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Message: <blockquote data-quote="swrushing" data-source="post: 2684202" data-attributes="member: 14140">Ok let me give several.In my recent stargate game, players could spend plot points for +5 to a roll before a roll was made. plot points were rare, usualy 1 per session awarded and often the heroes had 2-3 tops, 5 at the very most.on occasion, maybe 4-5 times in the course of the campaign, one player would decide to dump 3-4 plot points for a +20 to a skill check. Each time it was for a skill he had little knowledge in. The pilot for instance deciding to weigh in on analyzing the piece of ancient technology or trying to figure out how to decrypt/decipher the goa'uld database. Now, there were PC characters with these skills at "high balue" like the scientist with +19 to the skill for ancient devices or the master linguist.In each case, the character plot pointing in  was more or less stealing the thunder, usually just not waiting for that other character to get to the place.So, the house rule i put in there at the player's suggestion was to cap the bonus to "no more than your skill rank". So if you only had +3 skill at ancient tech, you could plot point to a +6. he seemed fine with the idea and it was his suggestion.Now, for the serenity game i am about to begin, i am talking about a similar cap, limiting you to no more than the skill you have as bonus dice from plot points.Two scenes come to mind from the show... In the pilot, they need the wounded engineer down in the engine room for an emergency manuever. Jayne hauls kaylee down and she directs them as to how to do things. If i leave the plot point rule open ended, instead Jayne the bruiser grunt can just say "leave her in sickbay" and do it hisself by spending a bunch of plot points to for the emernegncy maneuver give himself better engineering skill than she has.Not as good a scene IMO and more over it kinda makes the scene from the show look silly. if the grunt can do it, why haul the bleeding engineer out of sick bay?Another scene with ship about to crash and the best pilot at the helm... but it might be better to yank him out of the pilot chair and let the captain or the prostitute fly the "crash landing" if they have more plot points cuz they can get better rolls.Having seen it happen already, i am going to limit the degree of bonus from plot points to more or less double you normal skill. this will let exceptional people do extraodrdinary things in their field of focus, let average people do good things, and let unskilled people rise just barely adequate when needed. it will prevent the grunt from dialing up amazing skill levels in stuff he doesn't know didly about.None of my players will object t the rule, they have seen it before and were fine with it in stargate.but, some Gms seem to think its better to let the rule stand and to slap around those who use it.that seems very adversarial style of gming to me.why not fix the problem as opposed to kicking those who trip over it in hopes they wont trip again?</blockquote>

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