Resource Management, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying About Rations and Love Mana

[GobHag]

(The 'ration' in the title refers to any resources that are more associated and are usually tied to the verisimilitude of the world while 'mana' are more disassociated resources that are more specific to the PCs capabilities or their 'sheet buttons')

Slightly related to the simulationism discussion popping up last months, but as someone that's on the anti-simulationism side I have realized that I'm not against the idea of resource management at all really since I love DS build-up, then spend design or counting how many focus points I have in PF2 but I still find the very idea of having to count how many arrows in my quiver to be repugnantly boring, same with rations and other realistic resources and that got me thinking; why?

Why is there a type of player that are fine or eager to think about abstracted mechanical resources but do not like to have to think about ammunition count?

What is the difference between spending 1 arrow to attack or losing one suplly of ration for the day compared to, say, a spellslot for a fireball or 3 Focus to teleport after getting hit? My own take is that I think aesthetic has a lot to do with it, having to devote mental energy to keep track of arrows when it doesn't have a splashiness to it feels like a waste. While having to think about your spellslots is an acceptable trade-off for being able to shoot a flamethrower on your hands or your Iaijutsu Delayed Slash; the 'mana' is the limiter on cool not a limiter to function normally.

But that's a perspective coming from inside, so I'd like to ask what ENworlders view on why there are people that like disassociated resource management more than associated resource management

 

[zakael19]

I think part of it for me is that disassociated resource management generally has a player facing mechanic around its replenishing that's handled by the routine of gameplay. At the start of my turn I roll d3 to gain Clarity; when I Short Rest I regain Ki (focus?); I know my spell slots regen on a Long Rest; etc. I don't have to worry about "hey, Is there a merchant I can grab arrows from? What about a 100gp pearl?"

 

[GobHag]

I think part of it for me is that disassociated resource management generally has a player facing mechanic around its replenishing that's handled by the routine of gameplay. At the start of my turn I roll d3 to gain Clarity; when I Short Rest I regain Ki (focus?); I know my spell slots regen on a Long Rest; etc. I don't have to worry about "hey, Is there a merchant I can grab arrows from? What about a 100gp pearl?"

This does support my feelings that there's an overlap between storygaming and buildcraft gamers where they want to put more authority into the rules over the GM--and in a way, against the ingame world itself.

 

[aco175]

I find it varies group by group and a lot on the DM style. I like not worrying about these little things and find that the players just cross off several gold when going to a town and I figure they buy food and arrows and repair armor and and and.

I like the comparison to spell slots and such. I never really thought about it like that. To me, casters get everything back freely the next day. The other way is that they track slots by crossing them off as they use them. I also find that some players do not play casters to not have to track anything.

 

[CSMcFarland]

One thing is a resource that is spent to make things happen. Exciting!

The other thing is a resource that is spent to not die. Boring!

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I think part of it for me is that disassociated resource management generally has a player facing mechanic around its replenishing that's handled by the routine of gameplay. At the start of my turn I roll d3 to gain Clarity; when I Short Rest I regain Ki (focus?); I know my spell slots regen on a Long Rest; etc. I don't have to worry about "hey, Is there a merchant I can grab arrows from? What about a 100gp pearl?"

This

One thing is a resource that is spent to make things happen. Exciting!

The other thing is a resource that is spent to not die. Boring!

and this.
A lot of the traditional resources that have to be tracked are stuff that if you do not have then your characters rapidly loose effectiveness and are not replenished by the game loop.
A lot of the abstract resources are enables of boosts of on type or another on top of the base competencies of the class.
Your wizard can still cast cantrips if out of spell slots and the monk can box if out of ki and these resources are automatically refreshed as part of normal play with the DM only influencing when the refresh cycle occurs.

 

[Enrahim]

I think a main factor is the quantity and lack of scarcity. In a typical campaign there would be no problem loading up 100 arrows, using only 1 per shot, meaning you need to track 100 events before it even matters. Similar for food, oil, torches etc. The likelihood for actually having the tracking pay off in terms of drama or real choices are really low.

