thread: 2006-03-06 : Unpopular Idea #2: Punish the Loser
On 2006-03-07, Calithena wrote:
I am Ben Lehman, and have been for many years. Who knew?
Hit points also don't have a death spiral effect.
They also can be a resource to use across several conflicts, especially if healing is tight.
Maybe if one emphasized all three of those things and called them "prana" in a design said designer would get to be a Cool Kid.
I am curious though: you can have _long term consequences_ that _don't_ effect the local conflict as real, non-death-spiral effects. And you can have a resource like hit points. But what are some good examples of meaningful short term conflicts that don't necessarily induce a death spiral?
If you have multiple avenues of conflict (like, maybe, I don't know, that magic dueling game Schechter's been working on forever, where there are five elements of magic) then I suppose you can hit some with penalties, which isn't exactly a death spiral, just forces you to be cannier about your choices of tactics.
What else?
This makes C go "i meant "short term effects""
This makes BL go "Wounds..."
In Maps work like this -- they are either a bonus for your or a bonus for your opponent, depending. Of course, Maps doesn't exist yet, so I don't hold it against you for not noticing.
