Brilliant idea to add three stages for stamina
I assume lost stamina is easier to recover than exhaustion. Do all of these recover by time or, for example, do you have to sleep to recover exhaustion or something?
Interesting. I've seen games split it two ways usually for slumber and fatigue.
But this is the first one that actually seperated tired versus fatigued versus broken. Actually the only one I seen that seperated tired and Fatigued (there is a difference)
So if I'm reading this right, combat effectiveness over time goes like this: normal (start of fight)> better (run out of Stm)> worse (run out of Wpr). If this is the case, I'm not sure I agree with that setup. Maybe its supposed to represent adrenaline or something, but it doesn't make sense from a game perspective to reward the player for running out of stamina. Maybe characters with high willpower could use it to gain combat bonuses even if they didn't run out of stamina? You could call it "focusing" or something.
Well the way I see it...
You could run out of Exhaustion before Stamina if you are doing intensive light work (just like real life).
Stamina representing the difference between being fine and tired. Exhaustion representing the difference between being fine and fatigued
The difference between tired and fatigued?
Well tired is being out of energy, you simply don't have any extra energy to give. Fatigue is strain, you can have energy but you cannot make your muscles give out the same input.
Willpower of course represents your mental stress.
Of course I am prepared to be wrong.
Though honestly I'd think it would almost be better as a: Stamina/Exhaustion, Fatigue, and Stress bars.
Well, the way I currently have it thought out is this. I should add, given that combat won't fully feature for some time, this is entirely open to change! This was just my initial idea, and I'll explain my rationale a bit.
Assuming all bars are full, you first use your stamina for performing actions. If you stop performing stamina-using actions for a period, your stamina will then recharge. If you use up all your stamina, you dip into your willpower bar - the same actions that take up stamina take up 'willpower stamina', as it were. This gives you a big boost, but you churn through it quickly, and you run the risk of dipping into exhaustion. When you're into exhaustion, the exhaustion bar is different. You then take a massive hit to your skills, and the bar decreases each turn, and you lose the ability to do heavy stamina-using actions. It decreases at a set speed regardless of what you do; the exhaustion bar is basically a timer, and one that has to run down. Once it's at 0, you then gain back a % of your stamina and willpower instantly, and - if you stop doing stamina-using actions - they then climb back up.
The idea was that stamina would be very much the norm for most characters - if you have to keep fighting, then you get a bonus and a greater ability to maybe clear a path for yourself, or gain the extra speed to back off, or whatever, but if you keep moving too long, you'll take a big hit. Some players will obviously have high willpower and low endurance (which determines stamina and, to a lesser extent, exhaustion) and they'll have a more gambling style, because they'll be hitting willpower sooner, get more from it, but also spend longer being risky.
So, that's my logic. As I say, it's just an early idea, so I'm happy to hear alternatives. The exhaustion bar is basically a cool-down period after you use both. @ Enigmatic - you say it doesn't make sense to reward the player for running out of stamina, and I see your point, but my logic was that if you choose (or can't help) straying into it, then you're taking a risk - the stakes become upped at that point! It would allow you greater tactical possibilities, I think, if you knew how much you could fight before going into willpower, or if coming very close to willpower, then you have to make a decision - back off, or go into willpower, get the combat boost, and try and finish everybody off before you become exhausted?!