In a discussion with some folks the topic of buffing in RPG games came up. Some enjoy buffing to the max before a fight. They carefully review all their spells, scrolls, potions, and abilities to maximize the buffs with minimal overlap, optimized for each encounter. Others find it tedious and wish for a "buff all" button as they find themselves repeating the same general buffs over and over each fight as they struggle with balancing the short term to long term buffs.
What do folks enjoy, and not enjoy, when it comes to buffing? What types of mechanics from games have you liked or not liked?
For example games like Pathfinder and Solasta have a lot of different buffs you can case. In games like that you can spend quite a long time buffing before fights (only to have a timed cinematic interfere with them afterwards). Other times it is a situation where you can't buff until in actual combat then it becomes a balance of whether you buff or fight with each valuable turn.
On the other hand a game like BG3 had a rather cool (IMO of course as I rather liked it) mechanic where you can only maintain certain spells with concentration. So you could cast a buff spell that would last for as long as you kept concentration on it. If concentration broke, or you wanted to switch buffs, you lost the original.
I liked this as it made buffs seem more tactical and valuable while at the same time helping to cut down on the time spent buffing for every fight. In the past I used to love spending the time buffing. I remember in BG2, especially, where your mages could build intricate layers of spell protection and spell stripping aspects for big battles. Some of those mage battles were amazing and intense.
Yet these days, perhaps due to old age, I find I don't enjoy tons of buffing before every fight anymore and don't want combat that is set to a difficulty that assume everyone will be fully buffed.
In general my preference is to have some good variety on buffing but have limited ones you can use at any time, like around 3-4. I also prefer longer term buffs versus the very short ones ... although I understand there is a balance there. the "per round" buffs can be more powerful as they are so short, while those that last minutes or hours have to be balanced so that they don't overpower every battle. Hence why I like the concentration aspect ... do I bless everyone to get better chances to hit and make saving throws? Or do I haste everyone to get an extra attack? Or protect everyone from elemental damage?
Anyhow was curious how others view the whole buffing ritual and what types of buff mechanics appeal to them … or not.
PS - I had a very hard time trying to decide how to phrase the poll questions so apologies in advance if I missed some important option or nuance. It is all in good fun.
What do folks enjoy, and not enjoy, when it comes to buffing? What types of mechanics from games have you liked or not liked?
For example games like Pathfinder and Solasta have a lot of different buffs you can case. In games like that you can spend quite a long time buffing before fights (only to have a timed cinematic interfere with them afterwards). Other times it is a situation where you can't buff until in actual combat then it becomes a balance of whether you buff or fight with each valuable turn.
On the other hand a game like BG3 had a rather cool (IMO of course as I rather liked it) mechanic where you can only maintain certain spells with concentration. So you could cast a buff spell that would last for as long as you kept concentration on it. If concentration broke, or you wanted to switch buffs, you lost the original.
I liked this as it made buffs seem more tactical and valuable while at the same time helping to cut down on the time spent buffing for every fight. In the past I used to love spending the time buffing. I remember in BG2, especially, where your mages could build intricate layers of spell protection and spell stripping aspects for big battles. Some of those mage battles were amazing and intense.
Yet these days, perhaps due to old age, I find I don't enjoy tons of buffing before every fight anymore and don't want combat that is set to a difficulty that assume everyone will be fully buffed.
In general my preference is to have some good variety on buffing but have limited ones you can use at any time, like around 3-4. I also prefer longer term buffs versus the very short ones ... although I understand there is a balance there. the "per round" buffs can be more powerful as they are so short, while those that last minutes or hours have to be balanced so that they don't overpower every battle. Hence why I like the concentration aspect ... do I bless everyone to get better chances to hit and make saving throws? Or do I haste everyone to get an extra attack? Or protect everyone from elemental damage?
Anyhow was curious how others view the whole buffing ritual and what types of buff mechanics appeal to them … or not.
PS - I had a very hard time trying to decide how to phrase the poll questions so apologies in advance if I missed some important option or nuance. It is all in good fun.