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D&D 5E Plot points
- Thread starter cthulhu42
- Start date
Fralex
Explorer
I've used them in two different games. The first one was an Adventurer's League game where plot points could be spent to cause something you envision to happen, but then the person to your left invents a complication to the new development, to balance things out. I used a plot point when we were going through a forest and gradually started encountering more and more giant spiderwebs. I thought to myself, Oh, this is so predictable. We're going to fight spiders. Oh, but what if they were PHASE SPIDERS? And so pale white spiders appeared out of thin air and attacked us! We were actually pretty lucky; I hadn't realized phase spiders were so deadly, but they rolled badly and we got a lot more XP than regular giant spiders would've. It made the battle more interesting, too.
When the spiders first appeared, the player to my left had to come up with a complication to my development, and declared that the sight of the spiders scared me into emptying my entire bowels onto the ground. Which, I mean, it was funny, but it made me feel like my character was a joke and kind of hurt my feelings. But sometimes that just happens when you're playing with people who don't know you that well. That was the only time it was a problem.
Plot points were used several more times, by other players, and although I can't remember exactly how they used theirs I remember liking what they added to the game. Sometimes it was jokes, sometimes it connected a backstory. All in all, I'd say it works. Just add a houserule about not making other people poop (almost every game can benefit from a houserule like this).
In a different game, I tried using the variant where spending a plot point made you the DM, but this didn't work as well because I had already planned out a lot of the story and only I knew what was happening behind the scenes. In the end, we just had me be DM most of the time, but occasionally someone else would take a turn and create the interior of a dungeon we found or something. Maybe if I'd planned to do a collaborative story from the start rather than decide to try it at the last minute it would've worked better. I'd advise people to keep in mind that they can't hide things from the players very long in this variant, so it's best not to have the plot depend on it if you want it to work.
When the spiders first appeared, the player to my left had to come up with a complication to my development, and declared that the sight of the spiders scared me into emptying my entire bowels onto the ground. Which, I mean, it was funny, but it made me feel like my character was a joke and kind of hurt my feelings. But sometimes that just happens when you're playing with people who don't know you that well. That was the only time it was a problem.
Plot points were used several more times, by other players, and although I can't remember exactly how they used theirs I remember liking what they added to the game. Sometimes it was jokes, sometimes it connected a backstory. All in all, I'd say it works. Just add a houserule about not making other people poop (almost every game can benefit from a houserule like this).
In a different game, I tried using the variant where spending a plot point made you the DM, but this didn't work as well because I had already planned out a lot of the story and only I knew what was happening behind the scenes. In the end, we just had me be DM most of the time, but occasionally someone else would take a turn and create the interior of a dungeon we found or something. Maybe if I'd planned to do a collaborative story from the start rather than decide to try it at the last minute it would've worked better. I'd advise people to keep in mind that they can't hide things from the players very long in this variant, so it's best not to have the plot depend on it if you want it to work.
Random Catchphrase
First Post
To be fair every other FFG rpg has some sort of points which players can spend to adjust narrative.
CapnZapp
Legend
It's huge over at the indie rpg scene.
Tony Vargas
Legend
'Plot points' are probably only an option in the DMG as a token inclusion of something from 4e - because critics of 4e complained that a few specific martial exploits were essentially that sort of mechanic (which, of course, was considered anathema to D&D).Yeah, this is pretty common in indie games. It's innovative for D&D, anyway. Well, aside from Paizo's Plot Twist cards...okay, it's innovative for something that says Dungeons and Dragons on the cover.
But, yeah, as has been more than adequately established, not innovative (like a game striving to capture the feel it had 20 or 30 years ago has any reason to innovate). But, hey, at least they're an option.
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