Resting system

[Tarrasque Cult]

BG system is a good one I think but to avoid "rest spam" there should be something like a fatigue gauge which prevent you from rest if your party members are not ired enough. It doesn't make sense to sleep every 20mn to progress.

But characters should be able to partially regain some resources (stamina for example) using a short rest. The healing surge system of D&D4 is pretty good for this I think but maybe it heals a bit too much.

 

I liked the mixed system, tending to BG one, but as suggested by Mikaw it was funny to rest for 8 hours, kill a boss, rest another 8 hours just 30 minutes after...

 

I would like something like this:

 

- Inn quality influences in how much and how fast you can approach.

 

- Tent and sleeping sacks could also be important and lootable items to have. I remember an adventure I played where a powerful mage made a cursed "Sack of Endless Sleep", where anyone sleeping in that bag would never wake up, unless someone took him completely out of the bag and did a Remove Curse spell. In the same way, a Tent like Hermione's one in Harry Potter would be a very powerful magical item, giving Inn-quality rest to characters.

 

- I would also like option "Campfire Rest" or "Night-light Camp" option, to avoid being followed (less chances of random encounters).

 

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[Atreides]

Camping in the wilderness has to be an option, but there should be incentives to encourage players to pay for inns or find better shelter. Besides safe rest, perhaps full regen on stats?

 

Btw "rest until fully healed" didn't make sense to me when you end up resting for weeks/months. Maybe stats can be regen'd quicker by buying food at the inn, something like BG1's drink-buying style.

[Kevin Lynch]

I don't care for "resting" at all, but the BG series method was a preferred one for me. Resting (doing nothing) seems to be a pointless exercise which is why it is usually linked to some gameplay mechanic (memorizing spells, recovering from fatigue, etc). And there might be better ways to manage those.

[Alexjh]

I think the question of resting does rely a lot on what spell system we end up with (I quite like vancian as it forces strategising, but there are alternatives I equally like, just not sure about them for this particular game) but if there is going to be external resting I'd suggest that it is tied to skills.

 

For countryside resting perhaps tie it to a "Woodsman" skill which not only affects liklihood of being attacked, but also how much you heal, druids and rangers would be particularly good at it but it would be open to anyone.

 

Equally something along the lines of "street smarts" for resting in urban areas with the rogue getting the benefits to it, though again, anyone could learn.

[Gibbscape_Torment]

I don't care for "resting" at all, but the BG series method was a preferred one for me. Resting (doing nothing) seems to be a pointless exercise which is why it is usually linked to some gameplay mechanic (memorizing spells, recovering from fatigue, etc). And there might be better ways to manage those.

 

I agree. Since PE isn't going with the Vancian system, i'm wondering just what purpose resting will actually serve.

[Teahive]

From a realism point of view, when someone is injured or ill it makes sense to rest for a longer period of time. But for a game I think the problem with rest spamming or auto-recharge is that it comes at little to no cost. It doesn't matter how badly you fought the last fight, you can just rest a bit and you'll be just as well off as if you had fought flawlessly. And generally, when you lose a fight you reload, so there is simply no difference in outcome - with the notable exception of any consumables you may have used.

 

Learned spells and health thus become free resources. Which is odd given the fact that they are, in parallel, available as expensive resources in the form of scrolls, wands, potions, magic ammunition, etc.

 

 

Thinking of other game genres, FPS and other shooters often feel particularly tense when you're low on ammo and desperately need a medkit. What's interesting about these games is that you always get a chance to replenish these resources after a while, if you hold out just long enough. The odd ammo crate here and a medpack there, often as reward for exploring. Importantly, there hardly ever is a need to backtrack. And to be forced to backtrack, accumulating minutes, maybe hours watching your party walk across known parts of the map just to get back to the nearest town/inn/safe place is the worst kind of punishment for the player. It's wasted time.

 

"Risk" doesn't work well either. If you're lucky you get health and spells back for free. If you're unlucky and get ambushed. You either die and reload, or survive and are back in the same situation as before trying to rest, just maybe even more hurt. Back to step 1.

 

 

Thus I think the best way to deal with the issue is to give regeneration of spells and health a real, "painful" cost in terms of other game resources. Resting and channelling energy could cost an item, or gold. Game time could be a scarce resource, and every night of rest brings the player closer to bad news.

