This system is designed to be a replacement to the existing encounter/daily 4e power system, and is designed to address many of the complaints regarding 4e powers. The design goals of this system are:
1. Eliminate the "hard cap" of one use of each encounter (daily) power per encounter (day) - a frequent source of complaints about "unrealism" and lack of flexibility. (And also avoid introducing any additional "hard caps.")
2. Make each power source play a slightly different way, in order to make the power sources more unique.
3. Enable improvised stunts to be easily inserted into the system in a fair way.
Overview
The general idea of the system is that there is no longer a strict one-use-per-encounter (or day) limit on encounter and daily powers. Instead, in order to use powers you must spend TP, or Tactical Points. Tactical Point costs are as follows:
Encounter Power - 2 TP for heroic tier, 3 TP for paragon tier, 4 TP for epic tier. +2 TP additional cumulative cost for each time the same power is used again in an encounter (e.g. a paragon tier power would cost 5 TP the second time it is used in the same encounter, 7 TP the third time, etc.)
Daily Power - 5 TP for heroic tier, 7 TP for paragon tier, 9 TP for epic tier. +2 TP additional cumulative cost for each time the same power is used again in a day.
There are three main ways to spend TP:
1. You can spend TP from your TP Pool. The TP Pool has a maximum capacity of (2 + half level) rounded down, and refreshes after every short rest.
2. You can burn a healing surge to get 2 TP which must be spent immediately, or an action point to get 4 TP. If you do this you do not gain any other benefits of the healing surge or action point, and it does not count against the one action point per encounter limit.
3. You can get bonus TP via the feats below. Bonus TP must be used immediately, and can only be used toward particular powers as described in the feat description.
Overextending
You are allowed to "overextend" - go into negative TP values in the TP Pool. If you are about to use a power that would send you into negatives, you must first make a skill check with a DC of 10 + 4*(number of negative TP points you end up with). For example if you have 1 TP left and are using a 3 TP power, the DC is 18 because you have -2 TP left. If you then used another 3 TP power the DC would be 30 because you would be going down to -5 TP. If the check fails then the action is wasted (though you do not expend any TP) and you cannot try to overextend again this round. Note that if you do not have to spend any TP from the TP Pool because you could get all the TP necessary from (2) and (3) above, then you do not have to make a check even if you are already at negative TP.
Checks needed are as follows depending on power source of power:
Martial - Athletics for Strength based powers, Acrobatics for Dexterity based powers
Arcane - Arcana
Divine - Religion
Primal - Endurance
Bonus TP Feats
Tactical Advantage (Heroic Tier):
Prerequisite: Martial power source
If you have combat advantage against all targets of an attack power with the martial power source, you may choose to gain 2 bonus TP that can be used for that attack instead of the normal benefits of combat advantage. If you have combat advantage against some, but not all, targets, then you only get 1 bonus TP.
Channel Mana (Heroic Tier):
Prerequisite: Arcane power source
You may choose to "channel mana" as a minor action. When you channel mana, gain one mana counter. You take -2 to all defenses per mana counter you have on you. If you take any action other than channeling mana, or get hit by an attack, you lose all mana counters. If you use a power with an arcane power source, each mana counter you have gives you 1 bonus TP towards that power. Also, you may not use a mana counter for bonus TP on the same turn that you gain it.
Combat Prayer (Heroic Tier):
Prerequisite: Divine power source
During a short rest you may say a prayer. When you do so, you get 1 bonus TP toward an appropriate power of the divine power source each time you use one, until you say a different prayer. Available prayers and appropriate powers are as follows:
Prayer of Healing: All powers with the healing keyword.
Prayer of Aid: All powers that provide a bonus to an ally.
Prayer of Smiting: All single target attack powers that do not affect anyone other than the target.
Prayer of Might: All attack powers with the Strength ability score as primary.
Prayer of Wisdom: All attack powers with the Wisdom ability score as primary.
Prayer of Radiance: All attack powers with the Charisma ability score as primary.
Primal Energy (Heroic Tier):
Prerequisite: Primal power source
You may expend hit points equal to 10 percent of your maximum hit point value (rounded up) at any time to gain 1 bonus TP to be used for a primal power source power of your choice. You may do this as many times as you want, including multiple times for one power. This loss of hit points cannot be prevented, reduced, or redirected by any means, and does not trigger any beneficial effects that trigger on damage.
Improvised Stunts
I said up at the top that I would tell you how to incorporate improvised stunts into this sytem and now I will. An improvised stunt must be "paid for" with TP the same way that a power use is paid for. The TP cost of an improvised stunt is equal to the TP cost of a power of the same strength as the stunt, plus 2. For example, an improvised stunt that is about as powerful as a paragon tier encounter power sould cost 5 TP. The cost of an at-will power is 0 TP, of course so the cost of an improvized stunt that is about as powerful as an at-will is 2 TP. (The 2 TP additional cost reflects the an improvised stunt is by definition something that the character ahs not trained for, and will thus have a harder time pulling off than a power that he knows and has practiced. This additional penalty can of course be modified depending on how prevalent you want improvised stunts to be in your campaign.)
