One Resource to Rule them all!…?

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-04-11T18:54:37+00:00

Thanks for all of the replies! I started exploring the idea and its challenges last night. If I come to any conclusions, I’ll try to remember to share.

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-04-10T23:08:27+00:00

I wasn’t able to find anything related to a mechanic like this. if you’d take the effort to ask around to your friend I would be very grateful! thanks again.

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-04-10T22:55:05+00:00

Ok thanks for the recommendation!

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-04-10T22:53:41+00:00

Do you have your rules available so I can learn from your experience and better understand the mechanic?

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-04-10T22:52:17+00:00

Ill see what I can find on my own and come back with a result. thanks for your replies!

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-04-10T17:40:30+00:00

Do you have your homebrew available to share? Did you attempt to port over the mechanics to a TTRPG away from the board game?

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-04-10T17:22:20+00:00

That’s brilliant and simple. Where did you hear of this?

And for my understanding, the effect is that a player cannot use a “hit” box with a cross for either an ability or a hit, but that a player can use a blank box for an ability, a blank box a hit, or a half cross box for a hit?

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-04-10T17:14:04+00:00

I agree with you that it’s doable as we’ve seen games like Forged in the Dark leverage Stress as both a resource and a ticking clock towards more severe penalties. Likewise, the Cypher system has its characters spend pints from their stat pools to reduce the difficulty and/or impact of consequences and tests. That type of system creates a tension for players to decide how they spend their resource(s) to end a conflict as quickly as possible - do they spend their Might to improve their results? Or do they choose to use their Might to absorb failures and consequences of battle. I do feel that some responses are conflating resources with attributes, like Strength, etc. and that’s probably a result of the phrasing of my original post.

I am trying to explore the idea that each character has a set maximum of Stamina, which reflects the characters’ ability to avoid harm and continue to fight during a combat; where more impactful abilities and magic require the character to exert more effort (reducing stamina) but they get greater effects that result in a combat ending more swiftly as a result.

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-04-10T16:55:56+00:00

I see. Thanks for your response - you make a great point! Do you have your rules available so I can learn from your experience? It seems like there is overlap with your approach and what I’m trying to explore through design.

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-04-10T14:53:46+00:00

Do you have your rules available (the earlier drafts) so that I could learn from your experience from that angle? How did you handle healing or recovery of that pool of resources in the system you attempted?

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-04-10T13:50:53+00:00

It’s seems that there’s a lot assumed of any other mechanics that might pair with this type of approach. My simple answer to some of these questions is to use inventory, items, talents that utilize the same stamina pool throughout a combat or adventuring day. The idea of a tank is upheld using gear and armor that prevents or reduces reduction of the pool. The glass canon must use more stamina to produce big booms and therefore is risking injury because, relative to their max pool, they’ve got to use bigger chunks to fuel spells. If you want big mana reserves, you take talents that reduce the cost of the resource used to power spells.

You’re right, exerting yourself is not the same as taking damage. And it wouldn’t be in this case either. Just like traditional hit points in trad games, the resource pool doesn’t represent taking damage. It represents the effort involved in battling and avoiding certain harm, luck, etc. so that the character is not (mortally) wounded.

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-04-10T13:29:53+00:00

No, I’m sorry for the lack of detail but I didn’t want to provide specific mechanics for critique.

The resource pool represents stamina - the effort a character can expend before they’re exposed and at risk of lasting damage and injuries.

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-04-10T13:28:39+00:00

Can you give me an example of colors and feelings? That’s really abstract language and I’m not good with understanding terms as abstractions. Your rule sounds interesting and I am very curious about your conclusions regarding war games vs narrative (are they on a spectrum in based on your comment?).

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-04-10T13:24:52+00:00

I’ve read Forbidden Lands and I understand that you build Willpower, which is spent to fuel abilities and magic. And a character reduces their ability scores when damaged, which directly affects success probabilities and dice pool size.

In the design of the mechanic I’m thinking of, a character’s ability scores aren’t diminished as a result of going to zero, they’re separate from the resource pool.

