This article contains affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you make purchases using these links, at no cost to you.An article we wrote recently, The Supply Die, ended up being quite popular! It shows you how to unify resource tracking into a single die, whilst generating lots of fun survival problems for your players to solve.
Following its release, I had a great discussion with a member of the Cauldron (a cool ttrpg forum) about consumables tracking. They showed me a table of reasons for torches depleting. And you know what the supply die needs? A d6 table that gives GMs types of reasons for supplies running low (beyond usage).
This works for all genres. My examples here are for classic dungeon crawling but it’s easy to see how ‘broken’ applies to an oxygen tank in a sci-fi game.
It also works for other systems similiar to the Supply Die where you’re simulating that other factors degrade supplies and resources, not just counting PC uses. Stuff like The Black Hack, Forbidden Lands, Cairn 2e, Ironsworn, they all do this.
By the way, you can access our premium articles with a free trial - you’ll be able to access the backlog and grab all the prose and tables I’ve written, along with my less polished ramblings.
Supply Incident Types
1: Contamination. The environment affects the supply. Spoiled rations, damp torches, contaminated water, rotten climbing ropes, rusted pitons, rotten arrows.
2: Broken. Damaged through wear and tear or a consequence of violence. Broken torches and arrows, crumbled rations, cut ropes, punctured waterskins, bent pitons.
3: Missing. It’s gone, why? Stolen, lost, or dropped.
4: Quickening. It’s being used up quicker than it should be. Torches won’t light or burn too fast, fraying ropes, arrows that break on impact, rations full of sawdust.
5: Hazardous. Continued use is too dangerous. Rations were cut with poisonous ingredients, ropes aren’t woven correctly, arrows splinter when fired, waterskins leech leather treatment into their contents, torches produce poisonous smoke.
6: Roll twice. An interesting combination. Something has been snatching your food and poisoning what it can’t haul away.
~fin~
This is a quick way to generate additional in-world reasons for why resources are depleting. Some of them even generate gameplay opportunities in a way traditional resource tracking doesn’t. Players are 100% going to have beef with the merchant who sold them rations cut with waste iron dust from the nearby mine.
I love throwing ideas around on ttrpg forums, it’s inspiring! Come join our discord if you want to be an inspiring hand in whatever nonsense I scribble next. ~I’m not desperate for ideas, I swear~
If you’re lacking supply dice to roll, I’ve used these dice for years with this dice tray. Oh, and I write all my nonsense down in Muji notebooks (absolutely, 100% THE BEST notebooks) with a Lamy pen.
MurkMail relies on its supporters. If you enjoy MurkMail, one of the best ways you can help us out is by sharing our work. Introduce your ttrpg friends and associates to MurkMail!
To give us extra support (and get an extra newsletter every two weeks with more goodies), join MurkMail Premium (get a 7-day free trial).
As always, a useful little arrow in the quiver. Thanks!
A good way to add interesting hooks.