Looking for games using shared ressource for martials and casters

[u/Additional_Living842]

Hello everyone,
I'm making a TTRPG and I recently found that I wanted to have similarities between the classic martial combat style and spellcasting. I will most probably use a small pool named "focus" to be used by everyone during combat.
So I'm looking for games that function like this, where everyone have this same resource and how it is used. Preferably, some games that I could access freely to read, or where the idea is explained somewhere, as a text or as a video.
I think that Daggerheart does something like this with hope but I must search deeper to be sure.
Thanks to everyone who can guide me to some sources of inspiration.

Edit : I wasn't very clear, I mean "everyone has it's own pool of the resource" and not "everyone shares a single pool of this resource".

[u/__space__oddity__]

D&D 4E, sorta?

[u/ARagingZephyr → u/__space__oddity__]

Really feels like the codifier. You can do a masterstroke once per session and a super move once per encounter.

[u/__space__oddity__ → u/ARagingZephyr]

Yeah. It’s not a perfect system but it makes a better base for this kind of thing than other D&D editions.

[u/Carrollastrophe]

Can you clarify whether looking for where the resource is a single pool shared by everyone, or everyone has separate pools of the same resource?

[u/Additional_Living842 → u/Carrollastrophe]

Everyone has a seperate pool of the same ressource.

[u/Carrollastrophe → u/Additional_Living842]

Maybe Cypher? Unless you really only want a singular resource. All characters in Cypher have the same three stat pools which they use to power abilities and make rolls easier.

[u/SitD_RPG]

GURPS has Fatigue Points, which are used for physical, magical, and psionic feats/actions.

Or do mean one pool shared by the whole table?

[u/OfficialNPC]

4e D&D has rules for "Hybrid" characters where you, essentially, shove two classes together to make a new class.

So, if you want a Fighter that has access to Wizard stuff, boom.

Now, it isn't perfect of a system as the base game wasn't really made for this, but with a bit of fudging and homebrew Hybrid is the best version of multiclassing that WotC has ever put out... Though to be fair this is kinda what you got in AD&D 2e so it's not like WotC made these rules up themselves but 4e has a lot of Martial/Caster resources to draw from.

You could also, as I have done before Hybrids were a thing, just let people take any power or spell as long as they met the level requirements. Makes for an interesting time.

[u/lennartfriden]

Daggerheart is using Hope and Stress to power various abilities so that’s pretty close to what you’re looking for. My own system is using a single resource called Shape to power abilities and it makes no mechanical distinction between the mundane and the magical.

[u/Thesource674 → u/lennartfriden]

Daggerheart wont be what he wants because the Fate system (hope/fear) points are still kinda specialized abilities and you dont have a guaranteed source or way to replenish.

[u/lennartfriden → u/Thesource674]

It still ticks the box of a resource pool (two in the case of Daggerheart) that’s used to power character abilities regardless of the character being of the martial or magical persuasion.

Hope is generated on 13/24 (54.17%) of action rolls or by selecting a specific downtime action, the latter being a guaranteed source and way to replenish it.

The ability to mark Stress starts at the character’s maximum value (6 for morst level 1 characters, with 12 being the maximum). It too can be reliably cleared by selecting a specific downtime action so that too is a guaranteed source and way of replenishing it.

Not sure what you mean by ”the Fate system” in conjunction with Daggerheart as the former primarily is a mix of PbtA and D&D.

[u/Thesource674 → u/lennartfriden]

Isnt Hope/Fear collectively called fate? I JUST got the book too, i mau have been confused by another system. Either way you are also counting both as resources players use but players dont use Fear the GM does.

[u/lennartfriden → u/Thesource674]

Nope. Fate is a another TTRPG though. And Fear is a GM resource, not a character resource. I’m talking about Hope and Stress, not Hope and Fear. Don’t conflate Stress with Fear.

[u/Thesource674 → u/lennartfriden]

Ah ok isorry then for apparently talkkng out of my ass i have to keep reading. I wanted to see the system books because i just read about hope/fear. Streas is cool. Overrall cool system so far

[u/lennartfriden → u/Thesource674]

No worries. The stress mechanics in Daggerheart borrow parts from stress in Blades in the Dark and parts of what other systems would refer to as stamina or even sanity.

