Recently I was listening to https://blogsontape.paperspencils.com/ and they did an episode on https://diyanddragons.blogspot.com/2019/04/mechanics-for-resource-management-part.html. It really got me thinking about resource management in new ways. I will say that I did not agree 100% with all of the author’s conclusions, but the entire post was well thought out and interesting.
I wanted to expound a little on a couple of their ideas because I think a lot of resource management conversation in the D&D space is about “how to do it” rather than “why to do it.” DIYandDragons really hit hard on the why and it was fascinating.
Arrows
I want to start out with arrows because I already talked about my system here: https://thegibberingblog.blogspot.com/2021/12/should-i-track-arrows.html
The short version is thus:
· A sheaf holds 24 arrows
· An archer can shoot 2.4 arrows per round (1 attack)
· A sheaf is good for 10 rounds of combat
Now, in the original post I had the archer tracking hits and misses. Revisiting the topic I would do away with that mechanic and simply have them recover half of their rounds worth of arrows by spending a turn (10 minutes) searching. That is less bookkeeping. Now, the most thought-provoking part of the post was thus:
“…The first is if quivers were smaller, the second is if arrows did more damage. First, if you have enough arrows that you'll never run out, then there's no decision to be made, of course you'll use them every time. (Too high a limit also trains you not to mark them off as you use them - why bother tracking them if you'll never run out?) A smaller quiver would either force you to weigh the consequences of choosing arrows over melee, or force you to truly weigh your commitment to missile fire against the encumbrance cost of carrying an extra quiver. Second, if arrows deal more damage, then it's more clearly advantageous to use them in a dangerous fight.”
My system already reduces the “quiver size” due to essentially allowing 10 attacks/sheaf. To truly bring it all home I really like the idea of increasing arrow damage.
Example: In my games I key weapon damage off of the class’ HD and allow two-handed weapons to deal +1 size up in the dice chain. A bow and arrow is a two-handed weapon so allowing a fighter to deal d10 damage with it would make sense. You can take it a step further with two-handed slow ranged weapons (crossbows) doing d12 damage.
So final version of my arrow rules would be thus:
· A sheaf holds 24 arrows
· An archer can shoot 2.4 arrows per round (1 attack)
· A sheaf is good for 10 rounds of combat
· Half of rounds/arrows recovered by spending 1 turn searching
· Bow and Sling damage increased 1 step up the dice chain
o
Thrown weapons could also be increased 1 step up
the dice chain.
·
Crossbow damage increased 2 steps up the dice
chain (if your crossbows are slow)
Rations
This is where I probably diverge the most from the author who has a very persuasive (and in many places accurate) argument about just hand waving food and water. Now, as someone preparing to play a B/X powered Dark Sun game (I’ll post more on that later)- one cannot simply hand wave food and water. However, how should it be handled?
5e gives us the answer: Exhaustion.
Note: I do not own, have never read, and have never played 5e. However, I read enough “game stuff” to know that exhaustion is the one thing that a 5e character actually fears, so I did some research.
Here is how exhaustion works:
Level 1: Disadvantage on Ability Checks
- B/X this could be handled as a -1 in 6 chance on any X-in-6 roll
Level 2: Speed halved
Level 3: Disadvantage on Attack rolls and Saving Throws
- B/X this could be handled as a -4 modifier on attacks and saves
Level 4: Hit point maximum halved
Level 5: Speed reduced to 0
Level 6: Death
So how does exhaustion manifest/get tracked in play?
This simple chart can be kept so you can track sources of exhaustion. Drinking, eating, and resting can individually reduce exhaustion from different sources and the ref can still quickly tally total impact. This tool is great (or not so great) for horses too!
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Exhaustion Cause |
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5 |
6 |
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Dungeon turns w/o rest >6 |
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Days w/o 4 pints of water |
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Days w/o 4 hours of sleep |
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Days of forced march |
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Days w/o 1 lb of food > 3 |
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Days travel w/o rest >6 |
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Total Exhaustion Levels |
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All the ref or player needs to do is check the boxes as they become relevant and then count the total checks to know what level of exhaustion their character is inflicted with – note that this can make running out of food or water extremely dangerous (but really makes foraging skills important and makes create water worthy of its spot as a 4th level spell).