Action Point usage

[moxcamel]

What happens if Action Points aren't limited to being played on your turn? Is it outrageous to let people get an out of turn action?

PS

Agreed with [MENTION=97538]Nullzone[/MENTION]. Tracking turn-progression is tricky enough without the added hassle of PCs interrupting somebody else's turn. And although I can't think of anything off the top of my head, there are probably some situations where unintended consequences creep in. And then you've got the situation where one character interrupts another characters interrupt, and then as you're resolving that action another character decides he's going to interrupt, and then it's turtles all the way down.

Action points are boon enough imo, allowing them as interrupts is just too messy and unpredictable.

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

I like the idea of out-of-turn AP spending, so long as it doesn't get out of hand. I've just added a card to our group's "drama deck" that allows precisely that. It won't come up often, but when it does it should be amusing.

It won't get over-used because of its relative rarity. I would think at most, once per session, but with well over a hundred cards, probably less than that.

If it were a WotC Fortune Card though, it would be a disaster; it would be highly desirable and drive prices up on ebay and DM blood pressure up on Game Day.

 

[Traveon Wyvernspur]

I like the idea of out-of-turn AP spending, so long as it doesn't get out of hand. I've just added a card to our group's "drama deck" that allows precisely that. It won't come up often, but when it does it should be amusing.

What is your "drama deck," how does it work, and what is it comprised of?

 

[Traveon Wyvernspur]

I use action points differently in my groups, but I'm the DM so I allow different rules than what the books specify.
Basically I allow them to do a few things:
1) to use an action point to auto-hit if they don't want to roll the dice
2) to use an action point prior to rolling damage to get max damage
3) use 2 action points to do both of the above 1 & 2
4) combine with a normal power to do "something cool" as I say, using it to supplement a skill check or some such thing and get a role-playing cinematic result in doing so.

I know my house rules don't really apply here in this thread but as far as the RAW, I'd allow my players to use it any time during their turn, but I wouldn't allow out of turn usage because then it just become kind of crazy to keep track of stuff out of turn.

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

What is your "drama deck," how does it work, and what is it comprised of?

Basically, I found this thread: http://www.enworld.org/forum/4e-fan...dex-cards-fly-setting-plot-collaboration.html

[sblock=digression]I adapted the cards presented in the downloads of that thread, entered them into Magic Set Editor (with the same template I use for D&D power cards - but any template can work), and printed them out.

As suggested in the thread, the idea is that each session, hand out a small number of cards to each player; they pick one and put the rest back. Anytime during that session, they can play the card, and use its effect. Doing so can earn you whatever rewards you like (the default being bonus party XP, but I added APs to some, but we don't refresh APs after resting, so YMMV).

Some of them are plot-based, and others are combat type cards. We have not yet started using them (waiting for a new campaign to begin), so I have no feedback as of yet.

I've added a bunch of my own cards to the deck that weren't listed in the thread and once I've playtested them better, I will post back into the thread with my additions.

We were considering, in particular, doing the critical hit and fumbles with this system; possibly building a separate "crit deck." This way, it's entirely voluntary if you want to subject yourself to it (one of my players is whiny about bad things happening to his character).


Say for example that you are in a fight and the DM crits you, you still take damage, but you can draw from the crit deck for a nasty side effect IF you want to. Doing so could be fun (for some players), and would give you a reward for doing so (like XP or an AP), but you don't have to, like if you're about to die, or just don't want to.

Likewise, if you crit the BBEG and want to make it really count, draw from the deck. You might get an effect, or even more damage.

Same goes for rolling a 1; you decide if it's worth risking a pull from the deck. It's okay if you want to just miss, but you might end up with a cool reversal (turn a miss into a hit or even a crit), or something bad happening to you (prone, broken/stuck weapon, granting CA, etc). Some players in my group really like random stuff like this, so I think it will work well.[/sblock]

Anyway, sorry for the digression.

 

[Mapache]

I read "During your turn" to be exactly that. There's nothing that dictates *when* during your turn to spend it, you just need to spend it some time during your turn.

In fact, as I read it, you don't need to use the extra action as an effect of spending the point, and can thus spend an AP, get your random side-benefit, do a move or minor action, and then spend your two Standards. This came up in a P2 module last weekend, where somebody had some feature that gave them a defensive benefit with an AP, so they wanted to spend it, move and provoke an OA, and then take both attacks.

Hm. I'd like a time-based paragon path that lets you spend an action point to get a standard action as an immediate interrupt on someone else's turn.

It kind of exists:

WATCHER OF VENGEANCE PATH FEATURES
Vengeful Action (11th level): When an enemy you have combat advantage against hits an ally you can see, you can spend an action point as an immediate interrupt to make a basic attack against that enemy. If the attack hits, you deal an extra 2d6 damage.

 

[Dedekind]

Good question. It reminds me of a 3e Eberron experience I had with action points (where you add 1d6) to a roll. I played with one guy who said that you have to declare ahead of time you were going to use your AP. So, you couldn't roll your d20 and then decide you want the additional d6. Instead you had to roll the d6 and the d20 simultaneously.

It drove me nuts, and, of course, I didn't have the rule book with me.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

Hm. I'd like a time-based paragon path that lets you spend an action point to get a standard action as an immediate interrupt on someone else's turn.

Here are a couple that do something similar:
TALARIC STRATEGIST PATH FEATURES

Anticipatory Action (11th level): When an enemy enters a square adjacent to you, you can spend an action point to take a standard action as an immediate interrupt.

IRON VANGUARD PATH FEATURES

Ferocious Reaction (11th level): When you are reduced to 0 hit points or fewer, as an immediate interrupt before you fall unconscious, you can spend an action point to take an extra action.