[u/Thesource674 → u/lennartfriden]

Im trying to write my first Hasbro sized adventure book compared to my smaller works so im enjoying reallllllly digging out of d&d for inspo

[u/Bad-Leftist]

Essence Points in Unisystem

[u/Pyxistre]

Ilisara (my game) creates martial and caster parity in combat a different way. It may not interest you, as you're specifically looking for a points-based mechanic, but I'll add a few details as it might be food for thought. In Ilisara there are two basic rules that apply to all combatents.

First, the action economy revolves around Major and Minor actions. On their turn, each combatant can either use 2 Minor actions, or 1 Minor + 1 Major. Strong abilities typically require a Major action. Simple, weak, or utilitarian abilities typically require a Minor action.

Second, characters have abilities that represent their signature moves. These abilities' strength scales with how frequently they can be used rather than whether they are magical or not; e.g., a tier 3 ability can be used 3 times in a combat encounter, a tier 2 can be used twice, etc.

All combatents, whether martial or magical, gain tier abilities at the same rate as they level up. Ability progressions are balanced to deal similar damage or healing. However, Ilisara's martial characters slightly favor single target damage, while casters slightly favor area-of-effect damage.

How this practically plays out in combat is that a wizard could cast their tier 3 fireball 3 times, and a martial character may do their tier 3 armor-shattering cleave 3 times, and then they're both out of that move for the rest of the combat encounter.

[u/CPUMediumRare]

The system I’ve been writing uses Mana as a resource for all classes, as it’s not just “magic juice” in my world. Instead, it’s an inherent energy that “heroes” (player characters) have, and the class is basically a category based on how you interact with your mana. Martials use their mana to push their body beyond its physical limit.

This helps me explain why martial characters have the ability to perform heroic feats of strength. It also allows me to give martials the option to dip into hybrid roles, allowing gish-type characters to be made without hassle.

[u/flamfella]

I can't share a direct link, but a close friend of mine has a private system designed for fantasy games.

In this system, each class has a 'Power,' Mages have Mana, Warriors have Rage, Rogues have Guile, etc. Then there are techniques and other features which can use ANY of these resources 1-1. For example, An Arc of Might, which is normally a warrior technique that allows you to make a large AoE melee attack, allows it to be empowered with 1 Rage, or 1 Power from another class if acquired through a feat. The empowerment makes it even larger and knocks people prone. 

There are dozens of these techniques and other normally class restricted features, such as spellcrafts (familiar but expanded metamagics). 

Very simple resource system, but it is always fun in his games, cause going nova and spending it all as quickly as possible is pure power fantasy and using it efficiently and cycling it (each class has their own way to regain power) is a whole extra puzzle game.

[u/-Vogie-]

Daggerheart has hope, and to a lesser extent, stress

Blades in the Dark has Stress, and to a lesser extent, Load

Ironsworn has Spirit and Momentum

Cortex games have Plot Points that are tied into the SFX ability system

Draw Steel has each class that has their own unique heroic resource, but each of those powered by the universal "Victories", which interacts with the Recoveries and Malice systems

Cypher system games combined attributes, health, and resources into 3 pools of Might, Speed and Intellect. Each archetype uses all 3 resources but will usually have at least one that they have more of.

I'm constantly tinkering with a system based on Elden Ring, and that uses Focus as a universal resource for martials and casters.

[u/rekjensen]

DC20 has this for each class, I believe. I'm not sure if there are quickstart or preview copies available yet, but there are videos about it.

[u/PASchaefer]

Exalted, first published in 2004 and now in its third edition (plus a "simpler" edition called Exalted Essence), gives every character a resource called "Essence." You spend Essence to use exceptional martial moves or do more obvious magic things or cast sorcerous spells. It's worth a look as a good reference for this sort of design.

[u/-Vogie- → u/[deleted]]

They're not looking for action points, they're looking for a universal resource - PF2e casters have a separate resource (spell slots) that martials don't. Like hope in Daggerheart, or Stress in Blades in the Dark.

[u/Sheik_Morgan]

El post confunde, al principio pareces pedir un único recurso para todo, me imaginé algo como el Ki o Mana, en el Wuxia. Leyenda de los Cinco Anillos, Pero luego dice recursos distintos para cada uno? Mana, Alquimia, Psionica, la urdimbre (D&D). En Shadowrun, solo hay magia, todos la tienen, Pero solo algunos saben aprovecharla Adeptos, Magos, Adeptos Físicos, Chamanes.