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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Grydan" data-source="post: 5988418" data-attributes="member: 79401">I can only speak for myself, so my explanations may not help to answer your question.I don't hate daily abilities. They are not dealbreakers, in and of themselves, for me. I do, however, have issues with them. How many issues, I don't know, but it's definitely plural. Some of the issues overlap with each other, and may even in some people's eyes be merely different ways of phrasing the same thing. Some of the issues don't really come into play unless the ability is a potent one. I mean, it really isn't going to make a difference to me whether or not you have the ability "X times per day you can make yourself go cross-eyed", unless we're in some odd campaign where the ability to go cross-eyed is something that really needs a limit. All of that preliminary stuff out of the way, here we go.n times per day is not a meaningful limit to the player unless the DM is forced to structure things such that you need to do it n+1 or more times per day.Why is something being limited in usage at all? Presumably because if you could use it at-will, it would be too potent. But on any day where you don't need to use Ability X at least n+1 times, it effectively is an at-will ability.So in effect, the limitation isn't being placed on the player or their character, but upon their DM. The DM is now obligated to create scenarios in which you need to use Ability X n+1 times or more on any day in which you need it at all. On any other day, the limit is purely theoretical. In combination with the above,It encourages railroading.No, really, I mean it. Look, the player (and the character, if the fiction is such that the character is aware of the limit) has every incentive to avoid scenarios in which a given ability is needed more times per day than they can actually use it.Therefore, in campaigns where the PCs have the freedom to avoid such scenarios, the limit on their use of the ability remains illusionary.So now the DM, who is already being asked to insert additional scenarios needing the use of that ability into the campaign, is tasked with making sure that the player cannot avoid such scenarios. Either that or structure things so that such avoidance leads to consequences at least as undesirable to the PC as the scenario they're trying to avoid in the first place.It doesn't mesh with my genre expectations.Perhaps it's because fantasy novels and films (and I supposed television) shaped my views long before I ever first rolled a die for an RPG, never mind D&D, but daily abilities don't quite click for me.I freely admit I've never read Jack Vance, whose work inspired the basic set-up of D&D magic, and from whose name the term Vancian is derived. Outside of licensed D&D novels, I don't recall ever encountering a daily limit in any of my fantasy reading or viewing. Even within that subset of books, I can't off the top of my head recall any where the limit was in any way plot relevant. That could be a failure of memory rather than lack of actual examples, however.My genre expectations don't mesh with the need for n+1 or more scenarios requiring Ability X.Gameplay experience on both sides of the DM screen has taught me to expect situations where a typical adventuring day involves multiple combats, followed by a rest, followed by another day much like the one before it, and so on.My genre expectations, however, still treat this as anomalous.It's certainly not Lord of the Rings: Chase scene, weeks of walking, chase scene, tense face-off, weeks of walking, one combat, chase scene, weeks of walking, MASS COMBAT!, more walking...It's not Wheel of Time. It's not A Song of Ice and Fire. It's not The Belgariad. It's not The Name of the Wind.It's not any of the novels, films, comics, webcomics, tv shows, or other genre inspirations that come to mind.Heck, The Order of the Stick is out-and-out inspired by D&D, and the characters rarely get into multiple combats per day.Jack Bauer has fewer fights per day than D&D seems to expect you to have.Yes, yes, it's a game. It's not a novel, or tv show, a film or a comic. Concessions must be made. I'm not sure that "Every adventuring day needs to have this much something", regardless of what that something is, is one of the necessary concessions, though.---I could probably go on, but it's late, and I've apparently reached my daily limit of remotely coherent thoughts.</blockquote>

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