Does anyone else do this or something like this?

[hammymchamham]

In a World War II game I am in, the GM uses this thing called 'Bennies' which allows you to turn in a Benny to either reroll a d20 roll or get 1d6 hit points back after an attack.

I started a Forgotten Realms game last night, and have incorporated it into my game. So does anyone else use something like this or simular?

 

[kreynolds]

Sounds like the Action Dice from Spycraft. Unfortunately though, the Spycraft game I play in doesn't use them (DM didn't like it). Seemed like a really cool idea to me, and I thought about incorporating something like it into my D&D games as well. The only problem is that I don't how I should hand them out, as rewards and the like.

 

[hammymchamham]

well, they started at 5th level, so I gave them 2 to start with. One of the PC's had a really good idea (something I didn't think of) for them to do, so I gave him one. And since most of the game was RPing (we had an enounter), I didn't want them to feel like the whole game was for nothing, so they got one.

 

[Piratecat]

There was a mention of these in Dragon a year or two ago; I think they called them Hero Points. Deadlands uses something similar by awarding poker chips, too.

I don't use them myself in D&D. I like the mechanic, but I'm not thrilled with the mechanic of just awarding them to clever or witty players. If one player is really witty or smart, should he get all of them - and won't this alienate the other players? I dunno, it always makes me uneasy. I'd probably use them if they were rewarded for selfless or heroic acts, though.

I'd use them in Spycraft, though! They're an integral part of the system, and I wouldn't want to lose them.

 

[Xeriar]

Usually a cooperating group is going to have a decent balance. Something that becomes par for the character is just that, after all.

In Deadlands, 7th Sea, Shadowrun and other RPG's I played with, there was one guy who got the most, but no one really blamed him, 'cuz he was a riot It encourages those really cool moments, pieces of insight, etc. so by nature they tend to spread out with a concious GM at the helm.

I would only advise it if you are planning on being concious of who you give your points too, FYI.

 

[drnuncheon]

For a while, when we were starting our 3e game, I would give the players what we called "***-saver points". Before the session I would secretly roll 1d6-1, and the entire party would have that many points collectively.

A point could be spent to reroll any one die. But, they didn't know how many they had, and if they tried to use one when there weren't any in the pool, Something Bad happened.

Now that the PCs are higher level I've phased them out.

J

 

[Wormwood]

I don't use them myself in D&D. I like the mechanic, but I'm not thrilled with the mechanic of just awarding them to clever or witty players. If one player is really witty or smart, should he get all of them - and won't this alienate the other players?

Which is exactly what's been happening in our game.

Our DM awards 'destiny cards', which give you temporary bonuses of various kinds. Ostensibly as a reward for good roleplaying and achieving story goals (and man is this guy a Plotzi), every game invariably ends up with two or three players holding a stack of these things while the rest have one or two 'pity cards'.

One guy has a really entertaining voice/persona for his character, and evry time he says something funny or amusing he gets cards. A couple of guys (myself included) are not really into wacky voices and improv, so we miss out.

Basically, cards concentrate in the hands of a few witty, charismatic people whom the DM is very good friends with. If you're not an extrovert who watches monday night football with the DM, you;ve got a paucity of bennies.

It's getting annoying, so much so that I'm considering bowing out of the game.

 

[hammymchamham]

Basically, cards concentrate in the hands of a few witty, charismatic people whom the DM is very good friends with. If you're not an extrovert who watches monday night football with the DM, you;ve got a paucity of bennies.

It's getting annoying, so much so that I'm considering bowing out of the game.

Right now I hope it doesn't end up that way in my game. The one who got it last time is new to our group (2nd week in). I think I might limit it to giving away one or two a game for good RPing/good ideas or whatever.

 

[Thain]

How I do it...

Actually, its a mechanic I've been incredibly fond of ever since I started to play 7th Sea. I'm not yet using it in my DnD game, but in the next campaign I run I will be. (Granted, my players have reached 30th lvl, and started at 2nd... soo, the mechanic is not exactly a requirement )

I do however currently have a Vote System, which my players all seem to love. At the end of each nights session, I take each player into the next room for a quick one-on-one. Then I ask them to choose the player who did the best in one of five categories: Best Roleplaying, Right Skill-Right Time, Best Kick-A**, Group Coordinator, and Humour.

I leave the definations of exactly what each category means deliberatly vauge, because each player has a slightly differnt idea of what each one should mean. Thankfully, none of my players repeatedly dominate each category. Sure, Chris and Josh are both dominate, charismatic, leader-type personalites and often take the Group Coord. award- but in oen dungeon, when the cleric decided to just storm on ahead and open every single door, and thus lead them into encounter-after-encounter, she got the Coordinator award!

I award some extra XPs based on who wins that nights category. (Average Party Level * 75)XP for Best Roleplaying, and (APL * 50) for every other category.

In my next campaign, which will either be MechaCrusade or OA-Wuxia, I'll reduce the awards to 50/25 and hand out an extra Action Point to each winner.

 

[Shallown]

I've used this idea before in different games and such. I think Pirate cats concern is valid but I tend to judge on my players ability versus some universal standard.

Example I have one player who is just not a strong speaker. He roleplayes well in that his characters actions and his explainations for why his character does something are very well thought out. But if you ask him to talk to another NPC he tends to miss speak or stumble along. When he makes a decent speach I give him "bennies" As to when the two power roleplayers make a speach it better impress me becuase their level of speach-a-fying is much higher. The players know my system and so far don't have problems with it.