Questions tagged [resource-consumption]
For questions about resource consumption or expenditure and managing how resources are consumed.
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Do pots of Nolzur's Marvelous Pigments act like a consumable item that is fully consumed when activated or can a pot be activated multiple times?
The popular interpretation of Nolzur's Marvelous Pigments is that a pot can be opened and only a portion of the paint can be used with the remainder being saved for later use. Often discussions of the ...
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Are there any more ways to regain spent hit dice?
I am aware of the rules surrounding long rests and hit dice. What I am interested in here is whether there is any way apart from long resting to regain any number of hit dice?
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How does one balance massive resources in large battles/scenes to the party?
This is mainly for Starfinder. My players are L4.
So, my players have set up a successful political party on the moon of Europa, which is currently in revolt against the Soviet Union. One of the PCs ...
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Do any odd complications arise when I houserule that you can recover a single arrow fired into battle?
Refer to: Is ammunition recoverable and reusable?
You can't recover a single valuable magic arrow fired into battle due to the general rule of rounding down applying to the weapon property that lets ...
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Can you use consumables and charges with Astral Projection without really consuming them?
Astral Projection creates an astral copy of your body, replicating your possessions.
Your astral body resembles your mortal form in almost every way, replicating your game statistics and possessions. ...
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In a low-combat campaign, most PC abilities seem useless; what few fights there are barely use up resources. How do I deal with this as the DM?
As part of session 0, I discovered my group wanted a campaign with a heavier amount of intrigue, exploration, investigation, etc. Well, I did it. And I think the general perception is that it's going ...
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Can you temporarily extinguish a non-magical light source to conserve it?
A lamp and two lanterns are described on page 152 of the Player's Handbook as follows:
Lamp. A lamp casts bright light in a 15-foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet. Once lit, it burns ...
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How can I get better at identifying the "right time" to use my spell slots?
I've played a bunch of DnD 5e, but my current campaign is my first time playing a Warlock outside of a one-shot; right now I'm almost to level 5. I'm playing more of a face/roleplay-focused role, so ...
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Does the "reappearing" property of the "Shadowneedle" Unbreakable Arrow function?
In Adventurers League play, it is possible to find a "Shadowneedle" (Unbreakable arrow from module CCC-KUMORI-02-04), which has this special text :
One of twenty unbreakable arrows crafted with ...
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Is there a way to auto-resolve a fight and account for resource consumption?
Sometimes the result of an encounter is easily seen even before the fight starts. If I let the PCs automatically win the fight, are there rules to determine how much resources it would cost them? I.e. ...
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How can I make sure my players' decisions have consequences?
Last session, my players got into what was meant to be a fairly minor battle. The wizard misjudged the strength of the enemies and used both of his third level spell slots, and the druid acted sub-...
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Are there rules for shortening the adventuring day and reducing the number encounters without unbalancing them?
The problem
In a few groups I'm DMing, sessions last about 3h. During that time, we usually have about half the adventuring's day worth of encounters (so at level 10, about 18k XP out of the 36k XP ...
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How can I end combat quickly when the outcome is inevitable?
I'm DMing for a party of 6. In our next session, I'm planning on running four combat encounters. With such a large group, I've found that it usually takes an hour or two to get through a single battle....
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What is the purpose of easy combat scenarios that don't need resource expenditure?
This is something I've been thinking about as a DM in my encounter design: Why have easy/medium/etc combat encounters that don't really require resources to successfully complete?
Given the limited ...
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What can I do to encourage my players to use their consumables?
Frequently when I DM I will give my players consumables (i.e. potions and scrolls) in loot drops in place of gold. My intention is to give them more flexibility in strategy during exploration and ...
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For Endurance Limitations, what qualifies as "inherently costing no END"?
I want to create a power that expends both Charges and Endurance. Specifically, it's a Mad Max: Fury Road style 'stun the person by firing next to their head', so it requires both firing a bullet and ...
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How much water do characters require during periods of 'Extreme Heat'?
PHB p. 185 (or the corresponding section of the basic rules) states:
Water
A character needs one gallon of water per day, or two gallons per day if the weather is hot. A character who drinks only ...
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Can I overwinter in a beehive by wildshaping into a winter bee?
Can I overwinter in a beehive by wild-shaping into a winter bee?
This is the bee statblock I am using. I am an 8th-level druid.
I think the following procedure works but I'm probably overlooking ...
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Missing players don't spend daily resources
Last year, my D&D group attendance was really good. All 6 non-DM players were frequently available on game-day and the campaign progressed quickly.
Recently, 3 people with a nearly 100% ...
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How to balance one Long Rest every 24 hours
Coming from this question: Typically, how many combat encounters should a low-level party have before they are expected to take a long rest?
I realized even while using published adventure modules ...
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Is ammunition recoverable and reusable?
In games I DM, it is common after combat for players to tell me that they go around and recover the items that expended as ranged attacks. While this certainly makes sense for a hand axe or thrown ...
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Can I use my newly gained limited-use ability right after leveling up?
This question came into mind after seeing this question. It may be an absurd question, but can I use a limited-use ability which I have gained by leveling up without taking any rest? For example, can ...
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How can I deal with players who are reluctant to spend resources?
There's a certain kind of people who like to hoard whatever limited resources they get "just in case"; they usually end up never using them, always waiting for bigger emergency. On the other hand, ...
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When to use scarce resources in combat?
How does one choose when to use scarce resources (e.g. powers you can only use once per day or encounter) in combat? I am particularly concerned with D&D, but I believe the concept carries over ...
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