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So, since we all know that the next edition will feature spells and other stuff that in one way or another will have a duration, what is the preferred way to handle the durations?


I'd split the discussion into two paths.

Short durations
First, you will have stuff that is short in duration and most things like adverse effects of stunning, bleeding, being on fire etc. are in this category. Stuff that can't last too long, because otherwise the target is completely out (save or die or save or suck, based on a single roll are something that most of us don't want back).

Here we have two schools of thought.

One is to have them last for X rounds where X depends on the level of the effect.
The second is to have some kind of roll each round to see if the effect continues (4e saving throw mechanic).

Personally I like the 4e save mechanic, but it has problems.
If I stun the enemy and the enemy gets to save against the effect every turn, then that effect is potentially worse than having the stun last exactly one round (until the end of my next round) since the latter is definitely going to last until my next turn when I might benefit from some kind of advantage vs. the enemy (in 3e you probably had the target lose dex bonus to AC, in 4e you got combat advantage). Also, in 4e you could have an ally grant a save, but the 1 turn version was not going to end even that way.

I think the X rounds guaranteed duration is a bit problematic because it might debilitate a creature (particularly a PC) without him having any way of affecting the result. It is more dramatic to me to have you roll each round if the effect continues, since you don't know when it will end and you might get extra rolls via powers, feats or other characters helping you. A typical example of this is setting someone on fire. In 4e you will have the target take damage each round until he makes a save. An extra save can be granted with some spells or by doing something specific (rolling on the ground, jumping into water etc). If the effect simply lasts 5 rounds, it is less dramatic to me.

Also, if a stun effect lasts even 3 rounds, I find it is too long for that target to ever really have further impact on the battle. Most fights are quite short in terms of how many important rounds they have.

Also, I don't like set number of rounds because of bookkeeping reasons. It just means you'd have to track possibly several multi round durations instead of just seeing if the effect ends each round.

What do you guys think?


Long durations
The second category is stuff that is meant to last quite long (typically for a normal combat encounter or longer.
This is mainly a bookkeeping issue. For most cases it does not matter if a buff lasts 5 minutes or 10 minutes.
What I don't much like is having buffs so long that they are pre-cast in the morning (like in 3.0) because they will last the whole day. That just leads to excessive preparation for something that may not even be needed.

I would prefer it so that buffs are cast when an encounter begins. IF you face a mountain wall too steep to climb, you could cast levitate on one guy to take the rope up. If you face a red dragon, you might cast protection from fire just before entering his cave, but not 5 hours before that.

Here we probably have a narrative school of thought that likes powers to last for an encounter, and the simulationist school who'd like a set number of minutes, hours or whatever. I think that if the buffs get a duration that is roughly 5 minutes or so, then both ways can be used without much difference. I prefer not to have stuff that is 1 minute long, because then you have to really count the rounds out. If something lasts 5 minutes, most typical encounters will end before that.

Feb 27, 2012 -- 2:58AM, Rothe wrote:

Here we have two schools of thought.

Actually you have 3!

Power Word Stun
Duration: 1 minute
Effect: the target must succeed at a Wisdom saving throw or be stun for 1 round (Wisdom ends); first saved failed: the target is stun for 1 round (Wisdom ends); 2nd save failed: the target is stun for the remainder of the spell. (sorry about the poor wording, this is English...)

Feb 27, 2012 -- 2:58AM, Rothe wrote:

Also, I don't like set number of rounds because of bookkeeping reasons.

Effects that last 1 round are just as annoying to keep track off. A is marked, dazed, stun (save ends), stun, slowed, B is slowed (save ends), C has a -2 to AC, D grants combat advantage and is slowed (save ends)...

That's why I like the 1 minute rule. It basically means the whole fight.

Feb 27, 2012 -- 5:11AM, flyinghitcher wrote:

How about introducing a 4th mechanic for buff's. They only trigger while being threatened, I will elaborate here a little. Now it's a very rough idea and ignore that part for a second. I'm going to pick Mage armor though laziness to look up a spell.

Round 0, Exploring. Mage cast Mage armor. Mage armor doesn't come into affect until the recipient is attacked. So it's going to last indefinitely all day.

Round 1 - 4, Monsters are met and start attacking, Mage armor starts to work.

Round 5, All monsters are now dead. Mage armor no longer has any reason to exist so then vanish's until recast.

Mage is down one spell slot - and will be happy the spell had it's intended effect.         

Pre-buffing is an interesting idea. Temporary hit points can already be pre-cast in some cases, so why not do the same for other buffs? Sounds good to me.

Feb 27, 2012 -- 5:42AM, Bodyknock wrote:

Feb 27, 2012 -- 5:11AM, flyinghitcher wrote:

How about introducing a 4th mechanic for buff's. They only trigger while being threatened, I will elaborate here a little. Now it's a very rough idea and ignore that part for a second. I'm going to pick Mage armor though laziness to look up a spell.

Round 0, Exploring. Mage cast Mage armor. Mage armor doesn't come into affect until the recipient is attacked. So it's going to last indefinitely all day.

Round 1 - 4, Monsters are met and start attacking, Mage armor starts to work.

Round 5, All monsters are now dead. Mage armor no longer has any reason to exist so then vanish's until recast.

Mage is down one spell slot - and will be happy the spell had it's intended effect.         

Pre-buffing is an interesting idea. Temporary hit points can already be pre-cast in some cases, so why not do the same for other buffs? Sounds good to me.

I feel completely opposite to this. For me, if an effect will last a short time, then it should be cast when needed.

Otherwise you will end with a list of buffs that you pre-cast and the amount of them does not limit how many you could have on. I'd rather have a caster spend a combat action to cast a buff, or one of the few rounds just prior to combat if you know one will come - this is then giving some bonus from being able to anticipate one instead of just having all the buffs you need.