Stunt Bonuses

[memesis]

So after some discussion with my DM (and reading the "Heroism" thread posted awhile ago), the idea of heroism as something separate from self-sacrifice was brought up. That is: can you risk your character (especially your "goes well with ketchup" low-level character) in a heroic effort, and STILL come out of it alive?

So here is my offered solution: the DM reviews any action which strikes him as especially heroic, noble, in keeping with the character's goals, or whatever particular guidelines seem fitting for the game. Then he assigns anywhere from +1 to +5 to the roll (or to all the rolls) for that action. e.g. +3 to hit, +3 to do damage in the final battle against an evil vampire, if the paladin leaped in to battle the creature to save some peasants and it's "this hit or nothing", assuming the life-saving rescuing was well-described.

The concept is drawn from other games, with Exalted being my particular inspiration for this. Opinions?

 

[Xarlen]

Another example of this could be the emphamous Death Star Destruction.

Luke Skywalker, taking the one shot of a lifetime, and firing into a 2 meter hole with a missile. It's all up to him. He's got to get through the other Ti-Fighters, and make the shot of a lifetime.

If he really describes himself fighting through the enemy, successfully dodges the blasts, and gets in close, BAM. +3 to the roll for the purposes.

Note, I is memesis's GM, and I like the idea. It's sort've like Shadowrun's Karma point, or some people give out Action points or something.

But, I'd also like to see what Enworld thinks.

 

[Xarlen]

Bump.

 

[Phaedrus]

I think Heroism like you describe (and I, too read the Heroism thread), should be "Rule 0'd."

Let's say you are playing Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars example. You take the shot, the DM gives you +3, and you roll a 1. Time's up! Death Star fires, Yavin is destroyed. Leia, C3PO and all the rebles are dead. Pretty much end of the campaign, right?

Doesn't the DM at this point "have" to make the shot hit?

If your campaign (story line) is dependent on events XYZ occurring, then you have to make sure they do occur. In heroic novels the hero succeeds. He rises to the challenge, and makes the shot when it is required. If you are playing this out, you can't leave it up to a die roll. Success is required to advance the story.

Back to the example... Well, Luke, you missed. Where's the force now, buddy? Your sister's dead, the rebellion is crushed, and you're surrounded by TIE Fighters. What's your next move? (And by the way, Han Solo failed to hit that TIE Fighter chasing you, so Darth Vader is still on your tail. And Oh No! He just rolled a 20 to hit you!)

 

[Xarlen]

Then I guess we should never give PCs a chance to do an all or nothing. For that matter, I guess we shouldn't use dice, because well, they can fail pretty easily, huh? Go back to hacking orcs. La de da.

 

[Technik4]

I dont think a heroic re-roll is too inconceivable for the "do-or-we-all-die" scenarios. I like the "stunt" or hero bonus, but personally would just go with a solid +2. IE-its the last fight, the character describes everything in depth with realism and heart, +2 bonus to hit and damage the vampire. Naturally I would factor these in and may describe it to the character without actually telling him what bonus was assigned. In other words, the character rolls the die adds his bonuses, realizes based on past hits that he missed, dejectedly anounces his attack roll, and I explain that his roleplaying added a bonus, roll damage.

However, I would personally cap this at a +2 (or maybe +4, if it was truly impassioned and/or heroic). The caveat being that campaigns really dont end when the death star doesnt get destroyed (there are more rebels, more heroes rising to the challenge and perhaps it is delayed by forces from within) but there are consequences for overly heroic types (who might seek to gain such a bonus more frequently than it is intended). For these I might give them a bonus with a commensurate penalty, say -4 AC till next turn, or at the end of your maneuver you find yourself with your sword sticking out of the wall, or somesuch. Thus the vampire may be destroyed thanks to the paladin's heroism, but next round the vampire's minion, the mummy gets a full-round of attacks while the paladin is at -4 AC.

I hope that made half as much sense as it did in my head...

Technik