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Grim Tales: Action Points and secret skill checks
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<blockquote data-quote="HeapThaumaturgist" data-source="post: 2331998" data-attributes="member: 12332"><p>I'm going to be an sob and do the "IN MY GAME".</p><p></p><p>But in my game, they generally get to do all of their rolling anyway. I do my "sly face" and perhaps hum some sneaky music and whisper "Sense Motive" ... mostly because if they hear clattering dice behind the screen while they're interrogating the Bishop ... they know what's up. And when I don't mention that they think he's a lying schemer they know they've failed their Sense Motive roll. </p><p></p><p>So it saves time. It's that or roll dice at random moments and cackle softly to myself. I tried that, but it seems to actually creep my players out more to call for a Will save for one PC and smile lovingly at the rest of the party instead of, say, doing it incognito.</p><p></p><p>And it lets them use their APs on almost all of their rolls. Which I think is important. The AP is what we like to call a Non-Determinant Mojo Bonus. You've got your Mojo even if you don't know you need it. </p><p></p><p>Action Points have become such a vital component of our games, my personal group of players are visibly and audibly crabby if we're playing a game that doesn't have them. They REALLY dislike the Force Point mechanic in StarWars and I've gotten several requests to change over to Action Points ... and here's why:</p><p></p><p>They make a roll. The PLAYER knows his bonuses and knows what he's rolled. He's not sure of the DC, but he knows that the most common DC in the game is 15. If his total is 7, well, blah. But when they roll a total of 14 ... they KNOW that if they fail, they've either failed big or they've failed by ONE. So they use an AP. I think this is cool. It keeps the game moving. Nothing frustrates ME, the GM, more than having to work the party through the back-end of the mystery because they failed the roll by 1. If they blew it by 3 or 4 or 10 ... well, that's why I installed a back-end. But 1 is such an annoying number. It's "almost, but not quite". And I can't just go around letting them succeed when they miss by one ... that's what mojo is for. Mojo is when by luck and circumstance and opposition they should fail, but they're the main characters and their "Juice" lets them keep keeping on.</p><p></p><p>For my own part, I also strong-arm the players all of the time via the AP mechanic. I think that's a great idea from Grim Tales. If I need a moment to railroad, I'll say: "Action Points all around, you've been captured." And if there's something I want them to succeed at but nobody particularly has the skill for I'll say: "Brian, give me an Action Point." and let them succeed. </p><p></p><p>So far everybody at the table has really liked it. YMMV of course, but I figured I'd stick my finger in the soup.</p><p></p><p>--fje</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="HeapThaumaturgist, post: 2331998, member: 12332"] I'm going to be an sob and do the "IN MY GAME". But in my game, they generally get to do all of their rolling anyway. I do my "sly face" and perhaps hum some sneaky music and whisper "Sense Motive" ... mostly because if they hear clattering dice behind the screen while they're interrogating the Bishop ... they know what's up. And when I don't mention that they think he's a lying schemer they know they've failed their Sense Motive roll. So it saves time. It's that or roll dice at random moments and cackle softly to myself. I tried that, but it seems to actually creep my players out more to call for a Will save for one PC and smile lovingly at the rest of the party instead of, say, doing it incognito. And it lets them use their APs on almost all of their rolls. Which I think is important. The AP is what we like to call a Non-Determinant Mojo Bonus. You've got your Mojo even if you don't know you need it. Action Points have become such a vital component of our games, my personal group of players are visibly and audibly crabby if we're playing a game that doesn't have them. They REALLY dislike the Force Point mechanic in StarWars and I've gotten several requests to change over to Action Points ... and here's why: They make a roll. The PLAYER knows his bonuses and knows what he's rolled. He's not sure of the DC, but he knows that the most common DC in the game is 15. If his total is 7, well, blah. But when they roll a total of 14 ... they KNOW that if they fail, they've either failed big or they've failed by ONE. So they use an AP. I think this is cool. It keeps the game moving. Nothing frustrates ME, the GM, more than having to work the party through the back-end of the mystery because they failed the roll by 1. If they blew it by 3 or 4 or 10 ... well, that's why I installed a back-end. But 1 is such an annoying number. It's "almost, but not quite". And I can't just go around letting them succeed when they miss by one ... that's what mojo is for. Mojo is when by luck and circumstance and opposition they should fail, but they're the main characters and their "Juice" lets them keep keeping on. For my own part, I also strong-arm the players all of the time via the AP mechanic. I think that's a great idea from Grim Tales. If I need a moment to railroad, I'll say: "Action Points all around, you've been captured." And if there's something I want them to succeed at but nobody particularly has the skill for I'll say: "Brian, give me an Action Point." and let them succeed. So far everybody at the table has really liked it. YMMV of course, but I figured I'd stick my finger in the soup. --fje [/QUOTE]
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