Action Points....REVERSED?!

[Funeris]

Okay...so I know some systems use Action Points...where you can roll an additional d6 to gain a bonus to a roll, be it an attack, skill check or what have you.

I was just wondering...has anyone used a Reverse scale of Action Points. What I mean is this...when adventurers are green and low level, they're forced to rely more heavily upon luck. As they increase in level though, they become more skillful and more adept at handling situations and rely on luck less.

So at first level, they'd have a bunch of action points to use...they'd have a short amount of time to use them, but it could be done. And maybe by twentieth level they only have 1 or 2 action points or dice to use.

Logically, it shows reliance upon luck and how the PCs slowly grow more confident and more powerful. They become self-sufficient over time.

It could also help alleviate some early-level PC death (I know I've experienced this in the campaign I run...and I was slightly annoyed by it).

So, thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Would this work? Is it a good idea?

Thanks!

~Fune

 

[Frostmarrow]

So a 1st level character receives 20 AP and never ever gets any new ones?

 

[KRT]

I was just wondering...has anyone used a Reverse scale of Action Points...[snip]
So, thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Would this work? Is it a good idea?

Thanks!

~Fune

Interesting idea. I was even thinking of what if you gave inaction points to PCs for out of character play (i mean when they do something that their character shouldn't). Usually this won't happen until they are higher level and have established a character to be out of. Instead of gaining a d6 they have to lose a d6 on a d20 roll. Then I thought nah they'll just blow it on something meaningless like throwing a dagger at a closing enemy while its still 400 feet away. I suppose the DM could hold on to these inaction points and use them strategically like when the hero crits the BBG before the DM has a chance to get things going.

 

[Funeris]

So a 1st level character receives 20 AP and never ever gets any new ones?

I'd say they have a set number per level. Maybe at 1st they do have 20 AP. When they move to second, they lose any they haven't used but have 19 AP to use over the course of that level.

I think it would work for me...I like to pit my PCs against impossible odds though. Eh.

Interesting idea...snip

Thanks! Inaction points are interesting as well...although, they may cause some discord upon these boards. People don't want to be punished for failing to roleplay their characters directly.

However, I do punish my characters...and not just the paladins. I think InAction points are a great idea. I would say the DM holds on to them...and then just out of the blue, calls the player to roll it. It's a great approximation for "bad luck".



Anyone else?

~Fune

 

[Funeris]

In retrospect, 20 AP at first level was just a hypothetical number. I'd actually only give ten, since there are 13 encounters (average) for each level. And then your AP pool drops by one every odd level. So..

1st - 10
3rd - 9
5th - 8
...
...
19th - 1
21+ - 0

So, Epic Characters don't receive any (unless they take a feat like the one from the ECS for additional points).

This changes the function of AP from the idea that it makes for a more Pulp or Epic-Movie feel game...to being a pure representation of luck.

 

[Lobo Lurker]

But isn't that the basis of how DnD works right now? At first level PCs have very little control over the outcomes of thier die rolls. Hence, they rely more on luck than skill to carry them through the day.

A 20th level PC, in contrast, relies very little on luck and heavily on thier own skils & abilities.

To exaggerate these effect, you just need to tailor the enemies to the party.

 

[Funeris]

You have a valid point, Lobo Lurker. The system is set up already to include the idea of luck.

Although, it does not differentiate between good or bad luck

I guess, I'm thinking about a Heroic campaign. These are characters that can (unless they are slaughtered along the way) become Legends in their own right. They'll have ballads written to commemorate their souls when they pass from the mortal coil. And as Legends, they have an extra bit of Good Luck.

A 20th level PC, while relying heavily upon skills and abilities, is still held at the whim of luck or fate (when that 'evil' natural one comes up).

 

[Evilhalfling]

Im against it.
at higher levels there tend to be a large number of deaths due to save or die effects. or even just higher damage hits - as other threads have discussed that -10 buffer isn't much facing 30 damage an attack.
With each charater death a new PC has to be written up, integrated into the story, new plots created. Now raise deads are a possibility but my players tend to stay dead at least 1 time in 3, mostly because they fall behind the average partry level, and the 5k cost puts them down even further.
This last may just be a problem IMC - perhaps I should talk to the players about a way encourage raiseing over new PCs.

Adding new low level characters is much easier, as they dont require nearly the same levels of background and explinations. Newbies should die occasisonally while heroes last longer.

 

[runtime]

But isn't that the basis of how DnD works right now? At first level PCs have very little control over the outcomes of thier die rolls. Hence, they rely more on luck than skill to carry them through the day.

A 20th level PC, in contrast, relies very little on luck and heavily on thier own skils & abilities.

To exaggerate these effect, you just need to tailor the enemies to the party.

Exactly. These reverse action points are called Base Attack Bonus!

 

[waterdhavian]

reason characters get more action points as the increase in level is because they are to be more hero like. Low level characters are not suppose to be amazing combatants or greatly skillful at what they do. If a low level character blows an attack and uses an action point to increase it just enough to get that hit its really exciting but it would become repetative if whenever the character is only 1-6 points away pulls out an action die to get the hit. I know i have seen this first hand. Wasting action dice on meanigless tasks or on non-important attacks. At higher levels though that small push could really be the difference between life and death. The stakes are higher at higher levels so in accordance to that the action point pool must be bigger. Plus its more fun to gain levels then, players like to look forward to new abilities and more action points.

I have some players i game with that if it were the case that level 1 characters got 20 acton points and as you progressed they would lessen, they would try their hardest not to level. Its weird that even though its 1d6 they would rather have a large supply than even gaining higher skills since those points can really come in handy if you are trying something either unskilled or with a weapon that your not proficient.

I would maybe make the offer of exploding action points, as an alternative. though that can get old really fast when a level 1 character rolls a 45 on their attack several times in the same night.