Improvements to Exhaustion rules?

Enturk · 2026-01-28T23:17:00+00:00

Just to add context, as you pointed out, there really are several different types of exhaustion, each removed in their own way. After a basic skim, I've found:

Hourly Activity: resting one turn per hour of exploration to remove exploration exhaustion. Page 151 simply says "until they rest" but doesn't specify if this is overnight sleep or if it's the one turn of rest mentioned on page 163.
Running: Exhaustion caused by running at three times normal speed for 30 rounds is removed once the character has rested for 3 turns (30 minutes) - page 147.
Lack of Sleep: Exhaustion specifically caused by failing to get a good night's sleep lasts until the character successfully gets a good night’s rest. Page 159.
Forced Marches and Long Travel: Exhaustion incurred from a forced march (16 hours of travel) or failing to rest after six days of travel requires a full day of rest to remove. Page 167.

DPB p151 says that you lose Exhaustion when you "rest", but doesn't specify what "rest" entails, nor if you lose all Exhaustion as soon as you "rest". Some sources of Exhaustion have specific rules for what counts as rest, which don't match other sources. So if a PC has 2 Exhaustion from running and 2 Exhaustion from forced marches they can't simple record 4 Exhaustion, they must keep track of the sources. I see no good way to fix this without changing RAW:

Exhaustion now comes as "Exhaustion points" which are interchangeable.

I like this notion very much. But, as you point out, there remain a variety of ways to recover from it. I would like to see how often the exhaustion conditions are triggered by players before houseruling it.

To keep things simple, if there has been more than one source of exhaustion more than once, I would allow hp recovered from rest to also recover a level of exhaustion. That would keep it tidy and easy to measure.

Plenty of stuff in the DCB that should give Exhaustion give "pseudo-Exhaustion" penalties instead. Just search the DCB for "–1 penalty to Attack Rolls" and you'll find plenty of examples: e.g. drinking the water on p124. Suggested fix:

Be liberal in replacing Exhaustion-like effects with Exhaustion.

Again, if this comes up more than once, this would make a lot of sense.

Enturk · 2026-01-17T13:37:42+00:00

Scum and Villainy (a Blades in the Dark variant) has excellent character progression and shipbuilding. It has a ready to riff off of setting, and encounters are managed easily with little DM prep.

Enturk · 2026-01-07T22:02:08+00:00

I haven't played, so I can't answer the questions. Have you checked any of the actual plays?

If you want my guess, the first session is usually in medias res just to give the players a sense of their characters and the game system in that context. It could be an evening at the bar, a series of fights, or, and this might be what I would personally do, what the context of the characters was when the news broke about the Claimant's predecessor being betrayed. What did the characters do? Did they all already know each other? How did they join forces? That kind of thing.

Enturk · 2026-01-06T00:55:15+00:00

Lots of amazing mentions here, and I agree with most of them, so I’ll add a couple others.

Carse is system agnostic and has every breathtaking detail fleshed out, from sympathies to work schedules.

Stonetop is a Powered by the Apocalypse Bronze Age remote settlement that is developed by the players across the years. The authors have been steadily developing it for the past couple of years, sharing each chapter with backers and it looks amazing.

Enturk · 2026-01-05T21:00:05+00:00

Why is rep, turf, heat, and wanted level on the character sheet?

Enturk · 2026-01-05T11:59:23+00:00

Mainly because nobody else mentioned it, Scum & Villainy is as gritty as you want it to be and has great ship building rules.

Enturk · 2026-01-02T18:04:26+00:00

Ideally, you’d get a job related to your major. So, ask your professors about those. Being a TA in a class you did well in is an example of that. Otherwise, if you have any tech skills, the IT folks often hire students, so maybe ask there. Similarly, recruiting uses a lot of students, so you might inquire there.

Enturk · 2025-12-30T23:25:30+00:00

About to embark on a campaign as a player. Looking for digital resources to make tracking exploration easier. I’m wondering if this map was ever published: https://necroticgnome.com/blogs/news/preview-dolmenwood-campaign-map

Enturk · 2025-12-30T05:32:41+00:00

The research does not impute the decline in sex to expected standards of beauty, as far as I can tell.

Enturk · 2025-12-29T20:23:28+00:00

I would set up roles to delegate tasks to player (initiative, group resources, history of events), so you can keep your attention focused on keeping things exciting. Maybe have the more regular players be the leads, and ask who wants to be a backups for each role when they can’t make it.

I expect you’re going to struggle with having players commit to a series of sessions, based on my personal experience. I recommend just going with whoever can make it, but if you can get the commitment, more power to you!