 

In fact, you could go as far as completely getting rid of spellbooks and rest-healing. Want to heal? Consume a potion. Want to cast a spell? That consumes a scroll, a charge, a gem, etc.

In a deep dungeon, it should be possible to replenish those resources without backtracking, but in a way that rewards players which are using their resources well.

[KKAtan]

For countryside resting perhaps tie it to a "Woodsman" skill which not only affects liklihood of being attacked, but also how much you heal, druids and rangers would be particularly good at it but it would be open to anyone.

I'm open to this idea.

 

And the opposite. A "hunting" skill, increasing the likelihood of being attacked while camping in the countryside. Hunting for pelts, ingredients, experience, stuff like that.

[RoughOne]

When I first played BG and I mean BG1, I was very amazed. Here was DnD onscreen for the first time! Not like Azure bonds and other really non immersive games, here was the real mccoy. Part of that was the rest system. You could get woken up by nasties, you could get ambushed in inns. Was very similar to how I ran my campaigns IRL. This would be a great way to handle things.

 

Perhaps too, your wandering 'monsters' would include merchant trains, and other friendly travellers. Perhaps the party could bargain to work on them (guard, etc) or partner until a location (dangerous world out there).

[AGX-17]

Why would Skyrim even be an option? Skyrim is almost the polar opposite of what PE should be. Voted BG.

 

I don't care for "resting" at all, but the BG series method was a preferred one for me. Resting (doing nothing) seems to be a pointless exercise which is why it is usually linked to some gameplay mechanic (memorizing spells, recovering from fatigue, etc). And there might be better ways to manage those.

 

"Resting" isn't doing nothing. Unless you're some kind of spambot program, you have to 'rest' every day or else you'll 'die' from 'exhaustion.' If you were severely wounded, you don't run around doing your morning jog and then go to work like normal, your body will make sure of it with physical pain and what little remains of your reasoning brain would reccomend against it because it will harm your long term survival chances.

 

Every animal that has a brain and a significant lifespan has to sleep.

Edited November 8, 2012 by AGX-17

[jethro]

Ah, another poll with incomplete options. I vote "No resting at all".

[Sedrefilos]

Resting sucks big time. At least the way it was inplemented in IE games. But the way endurance/life will work in PE makes it more strategic, less mandatory and less annoying i should assume. I'll have to wait and see.

[Atreides]

I'd like a full rest to be meaningful, something that players look forward to so they look for an inn when they reach a town. Something they'd willing to pay for.

 

An incentive that ties it to gameplay could be a full restoration of severe injuries and accumulated penalties, for example.

[CrunchyFrog]

I wanted to say BG style, but honestly, as Obsidian has mentioned in several videos, that kind of resting is extremely degenerative in a lot of cases. You shouldn't realistically be able to fall asleep in the middle of a demonic dungeon and expect to live through the night, and while I did it anyway, sleeping after every major encounter just seemed wrong to me. Plus it bucks spell memorization which is supposed to be a hard limit on spellcasters, making them always completely overpowered compared to their non-magic using comrades, as well as just completely healing you party after every encounter, making planning for long-term survival in extended dungeons much less of a challenge than it shouldbe and rendering inn's next to useless. I voted mixed.

[IcyDeadPeople]

I think you need to find a bed somewhere that is not owned by an NPC, rent a room in an inn or perhaps buy your own bedroll/camping kit (provided there are no enemies nearby).

Edited November 10, 2012 by IcyDeadPeople

[CrackedMandible]

The BG style devolves into a 'save', 'rest', if you get attacked 'reload', 'rest' again until you are good to go. It inevitably leads to gaming the system outside of ironman modes. It also takes away from the fun parts, I.e. exploration, combat, etc.

 

I'd like a system that lets you recover a resources (health, magic, energy, whatever) on a limited basis so you can continue to explore with diminishing returns. Eventually, you'll have to camp to fully recover (perhaps forage for potion ingredients) and continue the fun. I don't see the benefit of having to leave a dungeon to rest, especially when there will be a mega-dungeon. It would be irritating to make it to level 10 to have to go back up and find an inn.

 

In short I don't want a game mechanic designed to keep me from moving forward in the game with stopping all the time.