Action Point variant

Kobold Avenger · Mar 24, 2004

First of all, I'm not really too big on just getting Action Points whenever a level's gained, and there being no other way of getting AP and no set maximum.

So my method is that a character gets a pool of Action Points with a maximum equal to 4 + Charisma Mod + 1/2 Character Level. It seems that Ebberon will have a maximum based on level, but not charisma.

Anyways I wanted to use the charisma mod, because charisma tends to be a neglected ability for anyone with a class that doesn't rely on it for special abilities.

For regaining Action Points, I'm mainly leaning to a default of 1 point per session automatically. I also considered having an ammount equal to charisma mod per session as well.

Gaining a level would restore a character's action points to their maximum. Though it could also be the character regaining their charisma mod in AP as well.

However I considered that a certain dramatic points in a session a player can regain an action point by making a successful charisma check with a DC of 15, 18 or 20. I haven't really decided on the DC of the check, but I'm leaning on 15 for now.

Nifft · Mar 24, 2004

I gave 5 APs at character creation, and one extra per Journal Entry (or Story Hour) written by a player. This should grant at most 5-10 APs per level, and at least zero, with a mechanic that provides me with journal entries -- very, very helpful for reminding everyone what happened when, and very good for helping people get "in character".

-- N

nothing to see here · Mar 24, 2004

interesting how different DM's end up with same variant

Kobold Avenger...I like your approach...I find it interesting that different DM's with no interaction often come up with the same rules solutions

Our group made the exact same determination.

1) Action Points added a lot to a game.

2) Mechanically CHA was undervalued compared to other stats.

so that

3) tying Action point acquisition to Charisma makes two important additions to the game.

Certain solutions just seem to leap to the fore, huh

Now, granted in our case, I still use non renewable pools of Action points (easier for bookkeeping)...though I do grant the chractes more. Each level they receive AP's equal to their Character Level + Charisma modifier (min 1). The abundance of Action points is offset by the slightly reduced amounts of treasure I hand out.

I also use Action points to balance out another mechanical change we made -- dropping favoured classes...that's a story for another thread, I guess.