Is Resource Management “Fun?”

[James Gasik]

I guess one advantage to random, chaotic magic is you wouldn't have to have "Vancian-esque" spell slots to track anymore.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

For example, your character shoots only one arrow where normally they would make two or three shots in a quick succession. Or maybe they use subpar ammunition they avoided using before. Or maybe they are so worried about expending the last few rounds that their hands are shaking slightly.

Narrarive justifications are a dime a dozen.

Using those not so well made or slightly damaged arrows was what I had in mind but you hit the nail on the head.....one can find a narrative answer if one wants to.

 

[Panzeh]

Using those not so well made or slightly damaged arrows was what I had in mind but you hit the nail on the head.....one can find a narrative answer if one wants to.

Interestingly enough, that's how ammunition is modeled in tactical wargames like Advanced Squad Leader- there's a chance any heavy weapon used in an attack 'breaks', which is considered running out of ammo as well as literal mechanical malfunction. It's more just a thing that happens than an actual resource management task.

As to the magic discussion, the baseline of GURPS Magic (used in its d&d-like variation, Dungeon Fantasy) does have a miscast chance, and a series of miscast tables (17-18 on 3d6 for most casters) and then spells use fatigue points as the resource, but you can know as many spells as you want- they're bought like skills. There are weaknesses in this approach, but it's definitely a step up from Vancian, IMO.

 

[Lanefan]

extended casting durations are i thing i think ought to make a return, sure you can have your action/bonus action/reaction spells that you cast immediately but also have 'end of round' and 'next turn' spells where you have to wait until, like the names imply, the end of the round or your next turn before your character actually finishes casting them and their effects pop off, so that the spellcaster players have to consider 'by the time i actually finish casting this fireball will all the enemies i'm currently targeting take their turns and move out of it's AoE and i hit precisely nobody with it?'

Why would the caster have to target the spell before it resolves? Unless by "AoE" you mean "range", of course, which would be a consideration.

Bigger consideration would be the movements of your own allies in the meantime, and not hitting them.

 

[James Gasik]

Oh man, just had flashbacks of my DM requiring me to make an Intelligence check to precisely avoid targeting my own allies with a fireball...

 

[Lanefan]

Oh man, just had flashbacks of my DM requiring me to make an Intelligence check to precisely avoid targeting my own allies with a fireball...

I make casters roll to aim or place every AoE spell. Most of the time even a low roll is good enough unless what's being tried involves some real precision e.g. trying to put a fireball through a 4-inch-wide arrow slit in a castle wall from 50 feet away or trying to stop the lightning bolt just short of an ally while still hitting that ally's foe, at which point aiming becomes a lot more challenging.

And once in a while they fumble...

 

[CreamCloud0]

Why would the caster have to target the spell before it resolves? Unless by "AoE" you mean "range", of course, which would be a consideration.

Bigger consideration would be the movements of your own allies in the meantime, and not hitting them.

i didn't reply to any previous messages but it was a suggestion towards making magic a little more reined in without the chances of wild magic backfires, commiting to where you intend to cast a spell when you start casting it, be that a certain spot on the map or at a specific creature when you initially start casting seemed like a reasonable restriction.

 

[Lanefan]

i didn't reply to any previous messages but it was a suggestion towards making magic a little more reined in without the chances of wild magic backfires, commiting to where you intend to cast a spell when you start casting it, be that a certain spot on the map or at a specific creature when you initially start casting seemed like a reasonable restriction.

Ah, got it.

 

[Staffan]

Earlier in the thread someone was saying tracking every arrow or infinite arrows were the only two choices.

Here is an alternative.

Quiver Rules (made up in 2 minutes just now)

Reminds me a little of the ammo rules in the version of Gamma World that was based on 4e. If you had a high-tech weapon, you'd have some ammo for it. If you were conservative with ammo use, you could fire the weapon once per encounter, and you'd never run out. Or you could go all out and fire it as much as you wanted for one encounter, but after that you'd be out of ammo.

 

[bloodtide]

Earlier in the thread someone was saying tracking every arrow or infinite arrows were the only two choices.

Here is an alternative.

I really don't get why the so called "alternative" is Infinite Arrows with a pointless for show "downside". I get that it takes no effort to keep track of arrows when you will just roll some dice to see if you have infinite arrows. And guess you can reduce the damage, but does it matter with infinite arrows?

And I'm a bit unclear, does the character have infinite quivers?

I guess you will go through some bunch of abstract rules until you somehow decide the character has run out of arrows and can't access the infinite arrows anymore, for no reason.
Or, well, you could just count he arrows. It's much simpler.

People complain all over the place about how casters are too powerful, even in 5e.

And yet when given an easy means of reining them in* you won't use it,

This has always been hilariously true.

The vast majority of Gamers-"Spellcasters in D&D are too powerful and broken!"

The Lone DM- "Um, you know there are Official rules, right here in the books to address and take care of that?"

All the Other Gamers- "Oh, we don't use any of those rules."