D&D 5E Recharge powers

[MarkB]

The reason the mechanic was introduced in 4e was because it was a cool uncertainty mechanic for monsters to have powers that the players weren't quite sure how soon they'd be available again, but on the other hand, the 3e version of the mechanic - rolling a random number of rounds before the power would recharge - required extra book-keeping from the DM to track the countdown across multiple rounds.

For players' abilities, that doesn't sit so well. It's fine for the players to be uncertain when the monster's breath weapon is going to recharge - but for them to have the same level of uncertainty about their own characters' abilities? That just pulls them out of playing the character.

There is already a player ability in the game which works that way, and it works well: The Death save. This is a "roll to see whether your character get back the being-alive-and-conscious ability" roll, and it works precisely because this is a situation in which the character has no agency: They're unconscious and rolling to see whether they happen to come around.

The only other situation in which I could see this being a good mechanic is for something that is similarly outside the character's own influence. A Wild Magic effect, perhaps, or the recharge on a magical item that's chaotic by design.

 

[Sunseeker]

I think it would be an interesting mechanic for a class that already relies on randomness: the Wild Sorcerer. Outside of that, the "cooldown" on magic is representative of how much magical energy you have to available to spend, once you spend it, it's gone.

 

[Andor]

There are a lot of potential recharge mechanics and D&D has used almost all of them at one time or another. There are:

The Fixed Timer, AKA the proto-encounter power. A set recharge time usually enough to make something an encounter power, but opens it up to reuse in long fights. This was how the Binder class restricted it's big guns, with a 5 round count down.

The random countdown timer, AKA Oh god, I hope the Dragon rolls high. This is usually a big gun, with a variable cool down. Classically it's been used to throttle a dragons breath weapon attack, but with the slew of Dragon Whatever stuff in 3e it's been in the PCs hands a few times. It was also employed by the Shai'ir class in 2e where the roll was dependent on the level of the spell you were fishing for.

The card draw AKA deck of Divine inspiration. This is the main mechanic of a few RPGs, but in D&D the the best of my knowledge in D&D it was only used by the Crusader class from Bo9s.

The random recharge AKA Do I suck this round or not? The mechanic the Mouse of Darkness opened the thread with, the power becomes available again on a certain dice roll. Also used negatively with ongoing saves.

The random draw AKA Gathering threads. A variant on the card draw, where instead of drawing from a deck of specific powers one draws from a deck of cards (or sack of tokens) in search of particular colors/suits trying to build up the cost of the ability. Used in Castle Falkenstein as a spell casting system, also the original Deadlands I think. Never employed in D&D that I am aware of. Could also be modeled with dice, of course, where you would be trying to accumulate more than one rolls to recharge/achieve an effect.

I feel I should note that timers, fixed, level based and random, are all used as spell/power durations as well. In addition in 5e you have what amounts to a single maintenance slot for concentration spells, where duration/disruption/desire to maintain an ongoing effect all gate access to that slot.

Given that almost all of these have been used in D&D at some point, and that some are classics, I think there is no reason not to employ them. ... You know, over in the classes thread I speculated you could make a single base class, built around magical powers less powerful but more available than spells and then offer the Totemist/Binder/Alchemist/Artificer/Dragon Shaman/etc as sub-classes off of it. If you were to use recharge mechanics you could gate the available powers quite precisely (on average ). I may have to do some writing....

 

[GMMichael]

3) In terms of bookkeeping, no, I figure you would only roll recharge when you want to try to use the power again. If it fails, you do something else, but if it succeeds, you use the power right then. No "rolling just to see."

This is a horrible idea because it effectively turns a 1d6 into a 1d2000. Which is to say, unless you want to use the power every round, you won't be using it again during the encounter.

But it gives me an idea.

-Recharge on Event-
Link, underage elf with a crush on a human princess, found a sword. (It's dangerous to go alone...) His sheer love of the princess causes a ghost sword to reach out and strike distant enemies, as long as his "heart" is full. Whenever his heart is at max capacity, he rolls his recharge die to see if he gets a ghost missile.

