Stamina as universal mechanic in class based games
Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2018 5:43 am
"When I do something physical in a big manner or spend a lot of mental energy on something I get tired" is easy to grasp and relatable to most RPG gamers I hope.
With DnD as it is though "I fight/cast so hard I get tired' is a bunch of unrelated fiddly mechanics that rarely interact. Like only somebody with the Rage class feature can actually gets tired in the middle of swinging weapons around while the ranger two weapon flurries around. The wizard/sorcerer seems to be mentally taxed by memorizing/casting, but rarely does their casting interact with the actual game mechanic of exhaustion.
Like... everyone has hit points, most people follow the same action economy (and really everyone should be on the same page for that), something like "I fought so hard I am very tired" should be standardized too.
This could just add extra book keeping to an already fiddly game though.
But some thoughts for a DnD type game...
*Every class should benefit from taking a short, long rest. Not saying they all use the same mechanic, but all of them have a reason to take a break.
*Everyone has 1 action point, regained by a long rest. Represents being well rested to deliver your best performance, mental focus, etc.
*Everyone has a Second Wind point, regained by short rest. SW is used to reroll a save, remove fatigue, regain some hp. Class specific effects include... warriors getting an extra attack, clerics getting an extra use of channeling, wizards empowering a spell, rogues taking 20 on a check, etc.
*More 'fatigued until end of encounter' conditions, like from casting higher level spells or too many spells
Well I don't really like the barbarian rage mechanic to begin with and feel a "do something awesome but consume stamina" action is really just part of the standard warrior portfolio.
With DnD as it is though "I fight/cast so hard I get tired' is a bunch of unrelated fiddly mechanics that rarely interact. Like only somebody with the Rage class feature can actually gets tired in the middle of swinging weapons around while the ranger two weapon flurries around. The wizard/sorcerer seems to be mentally taxed by memorizing/casting, but rarely does their casting interact with the actual game mechanic of exhaustion.
Like... everyone has hit points, most people follow the same action economy (and really everyone should be on the same page for that), something like "I fought so hard I am very tired" should be standardized too.
This could just add extra book keeping to an already fiddly game though.
But some thoughts for a DnD type game...
*Every class should benefit from taking a short, long rest. Not saying they all use the same mechanic, but all of them have a reason to take a break.
*Everyone has 1 action point, regained by a long rest. Represents being well rested to deliver your best performance, mental focus, etc.
*Everyone has a Second Wind point, regained by short rest. SW is used to reroll a save, remove fatigue, regain some hp. Class specific effects include... warriors getting an extra attack, clerics getting an extra use of channeling, wizards empowering a spell, rogues taking 20 on a check, etc.
*More 'fatigued until end of encounter' conditions, like from casting higher level spells or too many spells
Well I don't really like the barbarian rage mechanic to begin with and feel a "do something awesome but consume stamina" action is really just part of the standard warrior portfolio.