History Main / AbilityDepletionPenalty

** ''VideoGame/MentalOmega'', courtesy of sharing a similar engine to the above, has the Foehn Revolt's Blast Furnace that operates exactly the same as the Firestorm Defense generator.

* ''Literature/DungeonEngineer'': Running out of {{Mana}} knocks Ike out for a little while, until it regenerates.

* ''TabletopGame/ChroniclesOfDarkness'': [[OurSpiritsAreDifferent Spirits]] have a pool of [[{{Mana}} Essence]] points that they spend to fuel their supernatural abilities. If they run out completely, they fall into slumber until they somehow regain a point. A spirit at zero Essence also suffers {{permadeath}} if its HitPoints are exhausted.

*** In 3.5th Edition, "Reserve [[SkillScoresAndPerks Feats]]" grant a character a supernatural ability that's usable at will, so long as they have a spell of a specific type and [[SpellLevels minimum level]] available to cast. If they exhaust all their [[VancianMagic spell slots or castings of that spell]], the ability goes offline until they're replenished.

* ''TabletopGame/TheOneRing'': Adventurers spend Hope points to boost their dice rolls, [[HeroicWillpower rally in the face of danger]], and activate special abilities. At zero Hope, they're completely spent and [[ArtificialInsolence must flee]] any struggle or conflict until they regain a point.

* ''VideoGame/BlasterMasterZeroII'': Running out of energy gauge with the G-Sophia puts it on a forced recharge state, which disables your secondary weapons and makes your primary weapons weaker. ''[[VideoGame/BlasterMasterZero3 Zero 3]]'' splits the energy meter into two separate meters for weapons and specials.

A common trope in many VideoGames that feature some kind of ability, with or without a respective [[StatMeters Stat meter]], be it a SprintMeter, {{Overheating}}, NitroBoost, etc., you're encouraged not to deplete the ability entirely and stop just short of doing so or risk some sort of negative effect. The penalty depends on the developer's taste, you might be locked out of using that ability for a brief period or the delay before it starts to regenerate is longer than it is normally but the effects can be more than just those two.

* Any {{Overheating}} weapon in the ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' series has a brief delay before you could fire it again if you exceeded the limit.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}'', running out of ammo in your gun makes the subsequent reload take longer as you'll have to chamber a bullet manually. That's not something you'd want to waste time on when you're surrounded by enemies who can kill you in seconds, even through your PoweredArmour and its RegeneratingHealth.

** Both the minigun in the first game and the .50 BMG machine gun in the sequel could {{overheat|ing}} and would become inoperable for a long period of time if you overheated it completely.

* The original ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront'' and the [[VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII sequel]] not only briefly locked the ability to fire a weapon if it [[{{Overheating}} overheats]] but the SprintMeter for characters and vehicles could even be depleted into the negatives, preventing you from using those abilities for a moment.
* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': If the Spy lets the cloak meter of his invis-watch run out instead of decloaking manually, the sound will play twice and be louder as a result, making it easier for the enemy team to notice him.

* ''VideoGame/BattlefleetGothicArmada'' has the combustion gauge which can be used to double a ships speed or rapidly rotate to get a better angle. Normally this can be turned on and off as needed and recahrges when not in use however if you allow it to fully deplete the gague turns red and can't be used again until it has fully recharged.

** ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianSun'' has GDI's Firestorm Defense system where activating the generator would prevent any unit or physical projectile from moving past any built sections, and destroy units and vehicles that were on top of them upon activation. If you allowed the generator to deplete entirely, you were locked out of activating it until it completely recharged.

* This penalty is {{exaggerated|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheStars: The Pit''. The Lich will ''outright die'' if his ManaMeter runs out completely.

* The ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' series incorporates this into its signature Brave Point (BP) system: Each turn, a character can "Default" to both {{defend|Command}} and store a BP, or "Brave" to spend their BP and take multiple actions in a single turn, up to a total of four. Even if a character doesn't have enough BP, they can still go into the negative, but they'll be unable to act until enough turns have passed for their BP to go back to zero.
* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'': Running out of stamina makes you unable to do any actions that require it (sprinting, rolling, attacking, etc.) until you're regenerated enough. If your stamina is depleted while you're blocking, you will be Guard Broken, causing you to take more damage during the recoil animation, as well as leaving you vulnerable to a well-timed [[CriticalHit riposte]].

