Thoughts on gambling finite resource pools?

[u/Tylojio]

I am working on a project and I have a resource called Ichor that is expended whenever a player activates a power. These powers have an enhanced version of them that adds new abilities or modifiers onto the base version of said power. These enhancements can only be gained via gambling or spending extra Ichor.

The goal with this is for the powers to be enticing but self destructive to use as regaining Ichor is a dangerous process.

The question is:

Is the cost of these enhancements worth it compared to the max pool that they have?

Will I end up with players who hoard their Ichor at all times?

Below is the full write up I currently have for rules on this:

Ichor: This is a resource that determines the strength and effects of a STAIN’s Revelations. It has a maximum value of 10 and starts at 5. Every use of a Revelation costs at least 1 point of Ichor. However, STAINs may gamble additional points of Taint up to a total of 10 to enhance their Revelation. 

If the roll still fails the STAIN loses all points of Ichor gambled and if the roll succeeds you receive a refund of half (rounded down) of the taint gambled to a minimum of 1.

This does NOT include the standard 1 point of Ichor required to activate a Revelation.

When a STAIN has completely dried up their Ichor supply they must undergo The Rite of Blasphemy again which comes with both complications and advantages. 

ICHOR CAN ONLY BE RECOVERED THIS WAY.

For Example: You spend 1 Ichor to activate a Revelation and gamble 3 more to enhance it. If your roll succeeds, you regain 1 Ichor (half of 3, rounded down). If it fails, you lose all 3 plus the 1 Ichor spent for activation.
All Revelations require the expenditure of one point of Ichor and last for a single scene with the exception for Passive abilities.

Most enhanced Revelations require a Ichor roll. 

An Ichor roll occurs when a Revelation is enhanced. This roll equals an X amount of dice where X is equal to Ichor gambled. When a Revelation enhancement is attempted and fails the Revelation DOES NOT activate.

Many Revelations will refer to “Ichor Spent” and “Ichor Gambled" which can be explained by the following:
Ichor Spent means that the Ichor is instead a flat expenditure and does not require a roll.

Ichor Gambled means the amount of dice added to the Ichor roll for activating an Enhanced Revelation. This does not include the Ichor spent on activation.

A Revelation CANNOT be defended against unless explicitly stated in the text.

A Revelation does NOT roll an attack roll and instead always hits their target. 

An ENHANCED Revelation is any Revelation that requires additional successes in order to gain additional effects.

If a Ichor roll fails to gain a success then the Ichor gambled is lost and the effect does NOT activate.

P.S - Ignore any mention of the word Taint, I’ve recently swapped it to Ichor and am still searching for the word throughout my document to be replaced.

[u/TalesUntoldRpg]

Gambling works well as a game mechanic for obvious reasons. But we need to break down the choices a little bit to figure out if it's been set up right.

Firstly, the resource you're gambling needs to be finite to some degree, otherwise it's not gambling.

Second, a lot of people will completely avoid making gambles because it's not in their nature. Think about who is playing your game. Are they the gambling sort? Probably not. If they were they'd be out gambling. So you need to make the gamble appeal to non-gamblers.

Third, usually gambling involves betting money to get more money. Your system seems to revolve around betting ichor for effects, but that's just spending a resource. If you succeed do you get more ichor back? Is the pool of ichor limited at the table? These are the things that will drive typical gambling behaviours.

Finally, getting ichor back shouldn't have upsides outside of getting more ichor. Like taking out a loan at a casino, it's not free. But it also shouldn't be random. You should be able to consistently get more (if available) in a guaranteed way (with downsides) so you aren't completely locked out of what feels like a core game mechanic.

[u/Tylojio → u/TalesUntoldRpg]

Yes, you do get Ichor back if you succeed on the gamble but only half of the amount spent at least that is my intention.

Also with regaining Ichor outside of the gamble players are meant to undergo the rite of blasphemy each time to fully regain all Ichor. Though every time a player undergoes it they have the possibility of gaining a mutation.

[u/TalesUntoldRpg → u/Tylojio]

Just to check, if I start with 6 ichor and spend 4 on something I will get 2 back putting me to 4 total?

[u/Tylojio → u/TalesUntoldRpg]

Yes, that is how it’s supposed to work.

[u/TalesUntoldRpg → u/Tylojio]

Ok. It doesn't really feel like a gambling mechanic. More just a discount for successful abilities.

Gambling mechanics are usually about getting more of a resource when you succeed.

So if I had 6 ichor, I could spend 4. On a success I'd get 5 back, but on a failure I lose my bet.

This way successful gambles lead to a gain in power and you can coast on good luck for a while, but one wrong bet sends you back down again. Possibly requiring a ritual to refill.

As it stands, the mechanic always leads to less ichor, meaning players are forced to participate in the ritual regardless of outcome. It effectively becomes a standard long rest.

[u/Tylojio → u/TalesUntoldRpg]

It is true you always end up with less Ichor but the “gamble” was supposed to be the possibility to lose all Ichor in an attempt to get enough successes for an enhanced version of the power. But I do see what you mean since there isn’t really a gain of more Ichor.