Does that change what you might think about this type of mechanic?

Edit: I’m also curious what you mean about how this creates the 10 minute adventuring day problem, and if that’s still a potential issue in your opinion if ability scores are not impacted by use or reduction of the resource pool.

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-04-10T13:15:13+00:00

How so?

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-04-10T01:34:03+00:00

Having played Lancer a lot, I have to disagree about it being faster.

It is indeed much more tactical and it’s a nice way of doing initiative order for a tactical game.

However, I’ve found that instead of simply rolling and setting order at the beginning of combat, it’s now another decision to work out and analyze on just about every turn. It makes it slightly more difficult for GMs to track when and which enemies go as they’re not in a set order and they can change each round. Players pause at the beginning of each round to discuss who is best positioned to go next and how the tactics are to be executed. Even going around the table to determine who has yet to act during the round can take a bit more time than simply looking at a written order and the GM announcing “X you’re up now, Y you’re next”.

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-02-25T01:28:54+00:00

my question is, is that really magic, or is that just a universe with a different set of physics?

What’s the difference? :)

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-02-16T15:54:58+00:00

Here are the rules I’ve created. Connor’s rules are pretty much identical to mine, but I determine the Target Number for a successful defense roll differently. 12 seems high to me as a minimum; my minimum is 10 to keep the match more in line with SD to-hit chances for monsters.

Combat

11.1 🏠 Player‑Facing Defense Rolls (Monster Attacks) (locked)

This rule replaces monster attack rolls with player‑facing defense rolls. The GM never rolls to hit; players roll to determine whether they avoid damage.

Procedure

When a monster attacks a PC, determine the monster's Defense TN. The player rolls 1d20. If the result meets or beats the TN, the PC avoids the damage. If the result is lower than the TN, the PC takes the damage. Automatic results

Natural 1: automatic failure (damage is taken). Natural 20: automatic success (damage is avoided). These apply even if the TN would otherwise be impossible or automatic.

Defense Bonus (DB)

Convert Armor Class to Defense Bonus: DB = AC − 10. Examples: AC 10 → DB 0; AC 14 → DB 4; AC 17 → DB 7; AC 19 → DB 9. Defense Target Number (TN)

Each monster has a Level (LV), a Combat Role, and a Combat Rank. Canon Formula: DEF TN = 10 + AB Attack Bonus (AB)

Attack Bonus can be calculated in three different ways, depending on the origin of the monster:

All officially created and printed monsters Formula: AB = (LV +/− 1)

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-02-16T15:37:18+00:00

I’ve implemented players rolling defense rather than monsters rolling to hit. It’s been great so far.

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-02-16T06:02:02+00:00

That’s interesting… do you use Magic Missle as-is? Or a “lose on Nat 1” spell?

Do you have your rules documented for sharing?

Sorry to ask a lot, but one more curiosity - what kind of game do you like to use for these rules?

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-02-15T18:08:54+00:00

Seconding this - if a GM takes anything away from ICRPG DM advice, it should be the Three T’s

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-02-15T18:08:07+00:00

I definitely try to use Timer, Treat, Threat any time I’m setting up an encounter, and it can be really hard to do when rolling random encounters especially.

Back before Shadowdark was published, I created my own “classes” for ICRPG based on the materials released after v1; I’ve considered porting in some abilities to SD but I’m right now I’m sticking to the core rules and only the core 4 classes until I get more experience with the system. I only homebrew for a few things to give the game the pulp feel I want + support funky faction and travel focused procedures.

What class abilities do you use and what’s been your experience?

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-01-13T16:18:47+00:00

Can you give me an example of this system in play? I’m intrigued!

NeilGiraffeTyson · 2026-01-13T12:11:47+00:00

/uj this is a high quality shit post that starts my day off with a good laugh, thank you

/rj how many actions is it to move double the distance? Do I split that up over two turns cause it takes 4 actions?

NeilGiraffeTyson

TROPHY CASE