Resource Management in RPGs

[Alex319]

Here's an interesting observation I made about resource management in some RPGs (and there are lots of RPGs that do this.)

In real life military operations, wilderness expeditions, survival scenarios etc., there are a lot of mundane resources that have to be managed - things like rations, light sources, medical supplies, etc., as well as intangible "resources" like military intelligence, troop morale, navigation, and logistics that are essential for peak performance. (In fact, the majority of a modern army consists of support troops rather than front line fighters.)

In RPGs, however, most of these considerations are downplayed or ignored, either by avoiding having rules for them or by introducing easy ways to bypass them (e.g. magic items or spells that can generate food and water, and relatively easy healing). This is done because it's "not fun" or "tedious" to have to worry so much about all tht mundane stuff.

Now, to the extent that RPGs are supposed to emulate heroic fantasy, this makes perfect sense. In the Star Wars movies, you didn't see Luke Skywalker counting out how many medpacs he had left or calculating how much fuel it would take to make it to the next star system.

However, many RPGs introduce their own, new resources that have to be managed - e.g. hit points, healing surges, magic item charges, spell uses, "hero point" type things in systems that have them, etc. And these aren't generally considered tedious. And of course in terms of emulating heroic fantasy, including these doesn't make sense - after all, you didn't see Luke Skywalker calculating how many "force points" he had left either.

---

So, now that I've made this observation I'll introduce a few questions for discussion:

1. Why is it that the "mundane" resource management (rations, fatigue) is generally seen as tedious, while the "fantastic" resource management (power uses, item charges) isn't?

2. Would it be possible to design a game system where "mundane" resource management takes center stage, and is as important to the game as the "fantastic" resource management is in games like D+D? (Do such systems already exist? How well do they work?)

I don't know the answers to these questions, I just thought this was an interesting observation.

 

[Herremann the Wise]

While some might even consider discussion about such things tedious, I think you raise some interesting points. In the end, I think it comes down to what the RPG is all about. D&D at its core is adventuring, killing monsters and taking their stuff. Rations, light sources and medical aid are not as important as hit points etc.

However, I think the deeper issue here is that they are not as complex. You either have sufficient rations for nutrition or not. You either have light or you don't. You can either be healed or you can't (although this last one is a little more complex). In terms of detail, there's not much to them. I think this is why they are just as easily ignored by some. Perhaps the other reason why they are not as exciting is that they only deal with penalties rather than bonuses. If there was a little more carrot in the rations, they might just be a little more interesting to focus on.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[Cadfan]

1. Why is it that the "mundane" resource management (rations, fatigue) is generally seen as tedious, while the "fantastic" resource management (power uses, item charges) isn't?

Because checking off something like rations or arrows is repetitive, time consuming, and has little effect on your overall chance of success in the typical game, because rations and arrows are trivially cheap in the overall design scheme of the game and can be carried in amounts that make counting them a formality. Power uses, on the other hand, have an immediate effect on the course of the game each time they're used, both through their use and their absence afterwards.

If you ran a game where firing an arrow was as much of an expended resource as, say, using one of your only three diamonds as an indispensable component in raising an ally from the dead, people would care about counting arrows. But if you play a relatively generic D&D game where a player can stuff a few hundred arrows into some magical bag every time he goes to town, no one will care about the arrows.

2. Would it be possible to design a game system where "mundane" resource management takes center stage, and is as important to the game as the "fantastic" resource management is in games like D+D?

I'm sure it would be possible.

Do such systems already exist? How well do they work

I've played Battletech recently, and while I think the game has certain fundamental flaws due its age that are not relevant in this conversation, it provides an example of what you're looking for. You don't track rations in it per se, but in a campaign you do track things like salvaged lasers and smashed heat sinks. Tracking these things, while occasionally tending towards the tedious, can be a lot of fun because you're at a constant risk of losing important weapons and components you need to succeed, yet you've got a constant chance to salvage and gain even better gear.

The key, I think, is that the resources tracked have to matter. Tracking rations in a game where you can easily afford as many rations as you need isn't that exciting. Same with arrows. And you can create them with magic. And you can hunt for food and make your own arrows. It just doesn't DO much to track them.

