Let's Talk About Character Resources To Power Abilities

TwoSix · 2026-03-16T21:57:00+0000

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

Or maybe they don’t! Strategic and tactical thinking is not a requirement for lots of kinds of RPGs.

Bill Zebub · 2026-03-16T21:57:59+0000

TwoSix said:
Or maybe they don’t! Strategic and tactical thinking is not a requirement for lots of kinds of RPGs.

Yes, it's possible, and a perfectly valid viewpoint, but I was basing that guess off of other posts they have made.

TwoSix · 2026-03-16T22:01:11+0000

Bill Zebub said:
Yes, it's possible, and a perfectly valid viewpoint, but I was basing that guess off of other posts they have made.

You’re almost certainly correct, but I like to keep the various options in context for the broader thread readership.

DrunkonDuty · 2026-03-16T23:10:10+0000

Personally, I like having in-game resources: HERO's End, spell points, L5R's rings.

Not everyone does. I've noticed more people dislike the ones that look the most like maths, e.g. HERO's End. (That it constantly goes up and down is just more maths and makes it even less popular.)

Whereas simpler systems, e.g. L5R's rings, aren't an issue for most folks. Tracking the charges doesn't even need maths, coloured tokens would do the job. That they're also narratively cool helps too.

Another thing that occurs to me is that every magic system (that I know of) uses some sort of resource tracking, be it power points or spell slots. This means that anyone who wants to play a spell caster has to be happy with resource tracking.