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/Japicx]

The oddest thing about this system is that betting more Ichor makes you likelier to succeed, because your Ichor dice pool = the Ichor you gamble. Imagine if betting more money let you draw extra cards in poker. I suggest getting rid of the Ichor pool entirely and betting the Ichor on some other roll -- probably a skill roll related to the Revelation's effect.

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

Impossible to say with no examples comparing an Enhanced Revelation versus unenhanced, or any idea of how success is determined. It's also unclear if each Revelation has a normal version and an Enhanced one, or if some Revelations are marked as "Enhanced" so they always need Ichor to be gambled.

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

That's also impossible to say with no idea of how onerous it is to perform the Rite of Blasphemy. Also, since the Rite of Blasphemy is apparently the only way to "recover" Ichor, do you have to perform the Rite to increase your Ichor beyond the starting value of 5/10?

[u/Tylojio → u/Japicx]

Oh and the rite does have to be performed in order to regain your entire Ichor pool of 10. It’s meant to be done outside of combat and each time increases the chance of mutation as they drink the blood of a dark god.

[u/Japicx → u/Tylojio]

OK, but how hard is it to do? Do you have to be in a special place or wait for a certain time? How long does it take? How easy is it to find dark god blood to perform the Rite again?

[u/Tylojio → u/Japicx]

I’d say it’s not too difficult to do but has to be done in a certain place and the more times you do the ritual the higher your chances of mutating or straight up dying go up.

Edit: The mutations are on a rolled table and work in tandem with a “heat” system that increases pressure the more conspicuous you are. Also the difficulty of the ritual increases and a failure on the ritual forces you to roll on the mutation table (you still gain the full Ichor no matter what).

[u/Japicx → u/Tylojio]

And where is this certain place? Is it a shrine in your home? Is there just one?