The first play you avoid taking heat because it clogs up your hand. With more plays, it becomes clear that heat is meant to be spent. Learning to manage a resource that's helpful in the short term but a burden sometime in the future makes the game a lot of fun to play.
Curiously enough, yesterday I was inspired to actually play the Battletech videogame I bought six years ago! After ten minutes in the tutorial my PC sounded like it was about to lift off. Heat management - not just for mechs.
Resource-limited combat is so much more satisfying both in table top and video games! For mechs, heat is usually the go-to, but I've seen it simplified to "energy" as well. Non mech games can limit the numbers of orders you can give in any given turn, so you can't overwhelm enemies with numbers.
As frustrating as it might be, I wonder if modern RTSs could benefit from limiting the number of units you can control at one time. Kinda simulating the communication chain limitation?
I do love resource limitations. BattleTech strikes a nice balance between resource (heat) and classic wargaming (dice chucking). I tend to prefer systems that have a bit of both.
I think 'heat' is a much more fun limiting mechanic than we usually get in RPGs. I wonder if it would work if applied to non-mech games? I could see it replacing spell slots rather well, and even maybe being a 'stress' mechanic for martial classes.
For spells, I’ve seen games where the chance of horrible accidents when casting spells goes up, or the risk of attention from the authorities. Mana reservoirs are also similar to the countdown heat capacity approach discussed as an alternative to countup heat accumulation for mechs.
A microscale heat-alike is the multi-action penalty some RPGs apply. It might be more a d100 thing, but stuff like “every action after the first gets an additional -20% modifier, and this includes any parrying/dodging you do that round” gives a bit of the same calculus to planning your actions each round.
I do think there's a place for "resource management" mechanisms in TTRPGs. A lot of RPG adjacent games (e.g. Tainted Grail, etc.) already have something like this. Spencer at Gila RPGs is doing some interesting stuff with resource management in combat too.
My first exposure to heat as a resource was the aptly named Heat: Pedal to the Metal. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/366013/heat-pedal-to-the-metal
The first play you avoid taking heat because it clogs up your hand. With more plays, it becomes clear that heat is meant to be spent. Learning to manage a resource that's helpful in the short term but a burden sometime in the future makes the game a lot of fun to play.
Heat is a great game! I've only played on BGA, and would guess it's even better in person.
Same with me - I originally thought heat was always a bad thing. That is definitely not the case! Just needs to be managed.
Curiously enough, yesterday I was inspired to actually play the Battletech videogame I bought six years ago! After ten minutes in the tutorial my PC sounded like it was about to lift off. Heat management - not just for mechs.
Hah! My last PC basically required hearing protection while gaming. Thankfully the new one is considerably quieter.
The BT game is a really good implementation I think. Feels like the tabletop game.
Resource-limited combat is so much more satisfying both in table top and video games! For mechs, heat is usually the go-to, but I've seen it simplified to "energy" as well. Non mech games can limit the numbers of orders you can give in any given turn, so you can't overwhelm enemies with numbers.
As frustrating as it might be, I wonder if modern RTSs could benefit from limiting the number of units you can control at one time. Kinda simulating the communication chain limitation?
I do love resource limitations. BattleTech strikes a nice balance between resource (heat) and classic wargaming (dice chucking). I tend to prefer systems that have a bit of both.
I think 'heat' is a much more fun limiting mechanic than we usually get in RPGs. I wonder if it would work if applied to non-mech games? I could see it replacing spell slots rather well, and even maybe being a 'stress' mechanic for martial classes.
Definitely can go broader than mechs.
For spells, I’ve seen games where the chance of horrible accidents when casting spells goes up, or the risk of attention from the authorities. Mana reservoirs are also similar to the countdown heat capacity approach discussed as an alternative to countup heat accumulation for mechs.
A microscale heat-alike is the multi-action penalty some RPGs apply. It might be more a d100 thing, but stuff like “every action after the first gets an additional -20% modifier, and this includes any parrying/dodging you do that round” gives a bit of the same calculus to planning your actions each round.
Edit: And then there’s the diceless action RPG HEAT (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/heat-ttrpg/heat-high-excitement-action-tabletop). There’s a quickstart up on Itch linked from the description if you want a glance at the mechanic there, but it’s roughly mech heat but for people.
I do think there's a place for "resource management" mechanisms in TTRPGs. A lot of RPG adjacent games (e.g. Tainted Grail, etc.) already have something like this. Spencer at Gila RPGs is doing some interesting stuff with resource management in combat too.
This is really great!
Thanks! I hope you enjoy the MECH WEEK series. There's a new one today!