I'm not sure there is a solid solution to bullshit time. At some point in play it's flexibility is desirable. At some point you need to be able to just hit the "fastforward to next event" button and see what falls out of the GM in response.OgreBattle wrote:Im trying to figure out what my plan for 'bullshit time' is, but most boss battles I've played through or read about in adventure paths have a fresh boss in their home and the PC's are on the offensive through multiple encounters to reach them.
Personally my own approaches have been to beef up the smaller scale more formal time mechanics, and the various stealth, movement, and rest mechanics within that time frame that connect what other games consider single encounters so that "raid the castle" basically IS just one contiguous formal time encounter. But that's not a "solution" because the whole of site = one encounter is a useful tool, that doesn't prevent the GM from being the one who decides largely on a whim how big and complex that whole site is.
I use resourcing mechanics that mostly have options to refresh in the short term time scale given correct conditions and opportunities that are usually readily achievable through player actions. But arranging 2 turns to rest and get back some Energy or pick up a replacement sword before the next wave of guards charge in... well yes it's a product of rules and player choice, but in the end even that is still firmly founded in GM whims on the initial layout of guard posts and the like.
I use a mechanic to determine what characters are doing in their down time when their castle gets suddenly attacked so they aren't always sitting in their throne room with all their combat gear waiting for a dramatic final encounter. So that stealth and well planned rapid strikes into the heart of a site are potentially rewarding. But that's more about equipment, location, and potential delays before achieving full combat readiness and roaming around looking for the final encounter than resource refreshment rates.
I do have a semi-formal long term (or bullshit time) time unit with various specific actions like long distance travel, recruiting, crafting, etc... but it doesn't actually limit how many formal encounter time events can happen in it, and it doesn't mandate that the time interval between formal encounter time events must be enough to achieve (or prevent) any particular amount of bullshit time resource refreshment that can otherwise happen within that long term time unit. Because, well, it probably shouldn't, occasionally there should be some degree of insufficient rest before the next thing comes up and that doesn't need to be, and probably shouldn't be, a strictly formal rules generated event.
I think bullshit time is effectively unsolvable in strict technical terms. Any system sufficiently complex and rigid to theoretically solve long term time like that would be far too complex and far too rigid anyway. In the end I think you can only provide a bunch of tools that are adjacent to it's bullshit that provide at least some leverage for the players and the GMs to influence it in ways that you feel it needs to be influenced, then maybe finish with a guideline begging GMs not to be a dick about never letting the PCs rest.
