Should I add Action Points to my game?

[MavrickWeirdo]

As a player, I have used them typically to

A. Stablize when in negative hp
B. Boost Listen & Spot Checks

So no I have not used them in "Heroic" ways yet.

 

[exile]

I tried using them in a brief Forgotten Realms game that I ran a while back. I wanted the game to walk a fine line between pulp action and Lovecraftian horror. I thought the action points took away from the Lovecraftian horror (as I expected they might) by making the PCs just too potent. I did think they would benefit the pulp feel though, but surprisingly they didn't; they just made it easier for teh characters to kill off NPCs before they could return to plague the characters yet again.
Chad

 

[der_kluge]

I just started using APs with my current campaign. In short, I love 'em.

Like EN, I've found that my players are more apt to take risks if they have a pool of APs under their belt. They get a lot more cautious if they run low.

I'm using Grim Tales' system with a few more additions from Unearthed Arcana.

Basically, they can use APs to:
Re-roll any d20
Add 1d6 to a d20 roll
As a free action, add +4 to their AC
Overcome DR for one round
Heal some amount of hit points (the die used goes up as levels increase) after a combat encounter.
They can automatically stabilize if below 0 hit points.

Mostly, this has worked fairly well, with the exception that I added a few things after the campaign started - overcoming DR being one of them, and they tend to forget about it sometimes.

But, also like EN, I find that I can really not hold back any punches. I let the dice fall where they may, because I know - in general, they can bust out an AP to save their ass. I suspect that there would be at least 3 more deaths in the party had there not been APs in play.

I started them all out with 5, and I award them based on good role-playing or good puzzle-solving. I also give out a few when they advance to a new level.

 

[Graf]

As both a player and a DM in Eberron I find them to be awesome.

Basically, every so often, a character will make a roll that they would have failed (by a small amount and never more than 6 of course).
They add drama and help avoid frustrating (you were going to crit but you missed by one point and then the BBG killed your best friend) and stupid (the rogue misses his DC 10 balance check twice in a row) events.
Basically it’s a small “do-over” if you rolled close to what you were shooting for (or raged as a barbarian too early in the adventure) then you can make a second shot at it.

Unless you’re using other optional rules it won’t unbalance your game.

 

[skippy_the_witch]

I have been using action points in my game since they were introduced in ECS. While I use them pretty much as written in that book, I also found something on I think it was Malhavoc's forum about using APs "before" you roll as opposed to after. So the new house rule has been that if you use an AP BEFORE you make your roll, you get to add 1d10 to the roll (scaled up appropriately as normal, i.e. when the 1d6 becomes 1d8, then 1d10 becomes 1d12 etc). This has been a great success, and encourages players to make use of APs on rolls they absolutely MUST succeed in. In actuality, the most common use of APs is naturally in combat, for making sure they hit, and sometimes allowing for that all but impossible hit to actually have a chance. Strangely enough, the second most often use for spellcasters at least is to overcome Spell Resistance.

I also allow some of the players to spend an action point to get "dreams" or "visions", i.e. GM clues about their current problems and the like. Paladins and other divine casters (I do not allow clerics in my game) find this ability especially useful when confronted with some action that may or may not fit with their beliefs/alignment. Keeps the number of attonements needed at a minimum.

Lastly, for those who spend an action point on a combat roll BEFORE they roll, roll a natural 20 AND a natural 10, I usually come up with something extra special in their crits (since I DO NOT confirm crits...a crit is a crit, as long as it also hits). We just started using the critical hits/fumbles tables printed in the Dragon Compedium, so I don't know how this will effect that yet.

skippy
The GM of The Cursed Earth Campaign

 

[MarkB]

Don't forget the AP feats

I've found them enjoyable and not unbalancing as both a player and DM in Eberron games. Players do take awhile to get used to using them, but our group got over that in a few weeks.

At mid-to-high levels, once you have a reasonable pool of APs per level, the Action Point related feats become effective tools, and I've found myself generally taking at least one by about 12th level.

Action Surge is excellent at turning the course of a combat, giving one extra move or standard action for 2 APs. For the fighter, it lets them close on an opponent and still Full Attack. For the spellcaster, it's effectively Sudden Quicken with a different cost mechanism. In either case, the extra action can allow a player, or even an entire party, to move from a reactive to a proactive footing, changing the tide of a battle.

Spontaneous Casting is also excellent for preparation-based spellcasters - spontaneously converting any known spell for 2 APs means that when you really need it, you'll have the right spell to get the job done.

 

[gunter uxbridge]

We use them in the Scarred Lands game I play in and the generic campaign that I run. Personally, I love them from both a player and DM perspective. Our system allows us to use the points to swap out spells on the fly, recast previously cast spells, emulate feats and character abilities, take extra attacks...all sorts of fun stuff. I think it makes the game a lot more "heroic."

 

[Jedi_Solo]

Our group uses them and I, as a player, like them. They help avoid the 'bad luck' situations and help the PCs be more heroic at times when heroes are needed. It may tip the scales in favor of the PCs - but the PCs are supposed to be the stars and the heroes of the story.

If the front-liner NEEDS to land that hit to save the party - Action Points will help make that dramatic moment succeed and make a story that will be told over and over for years to come as a high point in the session/campaign.

In our group they get a lot of use for the auto-stabalise ability. Losing a PC is never fun unless the player decides to let them go for dramatic reasons.

Sometime the dice just seem to be against you and the players think a dozen or so low level kobalds count take their 20th level characters. Action Points help out when all you need is a 3 and you keep rolling 2s.

I am a player that tends to hold onto the points and then use them up in the last couple of sessions. Sometimes it is because I forget I have them and sometimes it is because "this roll isn't important enough and I may be knocked unconsious later" or something like that. Some of our players run through them quickly. It all depends on play style.

They add a little help when it feels like it is needed (no matter if the help actually is needed or not) and it is quite nice to know the APs are there to help when the dice aren't helping at all.

 

[diaglo]

would you allow your players to give the points to other pcs for use?

i'm not a fan of action points. but if they are used in the setting i can adapt.

do the NPCs get them too?

 

[gunter uxbridge]

As far as "loaning" APs to other players, I would say no. Absoluitely not. No real reason, I just don't like it...that, or make it a 2 for 1 deal. It costs 2 APs to let an ally have the benefit on 1 AP....build in a penalty.

As for NPCs, well...my NPC cohort in the game I play in doesn't have them. Also, when I DM, my NCPs don't have access to them. Heroes only!!!!