Pushing the X/day limit

[Stalker0]

I general, I really hate the concept of x/day abilities.
A barb can rage 1/day....and just can't rage until he sleeps again...it just doesn't make sense.
Yet it is a key balancing factor in the game, and so can't be ignored.
I want to create a mechanic where you can break the X/day limit...but have it be a heavy cost.

First of all, I think that the more times a creature can normally do an ability, the easier it should be to push.

For example, for a barbarian that can rage 1/day....rage a 2nd time is a 100% increase in effort. For one that can already rage 2/day, a 3rd one is not that much more...so it should be easier to do.

Second, the penalty needs to really hurt everyone. Temporary Con damage is the easiest one I can think of. Fatigue is okay, but it doesn't hurt caster types as much fighters.


Does anyone have a mechanic they use for this, or any ideas on how to do this?

 

[Staffan]

Does anyone have a mechanic they use for this, or any ideas on how to do this?

In Eberron, you can use action points to get an additional use out of certain class abilities with daily limits.

 

[Terath Ninir]

My idea, still not in the testing stages, is somewhat likes Eberron's. Instead of getting x/day uses for skills, you have a pool of "action points" that resets either daily or once per gaming session (one of the many things I'm still contemplating about this idea). When you want to use an ability like rage or turn undead, you use 1 or more action points to activate it.

Like I said, this hasn't been tested or even fully fleshed out, but I'd rather have one pool of points to deal with for all characters, rather than various little pools for many classes.