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect'': In the first game of the trilogy, there is no ammo system, shots just build up heat that decays over time. Overheating a weapon leaves you unable to use the weapon until it is ''completely'' cooled down, so it's recommended to take short pauses in firing to avoid this. The stamina gauge for sprinting works in the same way.[[/folder]]

** The series has featured {{Overheating}} as a staple gameplay mechanic and your 'Mech would shutdown after reaching a certain threshold, leaving you helpless but unharmed until your 'Mech started back up on its own. You can override the auto-shutdown with [[ExplosiveOverclocking the expected consequences if you continued to exceed the shutdown limit]].
** Starting since ''3'', you could flush hot coolant out of the system to quickly expel heat but this also means you're losing reserve coolant that's used to convect and radiate heat off your 'Mech, resulting in a reduction in heat efficiency as you flush coolant.

* ''VideoGame/RebelGalaxy'' has a delay penalty to depleting your [[NitroBoost afterburner]] or your active DeflectorShields. Weapons that [[{{Overheating}} overheat]] are also locked out until they cool down completely.

** Downplayed: The speed of [[RegeneratingMana mana regeneration]] is proportional to how full the ManaMeter is, so a character with no mana has almost no regeneration until they rest for a while. The Mana Regeneration potion grants a buff that always regenerates mana at maximum speed.

** The meter returns in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom Tears of the Kingdom]], in improved fashion. It now depletes much more slowly, doesn't come into play as often, can be augmented and recharged more easily, and Link's regular jogging speed (which does not reduce the meter) has been increased. There is also (in BOTW only) a GoodBadBug where by whistling for your horse and tapping B you can run indefinitely. If you do deplete it, however, Link moves slower than normal walking speed until it's fully refilled.

** [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsThirdEdition 3.5th Edition]]:
*** "Reserve [[SkillScoresAndPerks Feats]]" grant a character a supernatural ability that's usable at will, so long as they have a spell of a specific type and [[SpellLevels minimum level]] available to cast. If they exhaust all their [[VancianMagic spell slots or castings of that spell]], the ability goes offline until they're replenished.
*** All psionic characters gain a perk called "psionic focus", which at its basic can help with Concentration checks, and furthermore with many psionic feats depending on keeping or expending your psionic focus. However, such characters need to keep at least 1 [[{{Mana}} power point]] in their reserve to benefit of the psionic focus; if this last point absolutely needs to be spent, the psionic focus is unavailable until they can rest.
*** The [[CrownOfPower Helm of Brilliance]] grants its wearer several passive benefits and a [[LimitedUseMagicalDevice limited pool]] of light- and fire-based spells. The passive benefits are permanently lost when the last of the spells is expended -- bad luck to anyone who needs to light a room badly enough to forfeit their [[ImmuneToFire fire resistance]] and ability to create [[FlamingSword flaming weapons]].

** [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsThirdEdition 3.5 Edition]]:

*** All psionic characters gain a perk called Psionic Focus, which at its basic can help with Concentration checks, and furthermore with many psionic feats depending on keeping or expending your Psionic Focus. However, such characters need to keep at least 1 [[{{Mana}} power point]] in their reserve to benefit of the Psionic Focus; if this last point absolutely needs to be spent, the Psionic Focus is offline until they can rest.

** The meter returns in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom Tears of the Kingdom]], in improved fashion. It now depletes much more slowly, doesn't come into play as often, can be augmented and recharged more easily, and Link's regular jogging speed (which does not reduce the meter) has been increased. There is also (in BOTW only) a GoodBadBug where by whistling for your horse and tapping B you can run indefinitely.

** The meter returns in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'', in improved fashion. It now depletes much more slowly, doesn't come into play as often, can be augmented and recharged more easily, and Link's regular jogging speed (which does not reduce the meter) has been increased. There is also a GoodBadBug where by whistling for your horse and tapping B you can run indefinitely.

