Action Points are core?

[Zogmo]

I read on the 4e news page that action points are now core but they do different things than Star Wars force points and Eberron action points.

I haven't a clue what they do in either of those games. It's obviously going to be different but what do they do in SW and Eberron?

And can anyone give examples of how action points might play out in 4e?

Thanks!

 

[Stone Dog]

We don't know what they are going to do in 4e, but in 3e they do things like this. Not everything at once and not everything is an option depending on your campaign guidelines, but it should give you an idea.

 

[Prodigal_Sun]

This link has info on the rules compendium and if I'm not mistaken if you download the excerpt, there are some suggestions about action points that might have made it inot 4e.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drfe/20071024a

Edit: apparently that's the 3e way of using action points...

 

[WyzardWhately]

I rather suspect they'll be useable to negate critical hits. This is plumb necessary if you can crit the whole party with an AoE, and it's all but confirmed that's going to be possible.

 

[Zogmo]

We don't know what they are going to do in 4e, but in 3e they do things like this. Not everything at once and not everything is an option depending on your campaign guidelines, but it should give you an idea.

Excellent, thanks! This will most definitely affect the game.

Does the GM ever give action points as rewards? And can you save them up if you don't spend them or do they reset at the beginning of each level and you lose what wasn't spent?

 

[The Lost Muse]

According to the RAW, action points not spent in a given level are lost. I have given action points (or swashbuckling cards) as a reward on numerous occasions, and also give a fixed number of action points per session.

 

[timbannock]

Same here...I give 4 Action Points per session. Much easier to remember, no problem keeping track of who spent what when.

We also use poker chips or glass beads as tokens for action points: you spend it, you hand over said token to the DM. No way you can cheat on that (unless you bring your own, or steal from the DM's pile...which, if you're that sneaky, you deserve the reward!)

 

[Zogmo]

According to the RAW, action points not spent in a given level are lost. I have given action points (or swashbuckling cards) as a reward on numerous occasions, and also give a fixed number of action points per session.

Ya, I can see the logic behind losing action points not spent.

It makes me laugh if I think of my players who haven't spent theirs and are going to level up.

They're going to want to do something crazy/silly just to use them up even if the adventure is over. I'm sure it will be something entertaining. I play with some funny people.

 

[Mkhaiwati]

non-D&D use, but I have had action points (fate points) in a Rolemaster game for over 10 years. You start with 3 and gain 1 per level. Other gms give more or none at all depending on the heroic style of the game (super-epic gm give out a lot more)

an interesting idea I use also is that certain baddies (recurring villain types) can also use fate points. A player can gain one if they cause the BBEG to spend one. When a BBEG runs out, he/she/it is finally dead.