" target="_blank">Ariosto</a>, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-4.html#post5268296" target="_blank">Dannyalcatraz II</a>, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-4.html#post5268666" target="_blank">Jgbrowning</a>, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-4.html#post5268153" target="_blank">Stalker0</a>, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-5.html#post5268961" target="_blank">Beginning of the End</a> and <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-5.html#post5269002" target="_blank">Silvercatmoonpaw2</a>.Redifine your resources: This I've seen alot. Abilities usable once per day become usable once per session. Every resource is usable at will. Everybody gets equal resources. If everyone get's equal resources, the imbalance of nova is gone. If abilities are usable x times a session, resting loses it's replendishing ability. One nice idea is to make resources unlockable after x rounds. Resources would then have to be earned in though fights. Nova-ing is not possible anymore.My opinion: While most certainly do adress a lot of the problems, I don't like messing with the resources of the PC's. If they want to nova, its up to them. Most of these ideas consist of taking away options from the player, which I don't like. Making every resource usable at will actually turns every battle into novas. The one of rebalancing resources over the classes solves imbalance, but still leaves nova the superior tactic.Relevent posts: <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-2.html#post5265364" target="_blank">Starfox</a>, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-2.html#post5265387" target="_blank">Arscott</a>, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-2.html#post5266023" target="_blank">Ariosto</a>, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-2.html#post5265396" target="_blank">Tuft</a>, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-3.html#post5267914" target="_blank">Billd91 </a> and <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-5.html#post5269050" target="_blank">Doug Mcrae</a>.Punish the sleepy ones: Redefine rest so that it costs something to rest. This could be in simple consequences, but Dausuul had the sweet idea of resting taking longer and costing money. Storywise, they would relax with their favourite gal, spend quality time with family, drink till the sun rises or spend a night playing a tabletop RPG with some friends. This penalizes resting, and thus does not more encourage the same Nova tactic.My opinion: Pretty sweet, but doesn't get my favor for 2 reasons. First, it influences the setting pretty badly. Are there girls available? Is your family close? Where is the rum? Even worse, when you're in a dungeon, and you need to replendish your resources, you can't rest! You'll have to go back to town, spend some days etc. while the lich slays the hostages one by one. The second reason has more to do with my own likes and dislikes, and I prefer giving the players then taking things out of their hands, even though when its way more practical.Relevant posts: <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-3.html#post5267898" target="_blank">Dausuul</a> and <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-5.html#post5269017" target="_blank">Dausuul II</a>Praise the heroes: Give them something for not resting. Many things have been said, prominently XP rewards, but milestone bonusses and resources are also mentioned. The player is rewarded for not resting in a (often temporary) bonus.My opinon: Yay! Finally something I agree with! I don't like XP awards for the same reasons others didn't like them, and as I stated above, I don't like messing with resources. But milestone bonusses (for not-4e I guess that would be after-encounter bonusses) are the way to go. They give something a player can't get any other way, and challenges the benefits of resting in a balanced and gradual way. Nova is still a valid tactic, but so is moving on.Relevant posts: <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day.html#post5264958" target="_blank">Stalker0</a>, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day.html#post5265257" target="_blank">Kurtomatic</a>, <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day.html#post5265333" target="_blank">Mark CMG</a> and <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/286349-discussion-game-design-15-minute-work-day-2.html#post5265463" target="_blank">Uder</a>Obviously I haven't included everyone and their thoughts, but I was getting confused, so I tried to summarize the big lines.I like this discussion way too much...</blockquote>

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