Should I add Action Points to my game?

[Nebulous]

What's the GT method?

To put it simply, Grim Tales awards the players AP when the enemy threatens a crit. Rather than confirming the roll (per usual) the DM hands the player an action point and activates the Critical. I'd also award AP for good rp'ing and bonuses. Beyond that, AP's heal 1d6 damage, emulate feats, add to d20 die rolls, etc. I'm adding a few abilities and subtracting others, but in general it's the GT ruleset. I'd like it to be fluid and dynamic, not overly powerful for the pc's, but something for them to fall back on rather than ever escalating magic as the main means of survival.

 

[der_kluge]

I would also add that I removed XP from my game. So I added APs as a way to reward things like puzzle-solving and good role-playing.

 

[WizarDru]

Any feelings on whether the Eberron rules are best, or whether I should use the far more liberal rules from the SRD?

My gut feeling is that Action Points, by and large, encourage more derring do, since the players can influence their chances of a hare-brained action. That's how it's worked out in our Eberron game. The SRD system there is actually closer in concept to Mutants&Mastermind's Hero Points...which is an altogether good thing, IMHO. My main thought with the power boost was the sheer number of action points high-level characters get, coupled with the higher dice values. At their level, wouldn't it be 3d6, not 1d6?

My main concern with adding them might be that it's one more set of modifiers and additives to track, if you use the SRD system. Not that it's a major concern, but it is something to be aware of. When your PCs start making custom excel sheets to calculate their to hits and damage, you want to simplify. That said, from a story standpoint, I like the SRD version more than Eberron's...the latter is more mechanically simple, but the former adds more flavor. Call me a softy, but I like the idea of a player getting an Epic Feat for one round, just to represent that extra effort at the climax of the battle, when all the chips are on the line.

After all, we're the DMs...we're the players biggest fans. We have to be, or we wouldn't keep writing these adventures for them. For me, the biggest question would be...does the fun it adds outweigh any additional bookkeeping or headaches? If the answer is 'Yes', then go for it.

 

[Jdvn1]

Any feelings on whether the Eberron rules are best, or whether I should use the far more liberal rules from the SRD?

I think the more versatile uses of Action Points you have, the better. Eberron Action Points favor fighting-types over casting-types.

 

[BSF]

The more options the better in my opinion. As I mentioned above, I like the Mythic Heroes implementation of Action Points. Emulate a feat, improve your AC, improve a skill roll, improve a save, refresh a limited ability, bypass DR, confirm a crit, all make for some interesting results. If you get a little more liberal, you will also get some interesting ideas from the players.

 

[Aaron L]

Ive been working on a system of action points that tie into the game world. Kind of like Force points. You can use them for the typical action points uses, but you also need to spend them to be raised or resurrected. And once you accumulate enough you gain minor templates to represent the power youre accumulating.

Calling it Ascendancy, or something similar.

Then therell be a decision whether to spend them to gain bonuses, or keep them stored up to keep the benefits of accumulated power.

And then there could be the possibility of a Highlanderish taking of power when you kill someone.


Not sure what I want to do with it, or if it even fits in my world. Still trying to work it out. Im not great at rules design, though.

 

[Piratecat]

No real Dms hand out action points, or gear, magic items, gold etc. The PCs have to earn them.

I dunno, man. I'm pretty secure in my DM-iness.

The question of Action Points ties into my thread here, where I'm considering getting rid of experience points. I feel fairly confident in making the switch, although I want to consider it a bit more before I do. If my players hate the idea, I certainly won't impose it.

 

[Zog]

The standard Eberron model of APs won't cause a major change in the game. Using the far, far more liberal options from Unearthed Arcana, which include regaining just cast spells, using a feat you don't have (which, given Epic feats....), an extra action (move and full attack....), and even, if memory serves, casting a spell using a metamagic feat 'on the fly' (ie, Suddenly), will drastically change the game.

The Shackled City game I'm in has gotten through the first two adventures with minimal difficulty. We had trouble with the climax of the second adventure, simply because we were not prepared. But we surivived running away, came back, and wiped the floor with the opposition. Use of the action points, even at low levels with fewer options, has made the difference on many occasions.

Players have another powerful set of options at their disposal. The limited number of action points simply means they only use them when needed for maximum effect. And the effects, especially at epic levels, can be really incredible. What I would actually recommend, given the 'in game' reason you mentioned above, is to allow in game methods of gaining the use of some of the options. A given character may gain the ability to use Action points for options A,B and C; a second character gets B,D and E, a third gets A, F and G, etc. This allows you to tightly control what options which characters get - and if all goes well, can create ways to allow the characters to grow their list of AP options. And if things get interesting in a bad way, you can have abilities fade away, or simply not increase.

 

[Shade]

I'd recommend the "far more liberal" option. We've been having a blast with them, and it hasn't caused any balance issues.

 

[Nebulous]

I'd recommend the "far more liberal" option. We've been having a blast with them, and it hasn't caused any balance issues.

Have you had players emulate feats alot? I would LOVE to see that happen. With the plethora of unused feats in the system, it would be nice to see some of them used creatively here and there, particularly ones that logic dictates anyone could use. I houseruled that you can use a feat you don't meet the prereq for so long as you keep burning AP for each prereq. Most players wouldn't waste them like that though.