d20 modern/future: action points

[Eye Tyrant]

do they roll over or not!? i cannot seem to find where it says they can be "saved" from level to level or not.... or do you just get them every level to use 'em or lose 'em?

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

They amass each level. This means PCs who save them up may have loads of them, yes. But they can't spend them all at the same round or cash them in for trips and prizes so apparently it's supposed to even out.

--fje

 

[deltadave]

They accumulate each level, but unlike force points, once used they are gone, never to return until the next level grants more. They can only be spent one per round and only affect one die roll so it's a bit of a drag...

 

[kingpaul]

This is a very good question. I as well can't find a statement that says either a) 'Use them or lose them' or b) 'They can be saved'. Now, there are two responses that are saying B. Where did you find that?

 

[Eye Tyrant]

On one page it says they are "replenished" which to me implies "re-filled"... On another page it says "gained" as if to imply "added". And then later on page 40 of Modern it says that Heroic characters should be expected to have action points equal to 1/2 their level... I have found no clear answer on this, but of course my players say they should accumulate. I dont see that it is unbalanced to do it this way, I just wish WotC would do a better job of editing... but I wont go off on that rant :/

 

[Roudi]

From the chapter on Action Points:

the character replenishes this supply with every new level he or she attains

I know this probably ill-worded, but it basically means that the character gains more Action Points each level.

From every class description:

_____ heroes gain a number of action points equal to X + one-half their character level, rounded down, at 1st level and every time they attain a new level in this class.

Nowhere in the book does it say anything about characters losing unused Action Points when they gain a level; thus, never assume that they do.

It likely could be explained better, but the Action Points system is pretty simple and goes as thus:

a) A character gains Action Points each level. These points are cumulative; there is no limit to how many or how little Action Points a character may have.

b) The only way to lose Action Points are to spend them to modify a die roll or activate a class ability/talent.

c) Once lost, an Action Point is gone. They are not like Power Points, in which you have a set capacity that replenishes each day or each level; An Action Point is gained only once and spent only once.

Oh, the bit you saw about characters that are supposed to have hit points equal to half their level was in reference to NPCs. From the Heroic GM Characters subsection:

Heroic supporting characters gain action points. However, few of them have the maximum number of action points for their level (because they will have spent some of them). Assume that a heroic supporting character has a number of action points remaining equal to one-half his or her class level.

Hope this clears things up.

 

[Tom Cashel]

In the interest of redundancy (and officiality), I submit this recent bit from Bullet Points:

I have a question about how action points accrue. Are they accumulated from level to level? If so, high-level characters would logically end up with dozens of action points. Or are they just replenished at every level? If that's the case, a character should try to make use of his action points constantly, since they would refill when he attains the next level.

Action points accumulate from level to level. Each character begins play with 5 action points. With each new character level, he gains a number of action points determined by his class. So a 5th-level Strong hero who has never spent a single action point would have 33 of them, and he gains 8 more upon attaining 6th level.

However, a character who never spends any action points is gaining no benefit from them. Typically, a character can afford to spend an action point once every few encounters, but some prefer to save them up for a rainy day.

Once a character spends an action point, it's gone forever. He can get more upon attaining a new level, so action points represent a very limited resource.

...and that's what Owen K.C. Stephens has to say.

 

[Eye Tyrant]

Thanks Tom, I thought I had read that also, but couldnt find where...

So they are cumulative... period.

Thanks all!

 

[HellHound]

And this is where my issues with Action Points come from...

Like many GMs, I play with SIGNIFICANTLY reduced XP rewards. At a minimum, I run at 1/2 standard, some campaigns at 1/4.

This means that non-renewable resources (like action points) are far scarcer in my games than core games, and this changes their value dramatically. That's why we changed to something akin to Bennies from Savage Worlds. Each character gains 1/2 their level (for gritty) or their level (for cinematic) worth of action points at the beginning of each session. APs do not roll over from game to game, use em or lose em.

But this belongs in house rules more than here.

 

[Kesh]

You could simply use Eberron's version, where you get X number of Action Points per level. Then, each time you level up, your unspent points are gone and you now have the full points you would receive for your new level.