Game with actions pool?

[Firebeetle]

Interesting idea.

Break it down like this.

Instead of standard, move, and minor action you get 15 action points.

Daily powers cost 9 points
Encounter powers cost 8 points
At will powers cost 7 points
Moving costs 1 point per square
Actions that usually cost a minor action cost 1 point


Now, you can introduce using points in new ways
points can give a bonus to attack OR damage 1 point = +1 bonus to attack/damage
You can spend action pool points during any healing surge being spent at 1 point = 1 HP
players can gain an initiative bonus by sacrificing points from their pool for the entire encounter at a 1 point = +1 bonus rate. Thus, if you gain a +3 bonus to initiative you only have 12 points each round instead of 15.

 

[Jhaelen]

The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is the SPECIAL system used in the Fallout 1 & 2 video games.

Demon's Winter had such a system, too. I loved this game, back in the days.

 

[Bluenose]

Traveller has had something like that in several incarnations. It's not in the original CT rulebook, but I think it is like that in MT. Certainly some of the supplementary material runs that way.

 

[Neonchameleon]

I was thinking of a game mechanic where you had, say 10 actions each turn and it cost 1 action to move a few feet or 5 actions to swing your fantastic sword. Is there a popular game on the market like that, or has there been? Thanks in advance for your reply!

Feng Shui has a "shot cost" for actions in a combat sequence that is almost exactly this.

 

[Jimmy_631]

Found Feng Shui's Sequence and Shot Cost mechanic.
Feng Shui Sequence & Shots Briefing

Actually much cooler than what I had in mind, I like how it ticks down through the sequence and kind of breaks up the turn based mechanics of many games.

Thank you for all the replies!

I was thinking more of a turn based mechanic where you had an action budget, as another friend described my idea. Part of my plan was to balance d# damage with how much action it cost. A d4 dagger attack might cost 3, a d8 sword costs 5, and a d12 battleaxe costs 7.

My original idea was to roll minor actions into a movement budget. Keeping it simple, everything cost 1 movement to try. So a character with 6 speed or movement budget could move 2 spaces, open a door 1, move inside 1, close the door 1, and still have 1 left over if they wanted to turn on the lights in the dark room they just enterd or draw a flaming sword.

Then take that original movement budget a step further to include combat attacks. I figured lighter weapons allowed for more movement or even attacking twice in one round.

But I think gameplay might drag as players try to spend their entire budget. Like watching someone take minutes to decide where to place their last two troops in a Risk game. The movement example above is pretty complicated, what if you added drawing a dagger 1, throwing it 3, grabbing a jewel 1, and throwing it to your ally 1 before exiting the room.

Firebeetle, those are good ideas, too. But if players could tap some of the budget for modifiers for all their actions the turn time just gets longer.

 

[Pbartender]

I was thinking of a game mechanic where you had, say 10 actions each turn and it cost 1 action to move a few feet or 5 actions to swing your fantastic sword. Is there a popular game on the market like that, or has there been? Thanks in advance for your reply!

The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is the SPECIAL system used in the Fallout 1 & 2 video games.

Yep... The Fallout CRPGs are probably the best example of this sort of mechanic, and exactly replicate what you intend to do. This Wiki page explains how they are calculated for each of the Fallout games.

The actual action point cost of doing something depends primarily on the action itself and the item being used. A shotgun might use 5 APs for a single shot and 6 for an aimed shot, for example, while a sniper rifle would use 6 and 7, respectively.

 

[Achan hiArusa]

Codex Martialis V1.0 - Ire Games | DriveThruRPG.com

 

[jedijon]

The 'Cadwallon' RPG from the now defunct Rackham, cum Rackham Entertainment has what you're looking for.

You have a d6 die pool that you need to divide between attack and defense. Your actions happen at various points in the turn based on the size of your pool and the attitude you choose to place your character in at the beginning of the turn.

That attitude matters because you get bonuses (or penalties) on actions depending on whether the base attitude for those actions matches the one you've chosen to place your character in. This is from a miniatures company - has you "gambling" to conduct more difficult actions, planning ahead for what you want to do over multiple turns, and is very tabletop based.

Alternatively, you could wait years for me to complete the mech game I'm writing that gives you a variable pool of initiative points per turn where each action or tactic costs points out of that pool and affects the condition you find yourself in the next turn.

 

[Firebeetle]

Alternatively, you could wait years for me to complete the mech game I'm writing that gives you a variable pool of initiative points per turn where each action or tactic costs points out of that pool and affects the condition you find yourself in the next turn.

I've always wanted to design an action point system for a mech game, where the actions points equal the amount of heat the mech makes, and the heat sinks are what put the action points back in the pool. If you spend to many action points, your mech gets overheated.

 

[karlindel]

I have a friend with a homebrew system that works like that. Each character receives 10 action points per turn. It breaks down as 1 Action Point for Minor Actions (Draw/Sheathe, Load Arrow, Open Door, etc.), 3 Action Points for Basic Actions (some attacks from special abilities, quick skill uses, Reload a Crossbow), and 6 Action Points for Complex Actions (basic attacks, complex skill uses). You also spend Action Points to move, the number required being based on the character's speed and the terrain (generally 1 AP=1Square for normal speed characters). Action Points that are not used can be used later in the round, but only for Reactions, if you do not have the Action Points for a Reaction, the Action Points used for it come from your next turn.

The system tends to work fine as far as speed, and allows for more options than the 3e and 4e D&D action system (as you can trade down much more efficiently, with a Standard Action becoming two Basic Actions rather than one Move Equivalent).