Okay, that's a little loosey-goosey, but the original idea is that you get a chance to check the recharge die whenever you perform its trigger, like hitting an enemy, blocking an attack, moving 30 feet, etc. This adds a little flavor to the recharge, and motivation to the player, instead of just waiting for a round to pass. So...1d30...

 

[I'm A Banana]

Try it out on a magic item, see what happens.

I think for mystical abilities, it makes some sense. Anything that's supposed to be purely nonmagical it feels a little funny on (magic is unpredictable; your own might less so). On a magic item, it wouldn't feel like waiting for an essential piece of your character, just like, "Oh, neat, I can do that again."

 

[Staffan]

13th age has some classes get random access to powers. However, in most cases, that's a matter of a martial class being able to use a particular ability when a particular number or set of numbers is rolled on the attack. The fighter is the primary wielder of such powers, and I think it represents random openings more than a recharge mechanic (particularly since you can't save it up).

For example, you have Defensive Fighting which you can trigger on any even attack roll if you're wielding a shield, as well as a 16+ even if you don't, giving you +2 AC for a round. There's also Brace for it, which if you miss lets you turn one crit on you to a regular hit. Or Precision Attack, letting you add Dex to damage on a 16+. And so on.

The Sorcerer also gets a bit of random recharge, in two ways. First, they have some spells that mimic the effects of draconic breath weapons. After you first cast one, it recharges on a 16+ on d20 for the rest of that battle. After the battle, it's expended and won't recharge without a long rest. In 5e terms, it would be a long rest-recharge ability that gave you a random recharge power for one fight.

You also have some spells/powers that may or may not recharge on a short rest, based on a roll.

 

[Ahrimon]

I'd make it something along the lines of: You can use this ability once, at the end of your turn roll a dX and on a Y+ you regain the use of this ability.

I might use this for my Slayer conversion. Making power strike a recharge ability would allow it to be used once per encounter at a minimum and possibly one or two additional times. Make it so that the recharge get's easier as you level and it could be a fun core ability.

 

[redrick]

I think blaming this on some sort of "whiny player agency" is unfair.

When I DM'ed 4e, I understood the reasoning behind recharge powers. It didn't make sense to give monsters daily and encounter powers, because you weren't likely to be fighting the same monster two times in one day. So recharge powers filled the middle ground between nova abilities and at-will abilities. On the other hand, I hated having to roll to recharge every round, and often just ignored them after using them once. Enough crap on my plate without having to deal with that. They really only work because the assumption is that, once you have it, you'll use it, so, as a DM, you just start that monster's turn by checking to see if it can use its super-power. No go? Alright, just use the regular attack.

Since players actually do have a motivation to not use all their abilities in one combat, I don't see the need to introduce an additional mechanic that tracks and limits a particular feature. I wouldn't want every player's turn start with rolling to check if he or she can use that cool magic item yet.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

13th age has some classes get random access to powers. However, in most cases, that's a matter of a martial class being able to use a particular ability when a particular number or set of numbers is rolled on the attack. The fighter is the primary wielder of such powers, and I think it represents random openings more than a recharge mechanic (particularly since you can't save it up).

I think the 13th Age mechanic works very well in comparison to monster-style recharge, for two reasons. First, it keys off of something you're rolling anyway, the attack roll; you're not rolling to see if you can perform an action, you're acting and rolling to see what happens. And second, because it gives you something to do no matter what; you can have an ability that triggers on an even roll and another ability that triggers on an odd roll.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Here is an idea in the form of a magic item...

Gloves of the firelord

these red leather gloves grant you a +1 to any saves Vs fire attacks.
In addition you may expend your bonus action when you hit with a melee attack to deal +1d4 fire damage, if you begin a turn after you have used this ability roll 1d6 on a 6 it can be used again.