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First Post
In my game, I use Action Points from Unearthed Arcana, with the caveat that they do not carry over when you gain a level; any unused points are lost and replaced with the new total for your new level. I keep track of action points with little colored beads; each player has a different color of beads and I keep track of them from session to session. All the player needs to do is hand me a bead to activate an action point.
But during the last session, one player suffered a fate worse than death. He failed a save vs. paralysis and had to sit and do nothing for the rest of the encounter, which lasted for most of the evening. Nothing in the rules could help him out, and not even an action point could turn his fate around. Granted, it made for an exciting situation as the rest of the party tried desperately to save him from being eaten while paralyzed. But it couldn't have been much fun for him.
So I started thinking of a way to keep that from happening again too often.
I remember reading in Grim Tales how players could gain action points by letting the DM do something bad to their characters, and I liked the idea, so I decided to make it the basis for an augment to the action point system. It's kind of a way for me to say, "Sorry you didn't win, but thanks for playing; here's a year's supply of Turtle Wax," but I dressed it up as a reward and called it "Heroic Surge."
Heroic Surge points allow a character the opportunity to replenish a small amount of Action Points during each session. In addition, they are slightly more powerful than an Action Point, but they come at a cost. When my players gain a heroic surge point, I hand them a black bead. At the end of the night, when I put their remaining beads into the plastic tacklebox I use to store gaming materials, I put the black beads into a separate partition.
Here's how it works:
Heroic Surge
Sometimes, during the course of battle, bad things happen to the heroes. While lesser men and women would fall under these unlucky circumstances, a true champion uses these dire events to fuel his or her sheer determination and strength of will in order to bounce back heroically.
Heroic Surge is a system for temporarily replenishing Action Points during the course of an adventure. Heroic Surge points act similarly to Action Points in most regards and can in fact be thought of as Action Points, with a few notable differences.
Gaining Heroic Surge points
Characters will be awarded Heroic Surge points by the DM as play progresses, under the following circumstances:
-- When an enemy scores a critical hit against you.
-- When you suffer a critical miss on a hit roll.
-- When you suffer a critical failure by rolling a 1 on a saving throw.
-- When you are rendered dying or disabled.
-- When you are somehow incapacitated or otherwise taken out of an encounter.
-- When something else remarkably bad happens to you (DM’s discretion).
In this way, Heroic Surge awards are a de facto consolation prize for those times when luck just turns against you.
Heroic Surge points must be spent by the end of the session. Any unused Heroic Surge points do not carry over to the next session. However, if you would normally have gained a Heroic Surge point at the end of an encounter late in the session, and there are no opportunities to spend this point by the end of the session, the DM may award you an Action Point instead (which would carry over as normal).
They may be spent as you would Action Points, with the following differences:
-- Add 1d8 instead of 1d6 to a d20 roll.
-- Gain a new saving throw to resist or break an ongoing effect.
-- Force an enemy to re-roll an attack roll or damage roll.
-- Force an enemy to re-roll a saving throw.
-- Automatically overcome DR or SR of a single foe for one attack or spell.
-- Change the casting of a spell or activation of a feat or class ability from a standard or move action to a swift action.
-- Or spend it like you would any other Action Point.
But during the last session, one player suffered a fate worse than death. He failed a save vs. paralysis and had to sit and do nothing for the rest of the encounter, which lasted for most of the evening. Nothing in the rules could help him out, and not even an action point could turn his fate around. Granted, it made for an exciting situation as the rest of the party tried desperately to save him from being eaten while paralyzed. But it couldn't have been much fun for him.
So I started thinking of a way to keep that from happening again too often.
I remember reading in Grim Tales how players could gain action points by letting the DM do something bad to their characters, and I liked the idea, so I decided to make it the basis for an augment to the action point system. It's kind of a way for me to say, "Sorry you didn't win, but thanks for playing; here's a year's supply of Turtle Wax," but I dressed it up as a reward and called it "Heroic Surge."
Heroic Surge points allow a character the opportunity to replenish a small amount of Action Points during each session. In addition, they are slightly more powerful than an Action Point, but they come at a cost. When my players gain a heroic surge point, I hand them a black bead. At the end of the night, when I put their remaining beads into the plastic tacklebox I use to store gaming materials, I put the black beads into a separate partition.
Here's how it works:
Heroic Surge
Sometimes, during the course of battle, bad things happen to the heroes. While lesser men and women would fall under these unlucky circumstances, a true champion uses these dire events to fuel his or her sheer determination and strength of will in order to bounce back heroically.
Heroic Surge is a system for temporarily replenishing Action Points during the course of an adventure. Heroic Surge points act similarly to Action Points in most regards and can in fact be thought of as Action Points, with a few notable differences.
Gaining Heroic Surge points
Characters will be awarded Heroic Surge points by the DM as play progresses, under the following circumstances:
-- When an enemy scores a critical hit against you.
-- When you suffer a critical miss on a hit roll.
-- When you suffer a critical failure by rolling a 1 on a saving throw.
-- When you are rendered dying or disabled.
-- When you are somehow incapacitated or otherwise taken out of an encounter.
-- When something else remarkably bad happens to you (DM’s discretion).
In this way, Heroic Surge awards are a de facto consolation prize for those times when luck just turns against you.
Heroic Surge points must be spent by the end of the session. Any unused Heroic Surge points do not carry over to the next session. However, if you would normally have gained a Heroic Surge point at the end of an encounter late in the session, and there are no opportunities to spend this point by the end of the session, the DM may award you an Action Point instead (which would carry over as normal).
They may be spent as you would Action Points, with the following differences:
-- Add 1d8 instead of 1d6 to a d20 roll.
-- Gain a new saving throw to resist or break an ongoing effect.
-- Force an enemy to re-roll an attack roll or damage roll.
-- Force an enemy to re-roll a saving throw.
-- Automatically overcome DR or SR of a single foe for one attack or spell.
-- Change the casting of a spell or activation of a feat or class ability from a standard or move action to a swift action.
-- Or spend it like you would any other Action Point.
