Giving players recharge powers (sorta) - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Giving players recharge powers (sorta)

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
ultralogan23
May 09, 2010 12:02:51 OK so here's the thought; I want to give every PC recharge 6: regain one encounter power. This could have some extra stipulations; it might only start after X rounds of combat, after you spend X encounter powers (1/2 level maybe), only while bloodied. Why? 1) To prevent the "we only have at wills left solo monster slog. 2) To be able to have staggered,"meat grinder" missions. 3)To add an extra element of tension and gambling (the game is based around a party of adventures who are pro 3 dragon ante players) Thoughts, ideas, balance help?
#2
stargazer_dragon
May 10, 2010 3:47:47 allow it to be used with crit on first attack on the round or perhaps only when a action point is spent.

I personaly recharge racial powers (recharge 6) at start of each players turn to represent a little closer to moster versions of the same races also becouse it gives the players a touch more to do.

#3
pluisjen
May 10, 2010 3:59:49
Personally I'd put this kind of thing in the enviroment. It makes the world and the encounter come alive. Instead of recharging when you roll a 6, recharge an Encounter Power if you end your move in a square filled with invigorating light, that moves around the battlefield.

Did the enemy end in the field? Oh well, guess the recharge goes to him. Here's some more of that Dragon Breath.

It adds a good amount of tactics to the battle, prevents things from becoming static, and it lets you control in what battles you want powers to recharge instead of getting whiny players that want recharges all the time.
#4
Bandikoot
May 10, 2010 13:33:22 I think that if your players like gambling, then adding in a mechanic like this will make them happy, but it will not be of much help finishing off solo monsters. This is especially true if you wait until later in the encounter, after they are bloodied or have used up all of their encounter powers. At a 1 in 6 chance to recharge, they are only going to recharge 1 round, and still spend the other 5 using at-will powers. This is of course an average so some encounters a PC will get back more than one, and others a PC won't get back a single power.

I am also not sure what benefit you are receiving for "staggered, 'meat grinder' missions" with this. This to me implies a series of separate encounters, with short rests in between. In that case they are getting encounter powers back anyway. If instead you mean enemies coming against the party in waves without the party have the ability to take a rest in between, then I could understand what you are going for. However, you still run into the same problem as before.

If you seriously want the party to get encounter powers back at a reasonable rate, then you will need to something like one of the following options:

A) Make the recharge 5,6. This will give a PC an encounter power back every third round. You notice monsters tend to make use of this, as unlike recharge 6, it recharges often enough to be useful in an encounter.

B) Make each PC encounter power recharge 6. This will make the frequency of encounter recharge scale with level. First level PCs will only get an encounter power back every six rounds, but paragon and above characters will almost never run out of them. This would let the party grow into the waves of monsters scenario. It also means you will have to make your own guidelines for difficulty and completely toss their xp reward system. I don't recommend this unless you are really comfortable with altering the game.
#5
stargazer_dragon
May 10, 2010 14:17:24 if I was going to go a rout other then recharge 6 I would probably go something like when a player uses a action point on the same round that they used second wind they may recharge and use a encounter power as there extra standard action, just to give it kinda the anime feal where the hero bloody and almost dead gets asurge of power making a nice attack and seaming to be less injured very common place in say bleech
#6
ultralogan23
May 10, 2010 18:17:09 @Pluisjen-I like that idea and might use it in a different game, but as a recurring mechanic in different locales it wouldn't work as well.
@Bandicoot- Even for solos I think that at recharge 6 it would be a big help, the party would be, on average, recharging an encounter power more than once every other turn, and considering they would almost certainly use an encounter power asap it's likely they would have less than 5 rounds taking into account the number of encounter powers they have (as many as 5 at first level). Maybe something in between? change it to recharge 5,6 when bloodies.
@stargazer_dragon-I do like that, but the problem there is it doesn't scale with the length of the encounter.
#7
stargazer_dragon
May 11, 2010 4:35:16 I recharge racial encounter powers since they have little effect on the game but add a little something, my players so far love it even if it is only a extra power here and there.

I also recharge daily powers (recharge 6 declining 1 for each fail) one roll after each encounter. I do this as it allows player to not be bound to the 4 encounter set up curently in effect, they tend to get a daily every 3 encounters soemtimes more often (I removed daily power recovery during extended rest instead counting extended rest as the end of a encounter giving a chance to regain a single power) though I might allow a extra roll for each tier so recharge 6 one roll for lvl 1-10 then 2 rolls after each fight for the next teir and 3 rolls after each fight for the last teir

I also recover 1d6 healing surges during each milestone (they still fully recover during extended rest) this further helps them not be bound to 4 encounter work days so that they can delve into dungeoons without worring when there rest is; but still having to watch there surge usage a lot.