But put the party in a situation where tracking these items actually matters to their success or failure, and they'll probably start having fun tracking them.

 

[Bumbles]

Encumbrance and rationing only serve a limiting role to the players, not to the DM. That's why.

 

[howandwhy99]

So, now that I've made this observation I'll introduce a few questions for discussion:

1. Why is it that the "mundane" resource management (rations, fatigue) is generally seen as tedious, while the "fantastic" resource management (power uses, item charges) isn't?

2. Would it be possible to design a game system where "mundane" resource management takes center stage, and is as important to the game as the "fantastic" resource management is in games like D+D? (Do such systems already exist? How well do they work?)

I don't know the answers to these questions, I just thought this was an interesting observation.

1. It just isn't as fun to keep track of only mundane items. Mundane stuff, by which I take you to mean things from the real world, are pretty well known. There is little to no exploration left for a lot of this stuff. No surprises. No, "Is it really a magical item in disguise?" like questions. The answer is always no. It's always just a normal hammer, earring, garden pruner, drapery, wooden shuffleboard set. Which means it's probably more fun to play with this stuff in the real world, live action, than in an imagination-based, table top game.

2. Every single non-hobby RPG uses mundane resources for the players to maintain.

EDIT: See the sig.

 

[nightwyrm]

The nature of D&D where characters tend to wear on their bodies more wealth than some nation's GDP makes tracking cheap, mundane stuff like arrows and food meaningless.

 

[Victim]

Game resources are contained within the game and fully described there. So relevant knowledge can obtained just by looking at game rule books. Also, while you can forget to use a useful game resource, you generally can't forget to have it entirely.

OTOH, planning a wilderness expedition is far more about information not explicitly covered by the game text. That can lead to more significant disagreement, or rather nebulous GM dependent consequences. Also, a lot is set by your initial supply decisions, which can have significant delayed impact.

It can also lead to the people who like camping (or whatever) basically taking over the game.

 

[BraveSirKevin]

Rations and water and stuff like that can generally be overlooked in most D&D situations... Unless of course they're taking a 5 week trip through barren land with nary a tavern in site. Ammunition on the other hand seems a little more important. If you only have 20 arrows at the outset you kinda need to make them last. Ditto with healing potions. I somehow doubt your average quiver holds more than 30 arrows, and even that sounds like a lot to me. Of course you can always retrieve your arrows once the monsters are dead (assuming they didn't break)

This is exactly why I made my Counters. Makes it a lot easier to keep track of those things for both the player and the DM.

 

[EP]

I can't think of anything where tracking mundane items was essential to the game, but it's very possible given the system is designed as a realistic combat system. Modern settings would probably get more use out of this than others.

How many magazines are you carrying for your assault rifle? That determines how many shots you fire per round and how often you need to reload. Your choice of weapon then determines how many fresh mags you can find lying around which still fit in your own weapon. But once you break out supernatural powers, uses/day, mechanoids and their ammo, then it does become tedious (save for those who thrive on that stuff). Until computerized character sheets become the standard and not the bonus, tracking one aspect seems the most comfortable way to go.

 

[Ariosto]

Actually, old-style D&D has plenty of "mundane" resources to manage -- and not as much of the other sort as many newer games (including some by the same name) -- and not because people think, "Hey, let's make a really tedious game!" Tastes vary.

Sometimes there's a question of how much record keeping really adds. In many scenarios, the absolute supply of small arms ammunition is not really significant except perhaps for automatic weapons. One could simply assume reloading -- until a dice-roll indicates that someone has lost track in the heat of battle and needs to take action requiring more attention.

Likewise, precise accounting of funds is not always regarded as worthwhile. A character might simply have a "resource level". Noting the expenditure for each bus fare, telephone call, newspaper, or sandwich and cup of coffee might be extreme for Average Joe -- and Tony Millionaire might buy a new car or hop aboard a private aircraft without a second thought.

When resources are scarce and important, then it's time to get more specific. Running out of torches in the depths of a dungeon could be trouble!