One topic that is often overlooked, though, is the proper place of resource management as it applies to your game's challenge. Because while all games have this aspect to some degree, the question is how in-depth do you want to go with it in your campaign, and at what point does it become more of a frustration than a way to add challenge to your game?
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| Wait... how many rounds have you fired? |
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Tools and Limitations
When we strip back all the upper layers and look at the mechanics of how RPGs work, resource management is one of the most basic concepts that goes into creating a game's challenge. How many spells a character can cast before they need to rest, how many hit points they have before they die, how many times they can use certain class features before they need to be refreshed, all of these things fall into the "resource management" category. And, generally speaking, the broad categories I just mentioned are things that we accept as necessary as both players and Game Masters.
However, like a lot of mechanical aspects of a game, resource management can very quickly become micro-management if one isn't careful.
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| Okay, so, exactly HOW are you carrying all of that? |
For example, a system to make the use of magic finite is generally thought of as a good use of a resource management mechanic. Whether it's a pool of spell points that the character uses to fuel their powers (each use of which costs a certain number of points), or a Vancian magic system where they can cast a certain number of specific spells per day, the idea is that they have to figure out when a situation is serious enough for them to dip into their magic since they only have so much gas in the tank before they're going to be tapped out. There are other situations, though, where managing particular resources is seen as more of a pain in the ass than it's really worth. Whether it's keeping track of a character's carrying capacity (including the weight of their clothes and their armor), tracking how many arrows or crossbow bolts they're carrying, or asking how much food they have in their packs for their journeys, a lot of Game Masters and players just don't want to deal with these things.
And, to be clear, that's fine if you don't want to deal with those aspects at your table. However, too often we just toss tools aside without really examining them... which is why this week I'd like to propose something I don't see show up very often in this conversation.
Instead of just universally writing off a resource management mechanic because you don't care for it, or don't want to use it, take a moment to really look at it. And while you're examining it, ask what kind of game it would be good for, and how it could act to create serious challenge in that game.
Using The Right Tool For The Right Job
Resource management is deeply tied in to the challenge of a game, and often the players' access to resources is what shapes their strategy and their decisions. For example, if your party of adventurers heads out into the forests for weeks on-end, but your ranger only brought a dozen arrows for their longbow, what is going to happen when they've fired every shaft? Will they attempt to recover the spent ammunition from the undergrowth? Will they pull their arrows out of the corpses of the creatures they shot in order to reuse them? Will they craft fresh arrows around the fireside, or while they're sitting on watch, to be sure they have enough ammunition to see them through to their destination?
For the purposes of an example, you can swap out any other item. What if the wizard runs out of material components for their spells? What if the fighter's sword breaks, and they need a backup weapon? What if your party has a two week trek through the forest, but they only brought enough food for 4 days? Or, and this is the big one, what if they only have enough silver to buy a certain number of items, but not everything they feel they're going to need?
Now, if you're a Game Master who prefers to travel by map in between towns, cities, and dungeons, then none of that is likely going to make a difference in your game. Because if surviving out in the wilderness and having to deal with random encounters (or even planned encounters) isn't something you're going to worry about, then none of the things mentioned above are going to be a big deal.
But if that's the case, these tools aren't made for the game you're running.
On the other hand, games that do focus on scarcity of resources, on environmental dangers, or just on survival often do lean heavily on these exact mechanics. Whether your party is lost in deep caverns of the World Beneath, whether you're all escaping from slavery and have to use whatever you can get your hands on to survive in the wilds away from civilization, or whether you're on an expedition to lost ruins to see what lies deep within, part of the inherent challenges of these scenarios is that you don't have endless resources... whether those resources happen to be ammunition, spells, healing, food, or even the amount of time it takes to complete your mission.
Now, pointing out that some players legitimately enjoy games that utilize these tools doesn't mean you have to play games centered around resource management. It doesn't mean you need to incorporate them into your game, and subject your players to these things if they aren't really interested in these mechanics. However, if you're one of the folks out there who have been wondering why these "relics of an older gaming age" as they're so often thought of still exist... well, I just wanted to provide some food for thought on the matter.
Lastly, if this is a topic you're interested in that you want to include more of in your games, might I recommend checking out some of the following:
- How Does Your Character Stay Fed? What Does It Take?: A recent post talking about food and eating while characters are out on the campaign trail.
- 100 Random Encounters For On The Road Or In The Wilderness: If you want to throw some unexpected surprises into your party's travel time... for good or ill!
- 100 NPCs To Meet On The Road Or In The Wilderness: A companion supplement to the above piece, just because the road is long or the wildlands dense, that doesn't mean there aren't people to meet.
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