UA Action Points - what happens to unused points?

[cthulhu_duck]

In the UA rules for action points (reproduced at http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/actionPoints.htm) under Acquiring Action Points it specifies:

Every time a character advances, he gains a number of action points equal to 5 + 1/2 his new character level. Some prestige classes might allow a faster rate of accrual, at the GM’s option.

However, it doesn't mention what happens to unused points from the previous level.

In the Eberron Campaign Setting's rules for action points, it's quite clear that:

Any action points you didn't spend at your previous level are lost.

What is the community view on what happens to unused points under the UA rules?

 

[Nifft]

Unused action points fall into the Netherworld, where demons & devils fight over them. This is actually the cause of the Blood War.

PCs don't get to keep them.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Lopke_Quasath]

The rules are vague in UA.

It can go either way, DM's discretion.

 

[LonePaladin]

I would strongly recommend against allowing PCs to retain unused action points; the whole point of the system is to use them, after all. They're there to allow the PCs to pull off heroic maneuvers, pull their butts out of the fire, and generally BE heroes as opposed to just regular people with slightly better stats. If you let them keep APs as they advance, a cautious (or lucky) PC could have thirty or more by 5th level. I'm running a game with 19th-level characters, and they only have 14.

In general, don't give APs to villains, unless they're vitally important to the story (and, preferably, recurring). If you do give action points to an NPC, they shouldn't have more than half of the maximum for their level (since, very likely, they're only going to be around for one encounter). It should also be clear to the players when they're facing someone important enough to warrant their own action points.

 

[Scharlata]

Hi!

Donate them to action challegend NPCs...

PCs shouldn't keep them. They are to be spent during the course of a level.

Kind regards

 

[irdeggman]

The rules are vague in UA.

It can go either way, DM's discretion.

Right.

In Eberron they specifically are "lost" and a new set are gained.

In d20 Modern, the rules are likewise silent as to what happens.

 

[cthulhu_duck]

Was there anything in the Rules Compendium?

 

[PeelSeel2]

Nothing in the Rules compendium.

 

[LonePaladin]

The free Web Enhancement has action points first, but it doesn't specify that unused points are lost when advancing. It does say that high-level characters simply have 5 + 1/2 their level in APs when you introduce the rule, which seems to imply that points they 'would' have had before aren't retained, but they didn't spell it out explicitly.

Trust me on this, though, you DON'T want your PCs keeping them. The line in UA and ECS that stated that points weren't retained was put there to encourage players to actually USE those points. (In a game I'd recently played in, I had a character advance without spending even one, but that's because all my rolls were either too low to bother boosting, or high enough where I knew I succeeded. We only got to 2nd level, but since I had the Heroic Spirit feat, I would've had 17 action points if we got to keep them.)

 

[cthulhu_duck]

The free Web Enhancement has action points first, but it doesn't specify that unused points are lost when advancing. It does say that high-level characters simply have 5 + 1/2 their level in APs when you introduce the rule, which seems to imply that points they 'would' have had before aren't retained, but they didn't spell it out explicitly.

Thanks - have downloaded that and it looks like a reprint of the UA rules from a quick read through.

Trust me on this, though, you DON'T want your PCs keeping them. The line in UA and ECS that stated that points weren't retained was put there to encourage players to actually USE those points. (In a game I'd recently played in, I had a character advance without spending even one, but that's because all my rolls were either too low to bother boosting, or high enough where I knew I succeeded. We only got to 2nd level, but since I had the Heroic Spirit feat, I would've had 17 action points if we got to keep them.)

It's only one character that I'm worried about - the player tends to forget he has action points to use (despite others using them constantly) while the other players tend to find useful ways to spend theirs (activating class abilities again, recovering spells).