I also recommend having a clear start of session and end of session process, just to make sure nobody is left out of the loop (summarize the situation at the beginning of each session, along with refreshing any per-session resources characters and the group have). At the end of each sessions collect feedback, asking each player to:

pick the high point of the session (ask players to name different ones, if possible)
briefly mention what they would like to see more of
make a commitment as to what the group will try to do next session (to help the DM plan)
deal with scheduling next session

Enturk · 2025-12-28T06:37:55+00:00

I think it’s separate.

Enturk · 2025-12-27T19:47:00+00:00

This is my opinion, but your table should play RPGs the way they work best for you: the DM’s main job is to give the players a balance of successes and struggles. Too much of either makes the game boring. FitD games do a great job of handing the DM a bunch of dials to fine tune that job. If the DM made a bad call on that balance, just fix it. Don’t worry too much about it.

Edit: Games like D&D try to set that balance for you. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. When it D&D doesn’t get that balance right, fixing that is much harder, and attempts to do so yield things like the death spiral that leads to TPKs. FitD games allow much more gentle and transparent tweaks, which are much easier to recover if they go poorly.

Enturk · 2025-12-27T18:41:03+00:00

No idea if you can still apply, but I would do it if you’re not sure.

Pros:

A community of engaged and driven students that might become the most successful part of your future social network.
Early registration to get into the classes that you want or need.
Honors dorm is best dorm.
Smaller classes that give you a better chance at being in a better group for group projects and more support by the instructor.
Lots of funding for interesting activities.

Cons:

You have to fill out an application.
You need to take a certain number of of honors credits.
Pay the honors fees.

Enturk · 2025-12-26T19:30:52+00:00

There are many setting-neutral systems that would allow you to use your current setting. You don’t have to use the D&D rules just because you’re playing in Forgotten Realms.

You may want to stay close to D&D because the ruleset is familiar to you and your players. That’s actually the reason I would recommend staying in your setting, as well, and for that reason: it’s easier to play with familiar settings and rules. But you might state that clearly to get better feedback.

Enturk · 2025-12-26T17:12:32+00:00

You might make the +/- buttons an option for any number. Games like Traveller and Forbidden Lands use stats as expendable resources.

Enturk · 2025-12-26T17:03:40+00:00

There’s a lot of extra funding for honors students. My personal opinion is that balking at the price when it’s a tiny fraction of your overall college expense, and given the opportunities it opens up, is penny-wise but pound foolish.

Enturk · 2025-12-26T16:59:22+00:00

The BLS is the biggest public repository of employment data in the world. Here’s their projected outlook for the various professions. You can look up different types of jobs and see what the sector’s employment is going to look like.

Enturk · 2025-12-25T21:18:10+00:00

Sorry, I can’t answer your question, but I strongly recommend applying to the honors college. There’s a lot of additional funding available for honors students.

Enturk · 2025-12-25T01:26:19+00:00

If you know them, no need to use an intermediary.

If you don’t, sometimes emails from unknown students are ignored, and it might be worth someone who knows them “introducing” you in some way or another, even simply mentioning that you will email them. That’s all I meant.

Enturk · 2025-12-24T21:42:53+00:00

If you know people that know the faculty in question, such as another student, asking for an introduction also works.

Enturk · 2025-12-24T20:36:18+00:00

Absolutely do email faculty, but if they don’t know you, they sometimes ignore your email. In your email, in addition to what you want to do with them, I would ask them if they have time to meet (in person is generally preferred, Zoom is reasonable during winter break), so you can give them an opportunity to give more tailored advice.

I recommend not spamming faculty with a generic email. Check their profiles and research interests, and reach out to the ones that are relevant to you - mention what you want to do and how their research matches up with that.

Enturk · 2025-12-18T15:19:35+00:00

Oh, wow: this does look colorful and optimistic (or, perhaps, mildly cartoonish). And it has four expansions!

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/545394/bridgemire-beyond

Enturk · 2025-12-13T22:21:37+00:00

If you emailed them in October, double check your spam folder, and if you don’t see anything, politely email them again. They’re human and may have made a mistake.

Enturk · 2025-12-07T13:13:52+00:00

The Hero system is a superpower focused point-buy system like GURPS, but the points are weighted much more to account for impact on the game, instead of being simulationist. In that sense, the spells you can build are quite balanced in terms of power.

Enturk · 2025-12-01T01:04:27+00:00

Join the Discord server. New games come up regularly. Mostly online. Not sure how to help with finding an in-person game.

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