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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 5975402" data-attributes="member: 42582">In response to both these posts, I really want to reiterate what Mustrum_Ridcully has been saying:The main issue with the 15-minute day isn't that it's inane (although sometimes it is) or that it makes encounters too easy (good GMs often have ways of varying encounter strength and running dynamic and responsive encounters). The main issue is that it overpowers PCs who can nova and underpowers PCs who can't.And as Mustrum points out, this imbalance is compounded when those who can nova (ie casters) also have the best utility abilities (including those that determine the pacing of rests) while those who can't nova also often have only limited utility abilities (eg fighters, and some versions of the thief).That is, it's a mechanical problem needing a mechanical solution. Telling people that the issue would just go away if they used wandering monsters and a "living, breathing world" (as if the rest of us only GM sterile, boring worlds) is not very helpful.I think Mustrum_Ridcully have spoken pretty clearly about how we've solved the issue in 4e.Besides the obvious thing, of putting all PCs on the same recharge recyle, 4e has other features too: because many dailies are somewhat situational in the benefits they confer, nova-ing is not as highly rewarded as in a system of pure Vancian (the comparitor would be making 3rd level spells more situational than the weaker 1st level spells); because a PC can't benefit from spending all his/her healing surges at once (there is a cap set by max hp), the single most important daily resource can't be nova-ed.For my group, milestones also make a difference, but I think a lot of groups don't find them so significant.I don't think this is true. If resource management is of non-rechargable abilities (some spells in Runequest, potions and scrolls in D&D, etc) then there is no incentive to rest because you won't recharge them.Also, if resource management is of per-encounter resources (eg encounter powers in 4e) then there is no need to anything but short rests to recharge them; and PCs can't try and recharge them by resting during the encounter because while you're in an encounter things aren't very restful.There's nothing wrong with that as such, but if the answer is "The gameworld has got much more boring", then why would I (as a GM trying to run a fun game) want to do that? Conversely, if the the answer is "The gameworld has got more interesting in this way", then how have I discouraged the players?I'm not saying that running a living world is a bad idea - it's a bit like apple pie in that respect - but to use it to regulate pacing we need to talk in much more detail about the relationship between PC goals, player goals and the way they relate to various stakes and possibilities in the fiction.In Burning Wheel, for example, a player has a reason to push hard before the goblins escape because the Belief "I must revenge myself against the goblins who slew my father" is a mechanical part of his/her PC's build. That means that fulfilling that Belief factors indirectly into action resolution; thus, the player isn't indifferent across the range of possible interesting states of the fiction.Furthermore, the player also is playing a system which has explicit elements in its action resolution mechanics designed to make it unlikely that the PC will die even if s/he fails in confronting the goblins. And in fact improving your PC's skills becomes easier when you are wounded, because improvement is based on attempting (not necessarily succeeding at) a check with a given prospect of success. Being wounded makes checks harder, and so makes them worth more for advancement; and the fact that you probably won't succeed at them doesn't stop them counting for advancement purposes. (And because of the way the action resolution works, failing a check doesn't mean that you lose your PC, or the game.)Agreed. I think some sort of milestone/Action Point mechanic can be one important part of this - depleting resources (be they spells or hit points or other slow-recharge resources) causes a new resource to grow.In order to stop it being boring, ideally that new resource would not just operate in the same dimension of play as the depleted resources, but allow something different. 4e Action Points are one example of this - you don't recharge Dailies, but you can get bonus actions on your turn - but more adventurous versions must be possible. You might start by looking at the range of special abilities associated with action points by variuos paragon paths.As well as mechanics, advice can also help. D&D has never had good advice on how to adjudicate failure (beyond "roll up a new PC"). I think it's time for that to change.</blockquote>

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