Let's Talk About Character Resources To Power Abilities

[Micah Sweet]

Why change anything, we have DMs for a reason. Make the call, move on and getting the game rolling.

Precedent. One you make the call, it becomes a rule for that circumstance. Like science. For consistency you have to write it down.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I don't understand. If there's no rule that defines how Int 5 has to be presented, then how is there a disconnect between roleplaying and mechanics if somebody interprets it in a surprising way?

I get that in your opinion a 5 Int has a certain meaning, but that makes the disconnect between your expectations and the player's, not between the roleplaying and the rules.

In other words, maybe it just bugs you, and you don't want that at your table because it interferes with your conception of how things should be. That's fine. But I think you're interpreting your own opinion as objective, as something that's defined by the game.

I've never had a player decide to portray an ability score in a way that made no sense to me, so I don't know what to tell you. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with a "surprising" interpretation in yours or anyone else's game, but in my game it has to make sense to me. I've had folks explain their reasoning to me in the past, as that's been fine so long as I can make setting logic out of whatever they're trying to do.

 

[Bill Zebub]

I've never had a player decide to portray an ability score in a way that made no sense to me, so I don't know what to tell you. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with a "surprising" interpretation in yours or anyone else's game, but in my game it has to make sense to me. I've had folks explain their reasoning to me in the past, as that's been fine so long as I can make setting logic out of whatever they're trying to do.

Yeah, as long as you're acknowledging the subjective aspect, I don't have a beef with what you're saying.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yeah, as long as you're acknowledging the subjective aspect, I don't have a beef with what you're saying.

My claims are always subjective. If my rhetoric suggested otherwise, I apologize.

 

[aramis erak]

My general preference is for Spells to be spell point gated; I dislike the D&D spell slots (and always have, especially after getting RoleMaster).
I don't mind unlimited but rolled for uses

That is super interesting. How common is it for the characters and the scenes to be aligned?

I wouldn't know, but it isn't relevant. You choose whichever is most severe to determine what status you use.

It's fairly common for one or two PCs to be a step below the scene, sometimes 2 (which oft means scene yellow PC in black/out)

You don't, IMO.

Or you have one fail = loss condition... such as savage worlds minor characters - they're up, they're down, or they're off the table. You don't have a resource to track off-table - but the numeric resource is the number of foes themselves (clearly tracked on the table). Up or down is on table tracking, so technically an expendable point.

Chess would beg to differ with both of these posts....

Not really - Pawns are expendables. Knights, Rooks, and bishops are also expendables, but of more value. Attritional play is a valid (if poor) strategy. Taken as a whole, chess is very much about expendable pieces.

- When was the last time you spent/used up a resource in game and thought "Spending that really made the scene I roleplayed better!" (Asset like in Dune, or Plot Point like in Cortex, or Spell Slot like in D&D, Vitae in vampire, etc, etc)

Last session... Player spent a drama point to defeat a xenomorph (Cinematic Mode Alien).

I've long thought that random cooldowns (e.g. you roll a die at the beginning of your turn to see if you can use an ability again) would be fun in terms of gameplay....except for keeping track of which abilities are on cooldown, and all the extra dice rolling. Advancement could be reducing the cooldown (smaller die, or wider range on the same die).

If somebody could think of a simple & elegant way to manage cooldowns...supporting each character potentially having multiple cooldowns with different odds...I'd be all over it.

Tokens on cards. WFRP3. Not as fun as it sounds but, yes, it can be fun.

I will never find it less odd that 99% of all RPG talk is really just "Wargaming". So much fuss over combat, healing, attacks, etc etc.

I came to RPGs after wargames, and for me, D&D specifically is a press your luck dungeon penetration wargame, much as described in AD&D DMG and in Moldvay Basic - actual in-character play has never been a defining part of play of D&D for me, from 1980 on. I see many dungeon fantasy games as simply wargames with linking narrative - especially Daggerheart and D&D, but also Palladium Fantasy, and WFRP 1-3 (I've not run WFRP 4 - didn't like it at the read stage - too much off-map tracking).
I prefer there be more, but linked battles alone work fine for me as enjoyable gaming. Part of why I don't see issues running Car Wars, Battlestations!, or even W40K:RT as RPGs using RAW.

It would be fun to see some kinda chart that showed just how much time was spent in combat.