* ''VideoGame/StreetFighter6'': If a player runs their Drive Gauge down to zero, they enter a "burnout" state, losing the ability to use any Drive moves until it refills. They'll also get inflicted with a variety of debuffs -- everything their character does is slightly slower, the opponent's Drive Impact inflicts more HitStop even when blocked, and more ScratchDamage is taken on block.

* ''TabletopGame/TheOneRing'': Adventurers spend Hope points to boost their dice rolls, [[HeroicWillpower rally in the face of danger]], and activate special abilities. At zero hope, they're completely spent and automatically flee any struggle or conflict until they regain a point.

*** All psionic characters gain a perk called Psionic Focus, which at its basic can help with concentration checks, and furthermore with many psionic feats depending on keeping or expending your Psionic Focus. However, such characters need to keep at least 1 [[{{Mana}} power point]] in their reserve to benefit of the Psionic Focus; if this last point absolutely needs to be spent, the Psionic Focus is offline until they can rest.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect'': In the first game of the trilogy, there is no ammo system, shots just build up heat that decays over time. Overheating a weapon leaves you unable to use the weaapon until it is ''completely'' cooled down, so it's recommended to take short pauses in firing to avoid this. The stamina gauge for sprinting works in the same way.[[/folder]]

A common trope in many VideoGames that feature some kind of ability, with or without a respective [[StatMeters Stat meter]], be it a SprintMeter, {{Overheating}}, NitroBoost, etc., you're encouraged not to deplete the ability entirely and stop just short of doing so or risk some sort of negative effect. The penalty depends on the developer's taste, you might be locked out of using that ability for a brief period or the delay before it starts to regenerate is longer than it is normally but the effects can be more than just those two.

The effects vary across a lot of other VideoGameTropes when those abilities are depleted, running out of your SprintMeter may cause your character to become fatigued, moving even slower than their regular running speed, {{Overheating}} (or depleting the [[BottomlessMagazines recharging cell]] on) your weapon may cause it to temporarily become inoperable for a period of time, or depleting a NitroBoost means you will be unable to activate it for a few second while it regenerates (or even until the meter has refilled completely). In games with RegeneratingShieldStaticHealth, there might be a longer delay if the shield had been completely depleted before it starts to regenerate along with the expected ramification of becoming vulnerable.

This can be a way for developers to discourage spam from a variety of methods or at least discourage players from recklessly spamming an ability without keeping an eye on how much they are able to use it before it starts to hamper them.

Compare with {{Cooldown}} where the ability is always locked out after use. Often overlaps with {{Overheating}} where the character, ability, whatever is weakened or even incapacitated if you exceed the limit. See BreakMeter when the point is to deplete a meter on an enemy in order to inflict a penalty against them. CastFromHitPoints may count, although everyone knows [[YetAnotherStupidDeath what happens if you deplete the meter that those abilities cast from]]. If the weapon or tool simply has a limited number of uses before breaking, that's BreakableWeapons, though one of the penalties of this trope could be the item in question wearing down faster than usual.

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!! Examples:
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* ''VideoGame/GuiltyGearStrive'': Nagoriyuki's Blood Gauge has an [[InvertedTrope overuse]] penalty. His special attacks are very powerful and it fills up the gauge when used and it powers up his sword moves at higher levels, but if you let it fill up completely, he enters Blood Rage. While he gets powered-up normals and a really hard-hitting Overdrive, he can't use specials and it drains about half his life bar ''very'' quickly. The animation where he goes into Blood Rage can also be punished, and he has no safe way of exiting Blood Rage early, either. He needs to stop using his special and land attacks or his command grab to lower the gauge.

[[/folder]]

* ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear -Strive-'': Nagoriyuki's Blood Gauge is this in reverse. Using his specials fills up the gauge and it powers up his sword moves at higher levels, but if you let it fill up completely, he enters Blood Rage. While he gets powered-up normals and a really hard-hitting Overdrive, he can't use specials and it drains about half his life bar ''very'' quickly. The animation where he goes into Blood Rage is slow enough to be punished, and he has no safe way of exiting Blood Rage, either. He needs to stop using his special and land attacks or his command grab to lower the gauge.

[[folder:Tabletop Game]]