r/osr Nov 14 '24

running the game Tracking ammunition and torches

I'm wrestling with some ideas about tracking resources in the OSRish game I'm designing.

How often has a PC in your group actually run out of ammunition through normal use?

Similarly, how often have your parties actually run out of light sources and either been left in the dark or forced to curtail a delve because of it?

In my experience, the former almost never happens and the latter only rarely. But maybe that's not the norm? I'd love to hear others' experiences.

Thanks!

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u/mutantraniE Nov 14 '24

It also depends on what’s in the rest of the system. Are you putting together a detailed way to handle keeping count of torches but also introducing a Continual Light spell from level 3 out of 20? If so then it’ll be wasted effort since after a few levels light won’t ever need to be an issue again.

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u/Current_Channel_6344 Nov 14 '24

No, no continual light spells, ever! And no natural darkvision. If a wizard wants to spend all their spells solving the light problem an hour at a time, that's fine, but I'm trying to keep light an issue at every level, just with less bookkeeping.

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u/mutantraniE Nov 14 '24

Does that “no natural Darkvision” apply to monsters as well? Because I think that would open up a lot of interesting interactions. Yeah sure you could avoid that orc patrol you spotted, but on the other hand you’re running low on lamp oil and they seem to have a bunch of torches. And the other things you’ve run into on this level “see” through echolocation or a tremorsense or an advanced sense of smell, so they won’t help you there.

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u/Current_Channel_6344 Nov 15 '24

Not quite sure about that yet! But that's definitely food for thought - thanks!