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Message: <blockquote data-quote="schnee" data-source="post: 7181612" data-attributes="member: 16728">AD&D was built on a wargame, where tracking logistics was essential - 'An army marches on its stomach' and all that. Having played that way, literally tracking torches, daily rations, turns, torches, etc., added a dimension of vulnerability and tension. You had rapidly depleting assets that were somewhat fragile (one encounter with green slime or gelatinous cube = a backpack full of stuff gone) that had to be protected.It fit together perfectly with the encumbrance limitations, random encounter/monster mechanic, long wizard spell memorization time, etc. to really press people for time in a way that didn't require a specific '6-8 encounter a day' mechanic. We didn't know how long we had, or if we could re-equip, so we kept a move on so we didn't run out. We also had to act to preserve those things, because item depletion and breakage were a larger part of the game.(Example: Crossing a huge underground lake on strange boats, then being attacked by tentacled horror things, had more tension when realizing that our packs getting dunked would make the party effectively blind and starving unless the Cleric dumped a LOT of their spells each day. Protecting the consumables turned into a major factor in the battle.)Tracking that stuff closely makes it a fundamentally different feel (that I don't recommend for everyone), but I do think even when you're aiming for 'heroic', it helps to be grounded with some connection with the physical world. That takes the game out of the realm of only tactical combat and into inhabiting a living character. That doesn't mean some dumb straw man like managing every ounce of water. But hand-waving away everything but the combat is a wasted opportunity. Even the 'heroic' LOTR had a significant plot driver with starvation and running out of Lembas bread.</blockquote>

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