House Rule: AP ends Status Condition

[S'mon]

My idea: At the start of their turn, a PC or monster can spend an Action Point to immediately end one 'save ends' status condition, as if the character had made a save. Single-source multiple effects with "Save ends both" are all negated by a single AP.
This does not count as an action, so can be done while stunned etc.

Thoughts? My main aim is to make Solos more viable, but it also makes PCs a bit less dependent on assistance from Leaders etc; they can potentially overcome disability through their own resources without missing a round.

 

[Alisair Longreach]

It is a very strong option you are suggesting. For monsters you should limit it to endgame Solo boss monsters.

For PCs I would suggest you write it up as a Paragon tier feat.

 

[Starfox]

Discussed it in my group; it was felt to help the monsters too much.

Monsters that give status effects generally do so over and over. Spending AP to negate them for one round is barely worth it.

Players spend daily powers to do this; letting monsters automatically get out of a daily power with an AP stymies these dailies. But we were thinking "end of next round" powers here, my players don't take "save ends" effects at all because the 80% a Solo has to save means these powers are already stymied.

 

[S'mon]

Would you suggest limiting it to Solo monsters, not Elites? I don't use Elites much; my typical encounter group is a bunch of minions with Standard monsters as leaders and champions. I only use Solos as end-game boss monsters, and I'm not a fan of taking them out of action for a round while the PCs wail on them. Frankly I'm not a fan of status conditions at all, they tend to affect melee PCs far worse than the ranged ones and harken back to 3e too much for my liking.
I have asked my players for input though, so I'll see what they think and not go ahead if they're against it.

 

[Starfox]

On the top of my head:

Remove or reduce the save bonus solos and Elites get.

Let anyone spend an AP to break out of an effect, anytime, as a free action.

1 AP = 1 save seems expensive. Maybe give extra AP. Or make it cost half an AP. (as I said, this is on the top of my head).

Of course, the difficulty is now to say what "an effect" is. Is a -2 to hit a conditions? Is a mark a conditions? A definition is needed. I say anything a save can end and any of the conditions in the condition summary are fair game.


This fixes several problems in my book:

• Stunlock is now futile using a single power
• "End of next turn" powers don't last longer than "save ends" powers against solos, but they can still get out of them - for a price.

 

[Amaroq]

You might be interested in checking out: Stalker0's Hero Point system

I think I prefer the "make an extra saving throw" mechanic to the "auto save" mechanic; that way bonuses and penalties which apply to saves continue to matter.

 

[S'mon]

Hmm, I want to reduce book keeping, plus I hate status conditions!

 

[BobTheNob]

No the first time this has been brought up. Alternate uses for action points is a commonly suggested theme.

Before doing anything, compare this to the existing examples of how action points can alternately be used. Generally it is associated with Paragon classing, and I suspect that you would be treading very heavily on this established convention. Sure, what you suggest might be an entire action point to end a single condition, but wow...compared to what it takes to otherwise get an alternate use for an action point, its like the biggest freeby I have heard suggested in the forums!

At least make them pay a feat for the privelege.

(Edit)And I definately would not give it to monsters. The ability to debuff a creature is associated with powers the players have paid there dues to get. If you give monsters this ability...you neutralise the reward to the player. Doesnt make it an ejoyable experience when you players high five cause you got that daily debuff on a monster, only to have the DM turn around and say "...and then the effect ends"

 

[eriktheguy]

When you are stunned, this houserule would be a little imbalanced. Usually an AP gives you a bonus action. A player that uses this while stunned gains a bonus turn PLUS it is as though they automatically made the save at the end of that turn. Allow them to spend the AP at the END of their turn, hence, a stunned or dazed player still loses their action, but they automatically make the save.

 

[S'mon]

(Edit)And I definately would not give it to monsters. The ability to debuff a creature is associated with powers the players have paid there dues to get. If you give monsters this ability...you neutralise the reward to the player. Doesnt make it an ejoyable experience when you players high five cause you got that daily debuff on a monster, only to have the DM turn around and say "...and then the effect ends"

Well the PCs are only 2nd-3rd level, don't have any such powers AFAIK, and I let them rebuild freely after each session. So they would know about the rule before choosing to take debuff powers.