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Message: <blockquote data-quote="touc" data-source="post: 9749499" data-attributes="member: 19270">When used intermittently, logistics challenges are a refreshing addition to the game, often but not always at low levels when such challenges cannot easily be overcome by a single spell and characters are meant to be challenged. I've used:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Lighting challenges. Constant. Players have to prioritize what they use, what spells slots they use, and accept that the DM might use foes intelligently (e.g. drow in the Underdark) who rely on lighting as a tactical advantage. A torch or light spell really doesn't do much, and darkvision has its limits.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Food/drink. I ran a Dark Sun 5E conversion of A Little Knowledge wherein the PCs escape a burning slave wagon only to be stranded in the harsh desert. They had to prioritize what they carried (no backpacks or waterskins), and encounters were unique (some early enemies focused solely on stealing their fragile ceramic water containers, which folks sat on the sand to use their hands for weapons). We tracked water and food supplies with ceramic blue and green beads in a glass bowl. It's more poignant when you see your water beads down to a handful and have to decide who drinks and doesn't that day. This is for special encounters, not for everday play.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Weather. I ran Kingmaker (Pathfinder) in its 1E (basically D&D 3.5) and 5E. At lower levels, storms, tornadoes, floods, and other weather hazards are nasty. They can be at higher levels too (rulesets like Advanced D&D 5E, A5E, had some good additions of supernatural hazards). </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Time. I've run Tamoachan, which is an excellent example of having a timer. The longer you take in the dungeon, the worse things get. Attempting to invade Strahd or dealing with regenerating enemies is another. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Encumbrance. I always use this, though in the form of "slot encumbrance" (basically a visual of a humanoid with slots where gear goes). You may have an 18 STR, but you only have 2 hands and one waist. It's a tactical decision to decide what goes where, and my players know the saying "if it's not on that sheet, you don't have it with you." It adds a tactical layer to the game: what do you bring with you, and if you want to bring more, how?</li> </ul>"Keeping it real" can be solid for a D&D game as a "minigame" but it needs its time and place. For example, in Dark Sun, tracking food and water makes sense when you're 1st level and abandoned with nothing in the wilderness. It's less exciting to track that when you're 7th level with access to a caravan, spells to create resources, and the backing of a powerful patron. There's simply no need for a minigame at that point.</blockquote>

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