4 ms·

My favorite variation of this involves Dungeons and Dragons' spell slots mechanic. (Full disclaimer, I didn't make the concept, and can't find the post that I r

by msoucy 6y ago

My favorite variation of this involves Dungeons and Dragons' spell slots mechanic. (Full disclaimer, I didn't make the concept, and can't find the post that I read it from) For every long rest, you get a limited number of spell slots - for example at level 5 you get 4 level 1 spell slots, 3 level 2 spell slots, and 2 level 3 spell slots. These are all the "major" spells you can cast before you need to long rest again. Some things may be more straightforward, and only take a level 1 spell slot. But it's still possible to run out of those. Luckily, you're able to use a higher level spell slot to cast that same spell. Sometimes this makes the "spell" more effective (using a higher level spell slot for programming might relate to intentionally putting more focus on it), other times you're just burning the higher leveled slot. Other actions/spells may take more focus/concentration/energy/effort to do, akin to using a higher leveled spell slot. Naturally you can't do as many of those without resting. Still other actions/spells are trivial for you to do. You can do those as many times as you'd like, and you don't feel (significantly) affected by them. These are your cantrips - the simplest spells, that can still be very useful. I like this variation of the theory not just for the gaming flavor, but also because it changes the concept slightly from "this takes more spoons than that" to differently sized spoons, which feels more in line with how I relate to the tasks that give me trouble.

amalcon 6y ago
That's a very interesting variant. Since it works for healthy people as well, you can describe what changes more directly. It also captures that not all conditions are identical. For a healthy person, getting out of bed in the morning is maybe a level 1; making dinner is a level 2; going to the bathroom is a cantrip; maybe going to work is a level 3. Now you have a chronic medical condition. With your particular condition, getting out of bed a level 3, you have no cantrips, and you need to spend 2-3 level 2's per week going to the doctor (rather than 2-3 per year). Now, you've used up your level 3's just by getting out of bed and going to work, you need to use level 1's to go to the bathroom, and you used a level 2 on a doctor appointment (so you're out of them by dinnertime). Someone else may have no more difficulty getting out of bed, and may not need so many doctor appointments, but randomly once a month they just don't get any slots back in the morning. So, they need to keep that extra level 3 in reserve to go to work tomorrow in case that happens.

by msoucy 6y ago

amalcon 6y ago

That's a very interesting variant. Since it works for healthy people as well, you can describe what changes more directly. It also captures that not all conditions are identical. For a healthy person, getting out of bed in the morning is maybe a level 1; making dinner is a level 2; going to the bathroom is a cantrip; maybe going to work is a level 3. Now you have a chronic medical condition. With your particular condition, getting out of bed a level 3, you have no cantrips, and you need to spend 2-3 level 2's per week going to the doctor (rather than 2-3 per year). Now, you've used up your level 3's just by getting out of bed and going to work, you need to use level 1's to go to the bathroom, and you used a level 2 on a doctor appointment (so you're out of them by dinnertime). Someone else may have no more difficulty getting out of bed, and may not need so many doctor appointments, but randomly once a month they just don't get any slots back in the morning. So, they need to keep that extra level 3 in reserve to go to work tomorrow in case that happens.