4e Themes - need an update?

[RangerWickett]

Perhaps it's not worded clearly. It's one time total per day, and only for the PC with that theme. So he'd get one extra action point, but he'd still be limited to only using one action point per encounter.

 

[Marius Delphus]

"Once per day, when an ally becomes bloodied, you gain 1 action point."

 

[ve4grm]

Perhaps it's not worded clearly. It's one time total per day, and only for the PC with that theme. So he'd get one extra action point, but he'd still be limited to only using one action point per encounter.

I understood it, but Morrus is right that the wording is unclear.

It's only the wording of the trigger that's unclear, though. So why not just cut it out?


Level 5: Courage Under Fire. After an extended rest, you gain an additional action point. You may still only spend one per encounter.

 

[Ajar]

That takes the flavour away. Marius' wording is clear and concise. I'd tweak it ever so slightly:

Level 5: Courage Under Fire. Once per day, when an ally becomes bloodied, you may gain an action point.

 

[gideonpepys]

Do you guys' characters really drop to 0hp so infrequently? One of mine goes down on average once per encounter.

 

[Ajar]

I might have dropped one of them once or twice, but no specific instances are coming to mind.

 

[RangerWickett]

Clearly I need to make things harder.

I really do prefer 'dropped to 0 hp' instead of bloodied.

 

[gideonpepys]

Clearly I need to make things harder.

Hear, hear! Show 'em no mercy.

 

[Ajar]

Clearly I need to make things harder.

I actually don't think so. In the cases where I could probably have dropped a PC with relative ease, the NPCs in question had strong RP reasons to prioritize other actions. The Duchess dove out her window rather than blasting my Vekeshi Mystic player, the saboteurs focused on trying to blow up the Coaltongue rather than killing the PCs, and Asrabey focused on killing the Duchess rather than on killing the PCs. Each of these encounters was a nail-biter for the players and came down to the wire.

I think I did drop one in the Coaltongue sabotage, but generally, I'd say that the difficulty has been spot-on so far -- and I used the level 20 Asrabey.

I really do prefer 'dropped to 0 hp' instead of bloodied.

It isn't inherently a problem to use a situational benefit, provided that the benefit is commensurate. If you want to stick to the 0 hp case, what about:

Level 10. Courage Under Fire: Once per day, when an ally you can see drops to 0 hp, you may gain an action point. If you spend an action point on your next turn, gain a +3 bonus to any attack rolls you make during the action.

 

[Marius Delphus]

Still concerned that it sounds like you only get the choice once per day. How about, "Whenever an ally you can see drops to 0 hp, you may gain 1 action point. You may only gain an action point in this way once per day."