so all together

Racial powers recharge 6 every round
Daily powers recharge 6 declining on fails end of every encounter (+1 roll per teir)
Recharge D6 surges at every milestone

as for a extended battle you could simply say that every 10 rounds they regain a encounter power, or basicaly allow the effects of a short rest after every encounter without actualy resting and define a encounter as 10 rounds of combat, this gives the effect of a new encounter without it actualy being a new encounter, so on the 11th round no combat takes place and each player regains encounter powers and may spend a single healing surge; after that move onto round 12, starting the count back at round 1 encounter 2, but continues the battle where it left off.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 ultralogan23 May 09, 2010 12:02:51	OK so here's the thought; I want to give every PC recharge 6: regain one encounter power. This could have some extra stipulations; it might only start after X rounds of combat, after you spend X encounter powers (1/2 level maybe), only while bloodied. Why? 1) To prevent the "we only have at wills left solo monster slog. 2) To be able to have staggered,"meat grinder" missions. 3)To add an extra element of tension and gambling (the game is based around a party of adventures who are pro 3 dragon ante players) Thoughts, ideas, balance help?
#2 stargazer_dragon May 10, 2010 3:47:47	allow it to be used with crit on first attack on the round or perhaps only when a action point is spent. I personaly recharge racial powers (recharge 6) at start of each players turn to represent a little closer to moster versions of the same races also becouse it gives the players a touch more to do.
#3 pluisjen May 10, 2010 3:59:49	Personally I'd put this kind of thing in the enviroment. It makes the world and the encounter come alive. Instead of recharging when you roll a 6, recharge an Encounter Power if you end your move in a square filled with invigorating light, that moves around the battlefield. Did the enemy end in the field? Oh well, guess the recharge goes to him. Here's some more of that Dragon Breath. It adds a good amount of tactics to the battle, prevents things from becoming static, and it lets you control in what battles you want powers to recharge instead of getting whiny players that want recharges all the time.
#4 Bandikoot May 10, 2010 13:33:22	I think that if your players like gambling, then adding in a mechanic like this will make them happy, but it will not be of much help finishing off solo monsters. This is especially true if you wait until later in the encounter, after they are bloodied or have used up all of their encounter powers. At a 1 in 6 chance to recharge, they are only going to recharge 1 round, and still spend the other 5 using at-will powers. This is of course an average so some encounters a PC will get back more than one, and others a PC won't get back a single power. I am also not sure what benefit you are receiving for "staggered, 'meat grinder' missions" with this. This to me implies a series of separate encounters, with short rests in between. In that case they are getting encounter powers back anyway. If instead you mean enemies coming against the party in waves without the party have the ability to take a rest in between, then I could understand what you are going for. However, you still run into the same problem as before. If you seriously want the party to get encounter powers back at a reasonable rate, then you will need to something like one of the following options: A) Make the recharge 5,6. This will give a PC an encounter power back every third round. You notice monsters tend to make use of this, as unlike recharge 6, it recharges often enough to be useful in an encounter. B) Make each PC encounter power recharge 6. This will make the frequency of encounter recharge scale with level. First level PCs will only get an encounter power back every six rounds, but paragon and above characters will almost never run out of them. This would let the party grow into the waves of monsters scenario. It also means you will have to make your own guidelines for difficulty and completely toss their xp reward system. I don't recommend this unless you are really comfortable with altering the game.
#5 stargazer_dragon May 10, 2010 14:17:24	if I was going to go a rout other then recharge 6 I would probably go something like when a player uses a action point on the same round that they used second wind they may recharge and use a encounter power as there extra standard action, just to give it kinda the anime feal where the hero bloody and almost dead gets asurge of power making a nice attack and seaming to be less injured very common place in say bleech
#6 ultralogan23 May 10, 2010 18:17:09	@Pluisjen-I like that idea and might use it in a different game, but as a recurring mechanic in different locales it wouldn't work as well. @Bandicoot- Even for solos I think that at recharge 6 it would be a big help, the party would be, on average, recharging an encounter power more than once every other turn, and considering they would almost certainly use an encounter power asap it's likely they would have less than 5 rounds taking into account the number of encounter powers they have (as many as 5 at first level). Maybe something in between? change it to recharge 5,6 when bloodies. @stargazer_dragon-I do like that, but the problem there is it doesn't scale with the length of the encounter.
#7 stargazer_dragon May 11, 2010 4:35:16	I recharge racial encounter powers since they have little effect on the game but add a little something, my players so far love it even if it is only a extra power here and there. I also recharge daily powers (recharge 6 declining 1 for each fail) one roll after each encounter. I do this as it allows player to not be bound to the 4 encounter set up curently in effect, they tend to get a daily every 3 encounters soemtimes more often (I removed daily power recovery during extended rest instead counting extended rest as the end of a encounter giving a chance to regain a single power) though I might allow a extra roll for each tier so recharge 6 one roll for lvl 1-10 then 2 rolls after each fight for the next teir and 3 rolls after each fight for the last teir I also recover 1d6 healing surges during each milestone (they still fully recover during extended rest) this further helps them not be bound to 4 encounter work days so that they can delve into dungeoons without worring when there rest is; but still having to watch there surge usage a lot. so all together Racial powers recharge 6 every round Daily powers recharge 6 declining on fails end of every encounter (+1 roll per teir) Recharge D6 surges at every milestone as for a extended battle you could simply say that every 10 rounds they regain a encounter power, or basicaly allow the effects of a short rest after every encounter without actualy resting and define a encounter as 10 rounds of combat, this gives the effect of a new encounter without it actualy being a new encounter, so on the 11th round no combat takes place and each player regains encounter powers and may spend a single healing surge; after that move onto round 12, starting the count back at round 1 encounter 2, but continues the battle where it left off.