The top level spell slot however are typically limited to max 3 uses. The draw steel resource economy require you to save one turn to get to use the big power. Hp is typically scaled to handle 5-6 hits at most. And all of these resources are hard capped, so you cannot just throw money on the problem to make the scarcity go away.

 

[GobHag]

I think a main factor is the quantity and lack of scarcity. In a typical campaign there would be no problem loading up 100 arrows, using only 1 per shot, meaning you need to track 100 events before it even matters. Similar for food, oil, torches etc. The likelihood for actually having the tracking pay off in terms of drama or real choices are really low.

The top level spell slot however are typically limited to max 3 uses. The draw steel resource economy require you to save one turn to get to use the big power. Hp is typically scaled to handle 5-6 hits at most. And all of these resources are hard capped, so you cannot just throw money on the problem to make the scarcity go away.

To be honest, I'd hate having to count food, oil, torches and arrows even if they were scarce and important... No, especially if they were important. I think most mundane resources are usually meant to keep ones head above water(Lighting up dark dungeons, being able to hit at range) with only occasionally being used for something interesting(Setting a house on fire, making a slippery hallway, trading for money or favors, etc, etc)

Aside from fidelity/verisimilitude, I think that's a big appeal for the OSR-type. That kind of show of player agency and creativity is important, but the demographics I'm in are willing to lose some of those for player fantasy fulfillment.

Edit: Also I just realized, mundane resources are usually long-term, multi-session consideration they don't have immediate feedback

 

[Fanaelialae]

I also find "mundane" resource tracking to be boring, while not minding more interesting resource tracking.

In my experience, it's because "mundane" resources require frequent tracking (mark a ration/water every day, mark an arrow every attack) but almost never actually matter. I've played in survival style campaigns, yet I can't think of a single time the characters starved to death. At most, we spent a few game days resource gathering and were fine. It impacted the narrative, such as it is, but not in any way that I would consider meaningful. It was more of a "tax" we had to pay before moving on to the parts of the game that were actually interesting.

Whereas something like spell slots matter quite often. There have been plenty of times when I've been out of my highest level spell slots, or everything except my lowest level spell slots, and had to pivot accordingly. Those constraints forced me to have to make tough decisions in the heat of the moment. They added challenge and tension.

Basically, I don't mind resource tracking if it makes things more interesting. "Mundane" resource tracking practically never does this, and in my experience exists as a thematic constraint, rather than a practical one. Whereas things like spell slots and limited use action surge actually do drive practical constraints at the table that force players to have to improvise in the heat of the moment.

I have no qualms with resource tracking, but my time at the gaming table is my most limited and precious resource these days, and I dislike having it wasted with resource tracking that exists only to add a splash of ambiance. That's regular effort for virtually no reward.

 

[Enrahim]

To be honest, I'd hate having to count food, oil, torches and arrows even if they were scarce and important... No, especially if they were important. I think most mundane resources are usually meant to keep ones head above water(Lighting up dark dungeons, being able to hit at range) with only occasionally being used for something interesting(Setting a house on fire, making a slippery hallway, trading for money or favors, etc, etc)

Aside from fidelity/verisimilitude, I think that's a big appeal for the OSR-type. That kind of show of player agency and creativity is important, but the demographics I'm in are willing to lose some of those for player fantasy fulfillment.

Edit: Also I just realized, mundane resources are usually long-term, multi-session consideration they don't have immediate feedback

I think you point to another important aspect here: Versatility. There are usually a choice associated with how you use mana. Most games have only one use for an arrow or food, and in the latter there are not even a choice about if/when you are going to use it.

But this brings me to another thing: How would you feel like it if it was represented as a clock instead? 3 ticks and you are out of food, ticking every time you rest. That seem like a more popular way to represent things in the narrative culture, while still boiling down to essentially the same activity...