Action points = +1d6?

[BigCat]

When I encountered action points back in 3e they gave +1d6 to a d20 roll, not a free action like nowadays. Has anyone used the +1d6 method in 4ed? I always liked the way it gave players an ability to make a particular roll "really count," and it seems like that would be especially nice with non-reliable dailies. Anyone tried it?

 

[Siberys]

The reason is that a +1 bonus alone is good - and getting anywhere from +1 to +6 is both real good and real swingy - more so (in both cases, IMO) than an extra action.

That said, I had fun with that rule in 3.x, and I don't think it'd be a bad houserule.

Also - Deva essentially get 1 3.x AP as a racial encounter power. You might look into giving that to everybody for free, and then letting Deva use it 2/encounter rather than 1/encounter. It'd be a power-up, but since it's a universal power-up, no one'd care, really.

 

[Minigiant]

Yeah. +1d6 to a roll is pretty powerful in 4E. 4E's action points are more like when characters do a lot of things in a short duration like in action movies/shows rather than making something count when you need it.

 

[Silversun]

In the games I play in (online), the DM gives a flat bonus equal to ½ Character Level (minimum +1). The other players like it, but I think it's excessive.

I'm outnumbered by 3 to 1 (8 players in the group) so there's no chance of it going back to core.

 

[Greatwyrm]

Action points were the only thing introduced in Eberron I thought just weren't good. Generally, I'd rather have the extra action, as in 4e.

Another thing to consider is that the Deva ability is a ton better than 3e action points. The Deva can use that as a reaction to not getting a good enough roll and decided to just not use it if +1d6 wouldn't get him close enough to success. In 3e, you had to roll your action point with the original roll. Roll a 2 on your d20, congrats, you got an 8. Roll a 20, congrats, you wasted an action point doing something you would have succeeded at anyway.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

I always liked the way it gave players an ability to make a particular roll "really count," ...

In my experience, 3.x Action points failed miserably because players would forget about them and then, when reminded, would get annoyed with the problem Greatwyrm mentions.

4Es math works a bit different, so the difference between rolling a 2 and an 8 on the dice is rather significant.. but its still not very 'heroic'.

My HR in 3x was that action points could be declared after the D20 roll, along with a couple other uses. They still were not game, or even encoutner changing.

I much prefer 4e's action points as they are.