Exhaustion and Fatigue

[Durgil]

I've looked throughout the rulebooks and did a search here on the forum, and I'm not coming up with any rules on characters becoming fatigued or exhausted. Are there any rules on this topic?

[eruditus]

They don't live long enough to be exhausted :)

But really, I noticed this too.

I am certain you could incorporate a set of rules for exhaustion that emulate Tax to a certain degree.

Off the top of my head....Hows this sound?
Acting over time (exchanges, minutes and hours) the PC must take a Forte test FoRKed by Health with an Ob equal to the number of such tests made over said span of time.

What scale depends on level of activity:
Heavy activity (combat, competetive sports, hasty labor) - exchanges
Medium activity (jogging, steady physical activity, practicing) - minutes
Light activity (hiking, riding, guard duty) - hours

If the test is failed then the persona temporarily loses one Forte exponent.

Recovery of Forte coverd by rules for tax.

ie. character with 4 Forte would make a check every 4 exchanges of combat. So after 12 exchanges as their 3rd test the Ob would be 2.

[luke]

I can't even read these for fear of being murdered. My players threatened to mutiny if I put in rules for fatigue. I am serious, you should see the baleful looks I get.

So I just assume that this is the one truly heroic aspect of the game. Fights are quite deadly enough as it is. Steel and Wounds are usually plenty to think about for both GM and player.

But if you absolutely NEED Fatigue rules, by all means, you have my blessing.

I just can't help you, for fear of my life!

-abzu

[Durgil]

The situation that I see coming up is the players, pressed for time, decide to undergo a hard, 12 hour march to reach the lair of some opponent. At the end of such activity, they shouldn't be able to fight as though they were completely refreshed. There has to be some kind of a trade off, otherwise,generals would be marching their armies through the night all the time. I like the "Tax" idea though.

There is a similar discussion on the HârnForum (http://www.harnforum.com/index.php?sid=f643e6cf0c8f2868ba625be5aff7a60b), here (http://www.harnforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=2453) where someone has suggested using a type of mild injury level to simulate the effects of hard work over a long period of time.

Another idea that I picked up from The Riddle of Steel is for characters heavily laden with supplies or wearing heavy armour acquire fatigue twice as quickly as those who are unencumbered. This is related to exertions over a longer period of time but fatigue that is quickly accumulated through heavy exertions such as combat or sprinting.

I wouldn't want to burden the game with a lot of complicated rules, but I think that some potential arguments between players and Gm's could be averted if there were some guild lines in place. That way when a dispute starts to simmer, it could be handed quickly with a little dice rolling. I don't know the system well enough YET to come up with any good house rules, but it might be something that I take a stab at down the road. Maybe this could be a supplement to the Character Burner? "Fatigue, Exhaustion, and Encumbrance: So how much gold can my character reasonably carry on his back?"

[eruditus]

Yeah, I think if people like the perspective I've proposed then I might use it for my games for some playtesting...

Howeer I would probably only use it for situations where long term fatigue matters - otherwise I would assume they are getting enough rest to avoid exhaustion. however, pressing themselves and staying up night after night will take its toll. :)

I will have to think about including some sort of encumberance.

[Kublai]

when can we do rules for Weapon Breakage?!

Ah, yes! Abzu the thread-jacker!

Anyway, fatigue is necessary, for how else will any PC besides a Sorcerer get to test their Forte?

I've made players test their Forte if they wish to stay up through the night. I've made players make a forte test to see if they are winded after swimming a long distance and then going straight into combat. If they failed the test, I would give them Obstacle modifiers, like +1 for each missed success. That is a little harsh though, but it works.

[eruditus]

My players get an Artha if they pass me a note describing in brief my above proposed Fatigue rules (once). The note merely has to say "think of Fatigue as Tax for non-casters." :)