i hate them. unless its the primary objective, you should never have to count down a temporary thing every turn. because you probably won’t.
“target gains [status effect] for [n] rounds." no. do you expect me to remember this temporary conditional effect AND to count it down every round for a variable number of rounds??? let alone if there are MULTIPLE at ONCE?? absolutely not.
to be clear, overarching, dramatic narrative clocks are fine. you can even get one timer in combat. ONE. that everyone is looking at! it should feel tense and important and at the center of things! don’t make me manage 2 timers in combat or i will eat your book.
instead of making a numeric multi-round timer, consider:
- making it shorter but more impactful
- making it multi-stage in order to provide a narrative anchor for memory (lob projectile, deal 1d6 on impact, next turn, explode for 2d6)
- making it something you must maintain or that you have the option to extend by expending resources (at the end of your turn, lose 1HP or the effect stops.) make it an active choice the character & player are engaged with.
just doing “the rest of combat” is fine too!!! you really don’t need a timed, unevolving effect that lasts more than one turn but less than the rest of combat!!!! that’s such a narrow window and its not worth it i promise you!!!!
