D&D General D&D without Resource Management

[James Gasik]

That's where the 1e idea of fireballs being potentially risky comes in useful: in close quarters or where it's uncertain how big the area is, you'll cast those magic missiles instead of a fireball every time (well, maybe except the first time, on which one hopes the lesson is learned!).

Everyone seems to have gotten caught up on the spell I used as my example, and not the point I was making- higher level spells usually more impact than multiple lower level spells.

 

[M_Natas]

Gotta disagree.

PF2 has a slot system essentially and the effect is more or less 'oh boy, I can not have fun with slightly less math, but more operations!'

I've never met an inventory system, videogame or tabletop that ever managed to get better than 'not onerous' and never one that actually added to my enjoyment. I think logistics puzzles are one of those things that only appeal to people into logistics puzzles and no one wants to admit that.

The encumbrance system needs to be a simple one. Let me polished up my system and then you try it out.

 

[Lanefan]

Sure, if you only have one. In 1e it was a 3rd level spell with no material component that any 5th level or higher PC cleric could cast. Carrying around five backups in case of targeted dispelling and or continual darkness was generally easy for any party above fourth level that thought to do so.

Ah, I see the disconnect: I've always had dispel magic be area-effect rather than targeted. Having it targeted makes it just too easy.

 

[Lanefan]

Everyone seems to have gotten caught up on the spell I used as my example, and not the point I was making- higher level spells usually more impact than multiple lower level spells.

Depends how much time you-as-caster have to operate in. In a longer fight or a standoff, magic missile or other lower-grade spells can make a huge difference (web for the win!) but if it's likely to be a very short fight then you gotta hit hard and fast.

 

[Shardstone]

Balancing to short rest, and making short rests 10 minutes (really just calling them Refreshes at that point), would be optimal DnD in my mind. You can have encounters happen back to back if you want to increase tension and difficulty, or give bosses two or three health bars each with a different phase, and so on and so forth. It also better reflects fiction in my eyes. Usually, Fantasy adventure is treated as a marathon, but not a marathon in the sense of managing powers and cooldowns. There may be a few things only possible a few times for the scope of the story, like maybe casting a 6th+ spell or something equivalent, but usually these characters have a lot of access to their tricks.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Balancing to short rest, and making short rests 10 minutes (really just calling them Refreshes at that point), would be optimal DnD in my mind. You can have encounters happen back to back if you want to increase tension and difficulty, or give bosses two or three health bars each with a different phase, and so on and so forth. It also better reflects fiction in my eyes. Usually, Fantasy adventure is treated as a marathon, but not a marathon in the sense of managing powers and cooldowns. There may be a few things only possible a few times for the scope of the story, like maybe casting a 6th+ spell or something equivalent, but usually these characters have a lot of access to their tricks.

That's a lot more narrative than I like my D&D, to be honest.

 

[Shardstone]

That's a lot more narrative than I like my D&D, to be honest.

Not even sure what this means, man. Balancing to short rest means you can do more dungeons, more fights, more hazards, more traps, etc. Put in some new conditions to make it all work, like Exhaustion 2.0 which means you need to take an 8 hour rest in order to Refresh, or Wounded which makes it so you need a medicine check and 24 hours of rest in order to Refresh.

Forest and trees, man. Forest and trees.

 

[FrogReaver]

IMO, it needs more resource management--but the resources need to be actually worth managing, and that's the tricky part.

This is one of the reasons why certain kinds of consistency--"uniformity"--can actually be very helpful for fostering creativity and improvisation. When there is a shared baseline of resource management, it's easier to understand what resources are being expended when, both your own and others. It's easier to adjust when you shift from one class to another, because the details differ, but the framework remains consistent.

Of course, as with literally all such things, you need extensive testing. That's how you learn what's a good, worthwhile design and what's well-meaning but foolish or (all too often) a designer's pet idea inflated and emphasized well beyond its actual merits.

Some forms of resource management are just annoyances used to trip up the use of excessively powerful abilities. Some are just dull bookkeeping without any real need to exist (other than...well, because tradition says so.) A few are really cool ways to force difficult decisions when otherwise you would just do whatever you want, whenever you want. Finding the latter amidst the mountains of the first two is no easy task.

Piggybacking of this, shared resources also can provide a good way for players to get Out of Combat bonuses - even if it's just reroll the die on this skill check or add +1d8 to a failed check, etc.

 

[FrogReaver]

Sure, it is mostly casters currently.


Siloing has nothing to do with this. If you want classes to have out of combat powers, give them such. What resource mechanic they use doesn't matter, what matters is having them in the first place.

It is alot easier to design powers when they share the same resource structure. It's partly why we see so many spells.

 

[Vaalingrade]

The encumbrance system needs to be a simple one. Let me polished up my system and then you try it out.

For me, simplicity isn't the issue, it's the question of what I get out of participating in the system.

With Blades, you get flexibility and creative agency for using the loadout system. In order to be worth taking the time to keep track of it, I want an encumbrance system to offer something other than the chance to not bring the gear I want.