I don't quite understand milestones

[Bison]

So you guys can save up all of your action points and then unload on a boss and kill him before he even gets a turn?

arent you already limited to spending one action point per encounter?

 

[ozziewolf]

arent you already limited to spending one action point per encounter?

Not if they're house ruling it so that you can use more than one per encounter.

 

[Rith the Wanderer]

So you guys can save up all of your action points and then unload on a boss and kill him before he even gets a turn?

Yep, you see, we hate playing. We really just wanna get it over with and be able to say that we killed the really tough enemies to all our friends.

Seriously, be a little more suspicious. So far, it has never been a problem. We've only played about 15 encounters, and we've yet to fight a lone BBEG type encounter. If it is so ridiculous we'll change it. As of yet, it hasn't been broken at all. Also note that our DM doesn't really lead up to a super difficult encounter. They're pretty uniform throughout the "day" with the harder ones not necessarily being after the easier ones.

 

[ozziewolf]

Yep, you see, we hate playing. We really just wanna get it over with and be able to say that we killed the really tough enemies to all our friends.

Seriously, be a little more suspicious. So far, it has never been a problem. We've only played about 15 encounters, and we've yet to fight a lone BBEG type encounter. If it is so ridiculous we'll change it. As of yet, it hasn't been broken at all. Also note that our DM doesn't really lead up to a super difficult encounter. They're pretty uniform throughout the "day" with the harder ones not necessarily being after the easier ones.

It's not about being suspicious, if it works for you guys that's great and ultimately that's what matters. I'm just saying it has a very high potential of trivializing any difficult encounter. (Not just solo boss encounters.)

 

[neobolts]

First off, just beyond the sentences in question is a third sentence that seems to clear things up.

"If the characters complete multiple encounters
without resting, they reach milestones. “Reaching a
milestone” means completing two encounters without
taking an extended rest. For every two encounters
the characters complete between extended rests, they
reach a milestone." (DMG p123, emphasis mine)

Unlike the ambiguous wording of the previous two sentences, the phrase "for every two encounters" would seem to indicate non-overlapping pairs, i.e. 12121212.

That said, I wanted to jump in and add that milestone awards are highly flexible. The section "Varying Action Point Awards" has DMs considering the milestoneworthiness (making up words is fun) of encounters. It encourages that milestones be connected to encounter difficulty, using the "every two" as a baseline.

 

[Rith the Wanderer]

It's not about being suspicious, if it works for you guys that's great and ultimately that's what matters. I'm just saying it has a very high potential of trivializing any difficult encounter. (Not just solo boss encounters.)

See, that would be a perfectly valid response. And I would've responded, good to know, I'll watch out for that. That could be an unintended result of this house rule which was intended to reward continued encounters without resting. Start out with that one next time.

 

[Lackhand]

See, that would be a perfectly valid response. And I would've responded, good to know, I'll watch out for that. That could be an unintended result of this house rule which was intended to reward continued encounters without resting. Start out with that one next time.

"... please."

Welcome to the boards!

 

[ozziewolf]

See, that would be a perfectly valid response. And I would've responded, good to know, I'll watch out for that. That could be an unintended result of this house rule which was intended to reward continued encounters without resting. Start out with that one next time.

I mentioned the same thing further up in the thread and you chose to ignore it and just respond with more snarkiness. That's not even etting into the fact of how obvious the problem is. When the issue of trivializing the encounters comes up and I'm sure it will, I can tell you a very easy fix to balance the problem. You can just make the action point usable once per encounter. Wait a second...

They're not going to use them on easy to normal encounters... so where else would they use these horded points besides difficult encounters to make them easy?

 

[neobolts]

Can we bury the social discourse debate and talk some more about milestones?

I'm curious if anyone else is using the "Varying Action Point Rewards" rules or if they are sticking to the every other method. Which method do people prefer?

 

[Journeymanmage]

It's ment as 12121212 not 123456... why do people insist on trying to break the game in their favor? The rule clarification may be a little shady but the intent is crystal clear.

To paraphrase Ozziewolf: "1,2" done .... at 2 uninterrupted encounters you get your milestone and reset the counter.

Also if you rest, reset the (counter).

You could go: encounter 1 (1), rest (0), encounter 2 (1), encounter 3 (2). Tada, encouter 3 is when you hit the milestone!