Draw Steel: Fake variety helps no one

[Neonchameleon]

To be fair, Hope/Fear and Stress aren't class-based metacurrencies. They're generic metacurrencies that are used across all classes and by the GM as well.

That's the point. MCDM tried to make class based metacurrencies (it's a worthy goal), failed and realised it (good for them) and ended up with a generic player-side metacurrency. But kept vestiges of the class based in the names and the 2vs1d3

 

[Staffan]

That's the point. MCDM tried to make class based metacurrencies (it's a worthy goal), failed and realised it (good for them) and ended up with a generic player-side metacurrency. But kept vestiges of the class based in the names and the 2vs1d3

I would not classify them as metacurrencies. Metacurrencies, as I understand the term, are mostly Doylist in nature – they tend to represent things like luck, fate, and such, and with a few exceptions (e.g. TORG possibilities) they aren't things the characters are aware of. For example, in Savage Worlds, the metacurrency of choice is the Bennie, which a player can spend to reroll checks, soak damage, negate being shaken, redraw initiative, reroll damage, and some other stuff. It's basically a luck point, and it's not something the character themselves is aware of. This is in comparison to Power Points which you use to power arcane powers (spells, miracles, weird science, etc.). While a wizard wouldn't know that they are down to 3 out of 15 PP, they would have a sense that they are running low on magic juice. In some games they are somewhere in between – 2d20 for example uses Momentum to measure advantage being carried forward (oversucceeding on one roll gives you points you can save and use to, among other things, boost another roll – this can either represent luck or things like "I scouted out the area and got a lot of momentum on that roll so I have a good vantage spot from which to ambush them.")

The various class resources in Draw Steel seem more like regular resources than metacurrencies. Victories might be a better fit for metacurrency, but it doesn't seem to be something you spend so I'm unsure.

Oh, and a side effect of different classes using differently-named resources is that, at least in theory, you can have other abilities that affect the resources of only some classes. I could for example see an ability called "Inspire rage" that would restore Wrath, Essence, Ferocity, or Drama, but not Piety, Discipline, Focus, or Clarity. I have no idea if such an ability exists, or even if it would be a good idea, but at least it opens the door for one.

 

[grimslade]

I don't mind the 2 vs 1d3. It is slight variation, but still variation. The individual names for each class resource seem to be a waste of page space. I imagine in play is will just be referred to by a generic 'resource' or one classes name will become a catch-all.
I am not familiar with Draw Steel, so I don't know if there are other ways the class resource can be obtained, like an affix from a magic item or a bit of technology. If the name has further resonance outside of being a term for the classes resource, it would gain weight and importance.

 

[mamba]

That's the point. MCDM tried to make class based metacurrencies (it's a worthy goal), failed and realised it (good for them) and ended up with a generic player-side metacurrency. But kept vestiges of the class based in the names and the 2vs1d3

some other poster said the 2 vs 1d3 is the order vs chaos classes or something like that and that it has a generic metacurrency name, but also a individual / thematic one per class. So these are not really vestiges they forgot about but deliberate design decisions - doesn’t mean you have to agree with them

 

[aramis erak]

Point of order: are these metacurrencies? They look more like standard class resources at a glance. Characters seem as aware of them and able to decide to use them as players do.

Wictionary offers this:

A type of resource allotted to players that is spent and exchanged without any resource exchanging occurring in the game world

Which puts hit points into it, as well as XP. Fate points, D&D 5e Inspiration.
It also puts many class mechanics into being metacurrencies. If it's X per Y, but has no material, somatic, or verbal component in fiction, it's a metacurrency.

Many ignore 1/scene or 1/round type stuff, because it links tightly to a describable action, but if the action can't always do so, the metacurrency of the number of times invocable is an enabler.

 

[Faolyn]

Wictionary offers this:

Which puts hit points into it, as well as XP. Fate points, D&D 5e Inspiration.
It also puts many class mechanics into being metacurrencies. If it's X per Y, but has no material, somatic, or verbal component in fiction, it's a metacurrency.

Many ignore 1/scene or 1/round type stuff, because it links tightly to a describable action, but if the action can't always do so, the metacurrency of the number of times invocable is an enabler.

Mmm, I'd put hit points as a track or countdown more than a metacurrency.

 

[aramis erak]

or Dragonbane or any of the other systems that have a single universal meta currency for powering abilities (yes DH has stress too but its used a bit differently than hope).

Yeah, it (Daggerheart) has 4 metacurrencies in frequent universal use: Hope, Fear, HP, Stress. Two of those are damage tracks (HP, Stress, but stress is also a trigger for many abilities). the other two (Hope/Fear) are player/GM mirror for powering special abilities.
Several of its classes have additional metacurrencies, each class specific. often tracked with a d4, d6, or number of dice.

 

[Staffan]

Wictionary offers this:

Which puts hit points into it, as well as XP. Fate points, D&D 5e Inspiration.
It also puts many class mechanics into being metacurrencies. If it's X per Y, but has no material, somatic, or verbal component in fiction, it's a metacurrency.

Many ignore 1/scene or 1/round type stuff, because it links tightly to a describable action, but if the action can't always do so, the metacurrency of the number of times invocable is an enabler.

I'd classify things like Wrath, Discipline, or Drama as resources, not metacurrencies. They are no different from something like Power Points in Savage Worlds, other than how they are gained and regained.

 

[aramis erak]

I'd classify things like Wrath, Discipline, or Drama as resources, not metacurrencies. They are no different from something like Power Points in Savage Worlds, other than how they are gained and regained.

They are ALL metacurrencies, unless they're tied to some in-fiction item being expended.
Resources are a subset of metacurrencies.

 

[Staffan]

They are ALL metacurrencies, unless they're tied to some in-fiction item being expended.
Resources are a subset of metacurrencies.

That's not my understanding of metacurrencies. My understanding is that metacurrencies are things that do not exist as such in the actual game world, but only in the game – that's why they are metacurrencies. In D&D, Inspiration is a metacurrency, while things like spell slots, sorcery points, action surges, etc. are in-game resources. The PC might not know "I have four Sorcery Points", but they would know "I am filled up with sorcerous power".

In Draw Steel, hero tokens are a group level metacurrency. I would not classify Wrath as one. Doing so would make the term "metacurrency" useless as it would refer to everything, both in and out of the game world.