Depending upon setting, for me as a GM, it varies from 30% to 90% of session. Less in L5R, Traveller, and Star trek, more in Star Wars and Daggerheart, D&D 5 was pushing 90%-95%.
Note that story progress is often much lower for combat than non-combat, so in memory, the combat feels less dominant.

 

[Umbran]

It's fairly common for one or two PCs to be a step below the scene, sometimes 2 (which oft means scene yellow PC in black/out)

I would imagine the most overall accurate answer is, "Depends on how hard you press the characters."

 

[aramis erak]

I would imagine the most overall accurate answer is, "Depends on how hard you press the characters."

It also depends heavily upon how hard the players themselves push. Taking damage from a complication in order to do a double action can really beat down a PC's condition... and is entirely upon the player for pushing and accepting the negotiation for a damage complication.

Or for using self-damaging specials, such as Rad Blaster using his blaster in (Y) Heedless Blast (attack, Does Mid to multiple targets, does mid to self), and pushing it by a complication to use max for all instead... on d10 Nuclear, d10 Ranged Combat, and D8 yellow or d10 red. Or to use mid and do a min defend to reduce his damage but advance the scene tracker while doing mid to all. When he did a heedless plus tracker for max vs all, they called it "Going Nuclear"... and it ended several scenes with finality.

 

[rmcoen]

I like resource pools. Based on comments on this thread, I can see that it is because I look at the game more "boardgame" than "RPG"... the roleplaying exists to get me from fight A to fight B... I want a reason for the fight (i.e. I'm not looking for "Skirmish Mode" in CRPG), but the fight is the key for me and about half my players. So I'm all in on managing (or, as DM, depleting) resources. And 5e took away the mundane resources (torches? Light. Food? Goodberry. Tools? Mending and Fabricate and class abilities and tool proficiencies to make more), leaving me (DM) with fewer options.

I like the idea of a Stamina pool for martials to use to empower their abilities, and a Mana pool for the casters to empower their spells. (Like @RenleyRenfield said, wrt Mana, on page 1.) Multiclass caster/martial? Stamina and Mana... but less of both.

I like the Escalation Die as an influence in the pool... the size of the Die impacts the effectiveness of the Power/Action, to powerful actions are "better" later in the fight for the same resource cost... but there's the Sid Meier "interesting decision loop" of whether its better to spend the resource early, and maybe win (or ease) sooner? I'm playing a phone game right now called Mecharashi, where my missile mech can launch either a 3pt 3x3 rocket strike, or a 6pt 5x5 spread rocket strike that hits everything for 150% damage. On round 1, it only has 5 pts to spend, so obviously the only choice is the 3pt spread... but if I hit 3+ targets, I get a point back. So now I'm sitting there with 3pts again... I can spend them on a second strike now (maybe even against the same foes, further weakening them), or save it for enext round, when I'll now have 6 pts available to launch the 5x5 strike! And even then, depending on multiple factors (like scoring kills), I might be able to launch a 6pt strike and a 3pt strike... or save up for another 6pt? That's an interesting decision (for me) - killing some foes now by spending resources now that are "less efficient"? or waiting for better timing/position/power?

I like Short Rest recharge for most things - at risk of getting blacklisted, I liked "Encounter powers" from 4e, in this concept, if you consider them "boosted abilities because I spent a Short Rest resource" - because it encourages players to use their abilities. And I like it combined with Long Rest recharge (i.e. "dailies") so there's still a little something special for when you need it. Dying (or resting!) with dailies unspent happens... saving... waiting... whoops! Shoulda spent! Doing the same with Short Rest abilities unspent? feels stupid.

So I'd be all about a Stamina / Mana resource that enhances abilities/spells, and recharges with a short rest, but might be influenced by Escalation, paired with one or more Daily abilities/resources that are usable only "at the utmost end of need" (- Denethor) and might not even recharge with one night's sleep!

And to keep RP-focus happy, some of the options available should be noncombat AND NOT BE AT THE COST OF NOT TAKING A COMBAT OPTION!!!, and would recharge at the end of a "Scene". The Fighter, for example -perhaps by virtue of Background, Skill, or well-written backstory- spends some Stamina to be an excellent partner in the evening's courtly dances, despite being an absolute boor when he opens his mouth (low CHA/Persuade). The wizard could spend some Mana to enhance his dancing lights cantrip to be more "fireworks" and "entertaining wisps" to (pardon the pun) enchant the crowd, without the DM needing to go "um, acksually, only 4 wisps, in 10' square, and music disrupts your Concentration"....