Mana/energy pools
A resource pool distinct from health that fuels abilities and spells, depleting on use and regenerating over time or through specific actions, gating how often and how much a character can use their non-basic abilities. World of Warcraft's class-specific mana and rage/energy pools and Diablo III's per-class resource systems both use a spendable pool to pace ability usage and differentiate classes by how their resource behaves (mana that regenerates passively versus rage that builds from taking or dealing damage). Designers use resource pools to prevent ability spam, to create distinct rhythm per class or build (a slow-regen caster plays differently than a builder-spender melee class), and to give itemization and talents a lever to pull (mana efficiency, regeneration rate, pool size). Key decisions: regeneration model (passive tick, combat-generated, or consumable-restored), pool size scaling with level/gear, whether different resource types create meaningfully different playstyles (this is the main payoff of per-class pools), and UI clarity so players always know their exact available resource. Pitfall: a resource pool that regenerates so quickly it never meaningfully constrains play removes the pacing purpose it was designed for — the pool needs to occasionally run dry to matter.
- Dev effort: Small
- Timing: Real-time or turn-based
- Common in: mmo, arpg, rpg