Balance: per Encounter vs per Day

[Musrum]

To me, a day is 24 hours. As far as spell recovery goes, it's after a good night's sleep, but no more often than 24 hours. No trickiness there.

But I have had players ask me before if we're still in initiative.

The trickiness is comming from the players who can unload 4 encounters worth of mojo into 1 and then disengage, making the day last 10 mins.

The other trickiness is coming from the DM who use the resting rules to ensure that the players are toast.

The problem is that they are both perfectly legitimate tactics with the system, as is. However only one of them (the DM's) is chalk.

 

[Musrum]

There are several solutions to the problem that I see:

1) Divine Cohorts.
2) Cure boosts by the Divine casters (such as Augment Healing)
3) Party Wands/Staves of Curing
4) Party boosts of AC
5) Party buffs of Temporary Hit Points pre-combat

Arcane casters rarely run out of spells once they get to mid-levels.

It is the Divine casters who run out of Cure or Heal (or even various Remove X or Restoration) spells.


Once the party significantly boosts up the number of Cure/Heal spells that can be generated per day, there is no real reason to rest up early anymore. Most casters can easily go 6, 8, or even more encounters then. IME.

These are good practical solutions to the problem within the current system.
However the Arcane problem still exists at low levels (The levels that see the most actual play).

 

[KarinsDad]

However the Arcane problem still exists at low levels (The levels that see the most actual play).

Not quite as much as one would think. Many low level arcane spells are showstoppers. For example, Sleep (or Color Spray).

If an arcane caster Sleeps 4 opponents out of 6 at first level, there should be no reason for him to cast a second spell in that combat. The other 2 opponents should be easily handled by the PCs without arcane spells, otherwise the DM has made the Challenge Rating too high.

Granted, a given player of an arcane caster might cast spells every single round. But, this is not a requirement, rather it is a choice.

Once an arcane PC reaches 4th level or so (about 7 spells plus potential scrolls for a non-specialized Wizard, 11 spells for a Sorcerer), he should be able to handle 4 or more encounters if he does not cast spells all of the time. So yes, this problem might occur at real low levels. But, this is a player choice and the Fighter PCs can talk to the Arcane PCs and ask them to conserve a bit more. If the Arcane PC resists, then it is perfectly within the rights of the Fighter PC to resist stopping every time the Arcane caster runs out of spells.

 

[Lord Zardoz]

Per encounter wont help...

Encounter frequency is something that is very firmly in the hands of the DM, and that in turn is largely dependant on his DMing style as much as anything else.

If your DM is inclined to make it easy for the players to rest between encounters, than spell casters are going to be able to unload all their abilities in each battle. Balancing per encounter wont change that very much.

The basic fact is that if the DM wants to force more fights per day, than he can manage ways to do that. He can have opponents retreat, regroup, add some re-enforcements, and hit the party again shortly after the first fight. And if the party is able to guarantee themselves a full nights rest, the DM can simply replenish the bad guys to punish the players for letting the enemy regroup too much.

If your DM is inclined to let the party fully recover after each fight, than there is not a whole lot you can do short of telling your DM how to run his game. And even if he is agreeable, you may want to be discreet about asking him. Its quite possible that the spell casters in your party will get the idea your out to nerf them.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[ValhallaGH]

What are the pros for keeping the system balanced per day?

Tradition.
Getting to use the books you've already purchased.
Not having to learn new rules.

As a player I am frustrated when I play an 'endurance' class (skill monkey or warrior) and have to endure 1 or 2 encounters of playing an 'extra' in combat and then have the magical 'star' insist on retiring to their caravan.

The antagonists are almost always fully loaded up for any combat encounter, so wouldn’t it be easier to design the system balance at the encounter level?

The only thing you miss out on is the slow, flat death spiral of depleted resources.

The problem with a per-encounter balance is that it would require a complete reworking of the magic system, as well as numerous semi-magical class features. That's a lot of work, none of which WotC is willing to do at this time. A gamble such at that simply wouldn't be worth it when they could instead put all that time and effort into developing another 15 books that follow the status quo and will be profitable.

You could always try a game of Iron Heroes mixed with True Sorcery to get a 'per encounter' experience. Don't worry, the IH appendix is much more per encounter than the core of True Sorcery.
If you want simple and per encounter then you might look at True20.