Rowan Tree and Red Thread

Working from some sort of resource management mechanic (like MURPG or Nobilis, or even D&D 3.x) we'd have some central resource that benefits everyone, like a pool of hero points, or whatever, that is available to all, but does not recover from the expenditure or does so only slowly. This leads to the Tragedy of the Commons, and the dilemma of a common resource being exhausted by the short-sightedness of those who benefit from it. Also raises question of “Who Watches the Watchmen”, if some sort of policing structure is created to insure the longevity of the scarce resource. I could see plenty of player inter-play arising from the negotiation over the use of those points.

This is, however, a mechanic (or the germ of one) in search of a game. I'm not sure if the players' negotiations could be tied back to anything specific in the game world. That is, what is it to the PCs when the players break to discuss the use of the common resource. Metagame mechanics like hero points have their appeal but they are always intrusive to some degree. The player has to stop and think about using them, breaking from character as they do so.

If you can put up with hero point mechanics, you could tie particular game-roles or plot related events to specific hero points from the pool. e.g. if you had a pool of stones to represent communal HP, most could be black, but one or two could be white, or red, or green. The white ones might mean that PC gets the spotlight for a subplot next session, the red one means the player gets a life/death choice to make (not necessarily for their PC), the green one allows the player to create a completely new campaign element (character, setting, plot twist, etc.). I'm all in favour of getting the players to do the plot work. If only I could encourage more of it with my current group.