[Conan] how do fate points work?

[Plane Sailing]

To anyone who has the Conan d20 rpg - how do fate points work? Are they like action points in d20modern or Unearthed Arcana, Hero Points from Arcana Unearthed, or something different?

Cheers

 

[trancejeremy]

There are 4 standard uses of Fate points:

Left for dead, in which if you're motally wounded, instead of dying, you're well, left for dead

Mighty Blow, where you do the maximum damage for an attack

Repentance, where you lose a corruption point (sort of involved in the magic system)

or Destiny, in which you can change something about the story. Like if you are locked up in a cell, spending a fate point would give you a chance to beat up the guard and escape.

 

[argo]

To elaborate some more. Fate points are one use points like Hero Points in AU. There are no guidlines for earning more Fate points, the DM hands them out whenever he feels that you have been cool enough to earn one. Most 1 level characters start with 3.

The Left for Dead use is the primary purpose of Fate Points in Conan. There is no resurection and virtually no healing in the game, everybody _needs_ to keep one or two Fate points "in the bank" if they want to stay alive.

Mighty blow is cool because in addition to doing maximum damage you weapon shatters with the force of the blow!

Repentance can be thought of like spending a Force point to get rid of a Dark Side point in SW. Corruption is about as deadly as DSP's

Destiny is just generally cool. The player calls in a chit and the DM will come up with something improbable to drop in his lap. It can give the game a very "pulp" feel when things happen like a serving wench falls despraetly in love with you just by looking at you and so brings you the key to your cell later when you are captured. Stuff like that.

 

[Iron_Chef]

So far in my game, the players have used Fate Points sparingly. The first time, they had to take out an armored guard (Mail Hauberk and Steel Cap, DR 7) before he could sound the alarm. Two players burned a Fate Point each to do mighty blows, cutting the poor guard in twain!

Fate Points are handed out and used sparingly to swing the plot one way or another in the player's favor when things look grim, which is how they should be. They can also be used by the GM to keep his favorite NPC villains alive...

 

[zero skill LPB]

I have an angle...

I plan on making my players EARN their PCs' Fate Points. Here're some of the ideas I'm kicking around.

How To Earn 'Em
• take two: they're small and, to jumpstart the process, FREE
• read "The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian"
• write up a background for the PC that'll provide the GM with plothooks
• take a Flaw

Where To Spend 'Em
• the standard in-game methods (mentioned above)
• max HP on level up
• max AP on level up
• purchase a Background

Invest in the game, invest in the character: earn some Fate Points
Want to augment your PC: spend some Fate Points

 

[Plane Sailing]

Thanks, that is some excellent information. I could imagine these being good in a D&D campaign that didn't use resurrection much. Left for Dead and Destiny sound like they would be lots of fun for the players and DMs too (how many times have I seen a PC die and mourned the plot threads that died with him?)

Thanks for all the input guys.

 

[S'mon]

So far IMC I let a Nomad PC spend a fate point to find her lost bow amid the aftermath of a shipboard battle (which occurred off-camera pre start of the scenario) - there was a 2 in 6 chance of getting it randomly, she spent an FP to make sure of it. At the same time I had given every PC a free FP as they'd all been stripped and left for dead at the start of the scenario - handing out FPs when you arbitrarily screw with the PCs is an idea I got from Buffy's Drama Points, although IMO Conan handles FPs much better than Buffy's DPs.
Previously I gave a PC a FP for writing a fantastic Story Hour account - see:
http://www.randomlingshouse.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3110&sid=dfa1b94e33718fb38d32f9118c5c3fd3

& I'll give a FP for major in-game achievements, as the book says. I intend to allow FPs be used to get a '20' on a d20 roll, they must choose to do this pre-roll of course. 2 FPs would give an automatic Critical hit. Generous, but that's an average of about +10 on a d20 roll, nothing near as good as a Buffy DP, which gives +10 on a d10 roll - and Buffy PCs get 3-6 times as many DPs as Conan PCs get FPs.

 

[S'mon]

There are 4 standard uses of Fate points:

Left for dead, in which if you're motally wounded, instead of dying, you're well, left for dead.

Note that you will probably still die (DC 20 Fort save) unless you receive medical attention - which may be unlikely since you appear dead already! I'd be inclined to allow a second FP spent to pass the Fort save. In my first Conan game, the 2 PCs were caravan guards, newly met. The Shemite Nomad PC got into a duel with Unegen, an NPC Hyrkanian soldier, lost and was Left For Dead. I told the player of the other PC, a Cimmerian barbarian, that there appeared to still be some life in the body (thinking she might apply first aid). The Cimmerian's very natural reaction was to immediately tell Unegen:

"Hey, he's still alive! You better finish him off!"

Cue one dead Shemite...

 

[S'mon]

Where To Spend 'Em
• the standard in-game methods (mentioned above)
• max HP on level up
• max AP on level up
• purchase a Background

Max HP on level up - that's a cool idea, maybe a bit too powerful though? What's an AP BTW?

 

[Plane Sailing]

Note that you will probably still die (DC 20 Fort save) unless you receive medical attention

I think I'd be inclined to forgo the Fort ST altogether and let them recover to a disabled state a few hours later. I remember stories where Conan is crawling away from a battlefield where he had been on the losing side!

Cheers