I am in fact manipulating multiple different power schedule systems. It's slow going because it's basically just me out here. But a thing that I'm pretty sure about is that there is no such thing as a "best" power schedule in any ultimate sense. What works the best is decided almost exclusively upon what it is that you're trying to do.
So here's how powers work in Fantastic!:
- When you use a power it fits into one of three categories, which are even color coded.
Maneuvers come in three types: Adventure maneuvers can be used just once in an Adventurer. For ease of reference, these maneuvers are titled in Bold Red. Charge maneuvers become unusable once used until they recharge during a Recovery phase. These maneuvers have a Recharge number on them that determines their chance of being restored during a Recovery phase, and they are titled in Bold Blue[/b]. And finally there are Unlimited maneuvers that can be drawn on however many times or as continuously as need. They are titled in Bold Green.
During a Recovery Phase you can roll a die for each of your spent Recharge[/b] powers, and it has a Recharge number, and f you get that number or better you can use it again.
This encourages people to blast away and at the same time causes people to run down and get unpredictable second winds and stuff. It works for a superheroic game because no one
has any powers that anyone cares about non-combat spamming. Caring about that sort of thing just isn't what you do.
On the other hand, AWoD has power points and extremely distinct methods of getting them back. That is, Vampires get power points back by feasting on the living and Wererats get their power points back by watching the moon rise. These are incredibly distinct events and it is entirely possible that both, none, or just one of those events will happen between one major encounter and another. Since it's ideally a political game rather than a dungeon crawl most of the time, time management is actually part of the game, and having a team with mixed schedules on when they can use their super moves is actually part and parcel of the idea of moving spotlights in such a storytelling concept.
Now TNE doesn't have the luxury of having its genre so clearly defined for it. Characters "in fantasy" have been portrayed doing anything from the seven day battle to the five minute workday. Seriously. In actual folkloric source material even, rather than just gaming systems.
So modeling what it is that people are "supposed" to do is pretty difficult. It lays an indelible stamp on the game and the story no matter how you slice it.
So anyway: here's the thing I'm currently wargaming - Loading Powers. That is, you have an incredibly modest mana supply that is relatively difficult, but not impossible, to refill. In order to use a super move you have to pay a "load cost" to start it charging.Then when your Recovery Phase comes around you roll a die to see whether it is ready or not. And then it starts checking to see if it stops being ready on subsequent turns if you haven't used it already. And the load cost is gone either way.
This encourages people to Sailor Moon out where at some point late in the battle they are like "I'm going to fucking Firestorm now!" And yeah, that seems to work pretty well. Also it benefits ambushes
somewhat since the attacking team will presumably open up with one of their super attacks, but the other people on their team will still be waiting for theirs to be ready. And once the battle starts, anyone still waiting for their stone rain to come due is at no advantage over anyone else. But no one is going to run around with a super move queuing during normal business hours because they will run out of mana.
-Username17
