Okay this came up form a discussion about running basically a super general. The question was how do you balance a master of the art of winning. So, I suggested mechanics I call "stress" and "rise to the challenge".
For each failed ability/skill check or saving throw or nat 1 the character gains 1 point of "stress". Minus the number of stress points from the result of ability/skill or saving throw . Remove half the number of stress after a long rest and remove 2 stress points each nat 20. Reach the maximum number of stress (10) add a flaw to the character as they develop PTSD.
Stress points can be spent for powerful buffs/ rerolls for equal points of exhaustion. Treating it like the character's back is getting pushed to the wall and are exhausting themselves to find solutions.
You need to be careful about feedback mechanisms here. A stressed character fails a check and they don't want more stress, so they spend for a reroll. Now they have exhaustion which means they are much more likely to fail subsequent checks, which results in either more stress or more exhaustion or both. It becomes a death spiral. The crit mechanic helps with this, but it's not reliable. It could be fun to have additional things that reduce stress for some other cost like gold or HP or vague ominous consequences.
Maybe the primarily negative outcomes are to balance "a master of the art of winning?" I'm not sure what you mean by that and why it would need balance.
I would balance this by removing the stress subtracts from rolls part and instead have a penalty that is active only while having over 5 stress. And make gaining stress harder than failing a skill or save (Nat 1s are fine). Maybe add a confidence score and whenever they fail a check by more than that score, that is when they get stress.
I also suggest checking out the madness tables in the DMG instead of adding flaws.
You need to be careful about feedback mechanisms here. A stressed character fails a check and they don't want more stress, so they spend for a reroll. Now they have exhaustion which means they are much more likely to fail subsequent checks, which results in either more stress or more exhaustion or both. It becomes a death spiral. The crit mechanic helps with this, but it's not reliable. It could be fun to have additional things that reduce stress for some other cost like gold or HP or vague ominous consequences.
Maybe the primarily negative outcomes are to balance "a master of the art of winning?" I'm not sure what you mean by that and why it would need balance.
it started out as a discussion on playing a grand strategist archetype. Which is the character that uses their brains to out think everyone else, like Napoleon, Alexander the great or Yi sung sin. The problem being real world grand strategists are almost unstoppable for normal people to beat once they get enough momentum going and they don't care about playing dirty. It lead to the observation that a DM can use meta knowledge as a short cut. Which lead to the question how do you balance that advantage. I thought of the generals listed above and observed though they were extremely capable they suffered the effects of the stress of having entire nations riding on their shoulders. So, I thought that could be turned into a cool mechanic
what I was envisioning was a double edge resource. You don't want to hold onto it and you don't want to spend it either. I wanted that inter play between buff and de-buff. My thinking being a single point can buy like 1d4 to add to your roll but lets say at the cost the enemy gets a 1d4. And the more stress points you spend the more powerful the return, but also the risk.
I would balance this by removing the stress subtracts from rolls part and instead have a penalty that is active only while having over 5 stress. And make gaining stress harder than failing a skill or save (Nat 1s are fine). Maybe add a confidence score and whenever they fail a check by more than that score, that is when they get stress.
I also suggest checking out the madness tables in the DMG instead of adding flaws.
First off, oops.
Second, it would be nice to have feature that allows you to move threads between forums.
So, balance by gaining stress through nat 1's. I would say have the confidence score be either the wisdom or charisma scores. The madness tables are a good idea. Perhaps another mechanic can be used to show the character is getting use to it. Lets call it "hardening". When they hit their fresh hold and didn't hit the maximum their fresh hold increases by one until you have to have maximum stress to feel the negatives.
Okay this came up form a discussion about running basically a super general. The question was how do you balance a master of the art of winning. So, I suggested mechanics I call "stress" and "rise to the challenge".
For each failed ability/skill check or saving throw or nat 1 the character gains 1 point of "stress". Minus the number of stress points from the result of ability/skill or saving throw . Remove half the number of stress after a long rest and remove 2 stress points each nat 20. Reach the maximum number of stress (10) add a flaw to the character as they develop PTSD.
Stress points can be spent for powerful buffs/ rerolls for equal points of exhaustion. Treating it like the character's back is getting pushed to the wall and are exhausting themselves to find solutions.
Outside the Lines Fantasy – A collection of self published fiction stories.
You need to be careful about feedback mechanisms here. A stressed character fails a check and they don't want more stress, so they spend for a reroll. Now they have exhaustion which means they are much more likely to fail subsequent checks, which results in either more stress or more exhaustion or both. It becomes a death spiral. The crit mechanic helps with this, but it's not reliable. It could be fun to have additional things that reduce stress for some other cost like gold or HP or vague ominous consequences.
Maybe the primarily negative outcomes are to balance "a master of the art of winning?" I'm not sure what you mean by that and why it would need balance.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
First off, this should be in house rule forum.
I would balance this by removing the stress subtracts from rolls part and instead have a penalty that is active only while having over 5 stress. And make gaining stress harder than failing a skill or save (Nat 1s are fine). Maybe add a confidence score and whenever they fail a check by more than that score, that is when they get stress.
I also suggest checking out the madness tables in the DMG instead of adding flaws.
it started out as a discussion on playing a grand strategist archetype. Which is the character that uses their brains to out think everyone else, like Napoleon, Alexander the great or Yi sung sin. The problem being real world grand strategists are almost unstoppable for normal people to beat once they get enough momentum going and they don't care about playing dirty. It lead to the observation that a DM can use meta knowledge as a short cut. Which lead to the question how do you balance that advantage. I thought of the generals listed above and observed though they were extremely capable they suffered the effects of the stress of having entire nations riding on their shoulders. So, I thought that could be turned into a cool mechanic
what I was envisioning was a double edge resource. You don't want to hold onto it and you don't want to spend it either. I wanted that inter play between buff and de-buff. My thinking being a single point can buy like 1d4 to add to your roll but lets say at the cost the enemy gets a 1d4. And the more stress points you spend the more powerful the return, but also the risk.
Outside the Lines Fantasy – A collection of self published fiction stories.
First off, oops.
Second, it would be nice to have feature that allows you to move threads between forums.
So, balance by gaining stress through nat 1's. I would say have the confidence score be either the wisdom or charisma scores. The madness tables are a good idea. Perhaps another mechanic can be used to show the character is getting use to it. Lets call it "hardening". When they hit their fresh hold and didn't hit the maximum their fresh hold increases by one until you have to have maximum stress to feel the negatives.
Outside the Lines Fantasy – A collection of self published fiction stories.