Let's Talk About Character Resources To Power Abilities

[Umbran]

I like that a lot. It's a common trope in many media where the characters go "screw this, I'm pulling out my grenades/flamethrower/big guns!". Rolplaying games are often bad at gradual escalation and tension build-up that doesn't go from 0 to 100 in nanoseconds.

Agreed. It gives mechanical support to pulling out stops as things get more dire, rather than always opening with the biggest gun in your arsenal.

 

[Reynard]

Agreed. It gives mechanical support to pulling out stops as things get more dire, rather than always opening with the biggest gun in your arsenal.

I have not played it yet, but I am pretty sure Draw Steel! went for a solution to this problem as well.

 

[Bill Zebub]

What else would you call it, if the game doesn't have any resources that can be consumed? The gameplay is more than likely going to have some sort of chance-based resolution method (dice, cards, etc.), which provides a success or failure based on the narrative input, and resolves into a curated narrative output.

Whatever character-based assignments the games gives you (skills, backgrounds, attributes, features, etc.) are going to feed into the randomizer and drive the next narration. That's the gameplay.

So maybe I'm not understanding what you mean by generating narratives after all.

I can easily imagine, say, melee combat rules that aren't based on resources. You get your basic attack (and defend?) rolls, with special abilities that can be used either situationally (e.g. flanking) or with risk:reward (attack with advantage, but your opponents also get to attack you with advantage).

Then add in spellcasting like Shadowdark, where you don't have spell slots or mana points, but if you fail a roll you lose the spell for the day. If that's too "resource-adjacent" for you, then maybe the rule is that if you fail the roll you roll instead on a mishap table.

Instead of HP, you use defense rolls to mitigate successful attacks. Depending on how they compare, you either avoid the attack completely, or you are Wounded (disadvantage on all rolls?), or Downed.

There, no resources to track. How is that just a "prompt engine with randomizers for generating narratives" in a way that is meaningfully different than a resource-driven game? It seems to me the only substantive change is that the game becomes one of optimizing decisions in the immediate present, instead of a game of conserving resources for unknown future challenges.

 

[TwoSix]

So maybe I'm not understanding what you mean by generating narratives after all.

I can easily imagine, say, melee combat rules that aren't based on resources. You get your basic attack (and defend?) rolls, with special abilities that can be used either situationally (e.g. flanking) or with risk:reward (attack with advantage, but your opponents also get to attack you with advantage).

Then add in spellcasting like Shadowdark, where you don't have spell slots or mana points, but if you fail a roll you lose the spell for the day. If that's too "resource-adjacent" for you, then maybe the rule is that if you fail the roll you roll instead on a mishap table.

Instead of HP, you use defense rolls to mitigate successful attacks. Depending on how they compare, you either avoid the attack completely, or you are Wounded (disadvantage on all rolls?), or Downed.

There, no resources to track. How is that just a "prompt engine with randomizers for generating narratives" in a way that is meaningfully different than a resource-driven game? It seems to me the only substantive change is that the game becomes one of optimizing decisions in the immediate present, instead of a game of conserving resources for unknown future challenges.

Combat is just another way to develop prompts that generate narratives.

You win the combat, you follow narrative A. You lose, you switch to narrative B. Without resources to deploy, the only input is narrative input (the playing the situation/“tactical infinity” that OSR likes) and the die results.

And if characters can die during combat, that was probably the result of losing a finite resource. (Hit points/wounds/stress boxes, etc.)

 

[MichaelSomething]

But resource management is a vital part of D&D? So characters have to have a resource that they carefully meter out throughout the day.

 

[Reynard]

But resource management is a vital part of D&D? So characters have to have a resource that they carefully meter out throughout the day.

We aren't talking about D&D, or at least not specifically.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Combat is just another way to develop prompts that generate narratives.

You win the combat, you follow narrative A. You lose, you switch to narrative B. Without resources to deploy, the only input is narrative input (the playing the situation/“tactical infinity” that OSR likes) and the die results.

So....how is that meaningfully different if you have resources like mana points, or expertise dice, or arrows and rations?

Not arguing; just trying to understand what sort of distinction you are drawing.

And if characters can die during combat, that was probably the result of losing a finite resource. (Hit points/wounds/stress boxes, etc.)

Yeah, I tried to slide that one by but unless it's "one hit and you're dead" I'm not sure how to handle that without it being some kind of resource. I mean, it could be a resource you accumulate ("wounds") but it's still tracking something.

 

[MichaelSomething]

We aren't talking about D&D, or at least not specifically.

Okay. Do you want resource management in your game?? Or tactical, or even strategic, thinking? Since figuring out when to resources can be quite tactical or strategic.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Okay. Do you want resource management in your game?? Or tactical, or even strategic, thinking? Since figuring out when to resources can be quite tactical or strategic.

I imagine they do want tactical and strategic thinking. The question, I think, is whether or not resource management is required for that.

 

[GrimCo]

I quite like character resources, but i like unified, easy, streamlined mechanics. For instance, in WW nWoD, every game line uses essentially same mechanic. FE Vampire has blood pool, it fuels disciplines, healing, boosting abilities. One fuel tank, one way of replenishing it, limited amount of fuel, so you need to weight options and choose when and how much on what to spend it.

In contrast, d&d has slots, ki points, sorcery points, abilities with "X times per LR/SH" uses, some replenish on short, some on long rest. With multi classing, it can get messy quick.