Just like with powers, attempting the same stunt again in an encounter gives an additional 2 TP cumulative cost. Of course a character can attempt a different stunt with no additional penalty.
New Feat:
Combat Improvisation (Heroic Tier):
The character is an expert at coming up with improvised stunts. Once per encounter, the character can get 2 bonus TP toward an improvised stunt.
Special: This feat can be taken more than once. Each additional time it is taken, it can be used one additional time per encounter. However each use must be on a separate stunt: a character with 2 instances of this feat can't get 4 bonus TP on one stunt.
1. Eliminate the "hard cap" of one use of each encounter (daily) power per encounter (day) - a frequent source of complaints about "unrealism" and lack of flexibility. (And also avoid introducing any additional "hard caps.")
2. Make each power source play a slightly different way, in order to make the power sources more unique.
3. Enable improvised stunts to be easily inserted into the system in a fair way.
Overview
The general idea of the system is that there is no longer a strict one-use-per-encounter (or day) limit on encounter and daily powers. Instead, in order to use powers you must spend TP, or Tactical Points. Tactical Point costs are as follows:
Encounter Power - 2 TP for heroic tier, 3 TP for paragon tier, 4 TP for epic tier. +2 TP additional cumulative cost for each time the same power is used again in an encounter (e.g. a paragon tier power would cost 5 TP the second time it is used in the same encounter, 7 TP the third time, etc.)
Daily Power - 5 TP for heroic tier, 7 TP for paragon tier, 9 TP for epic tier. +2 TP additional cumulative cost for each time the same power is used again in a day.
There are three main ways to spend TP:
1. You can spend TP from your TP Pool. The TP Pool has a maximum capacity of (2 + half level) rounded down, and refreshes after every short rest.
2. You can burn a healing surge to get 2 TP which must be spent immediately, or an action point to get 4 TP. If you do this you do not gain any other benefits of the healing surge or action point, and it does not count against the one action point per encounter limit.
3. You can get bonus TP via the feats below. Bonus TP must be used immediately, and can only be used toward particular powers as described in the feat description.
Overextending
You are allowed to "overextend" - go into negative TP values in the TP Pool. If you are about to use a power that would send you into negatives, you must first make a skill check with a DC of 10 + 4*(number of negative TP points you end up with). For example if you have 1 TP left and are using a 3 TP power, the DC is 18 because you have -2 TP left. If you then used another 3 TP power the DC would be 30 because you would be going down to -5 TP. If the check fails then the action is wasted (though you do not expend any TP) and you cannot try to overextend again this round. Note that if you do not have to spend any TP from the TP Pool because you could get all the TP necessary from (2) and (3) above, then you do not have to make a check even if you are already at negative TP.
Checks needed are as follows depending on power source of power:
Martial - Athletics for Strength based powers, Acrobatics for Dexterity based powers
Arcane - Arcana
Divine - Religion
Primal - Endurance
Bonus TP Feats
Tactical Advantage (Heroic Tier):
Prerequisite: Martial power source
If you have combat advantage against all targets of an attack power with the martial power source, you may choose to gain 2 bonus TP that can be used for that attack instead of the normal benefits of combat advantage. If you have combat advantage against some, but not all, targets, then you only get 1 bonus TP.
Channel Mana (Heroic Tier):
Prerequisite: Arcane power source
You may choose to "channel mana" as a minor action. When you channel mana, gain one mana counter. You take -2 to all defenses per mana counter you have on you. If you take any action other than channeling mana, or get hit by an attack, you lose all mana counters. If you use a power with an arcane power source, each mana counter you have gives you 1 bonus TP towards that power. Also, you may not use a mana counter for bonus TP on the same turn that you gain it.
Combat Prayer (Heroic Tier):
Prerequisite: Divine power source
During a short rest you may say a prayer. When you do so, you get 1 bonus TP toward an appropriate power of the divine power source each time you use one, until you say a different prayer. Available prayers and appropriate powers are as follows:
Prayer of Healing: All powers with the healing keyword.
Prayer of Aid: All powers that provide a bonus to an ally.
Prayer of Smiting: All single target attack powers that do not affect anyone other than the target.
Prayer of Might: All attack powers with the Strength ability score as primary.
Prayer of Wisdom: All attack powers with the Wisdom ability score as primary.
Prayer of Radiance: All attack powers with the Charisma ability score as primary.
Primal Energy (Heroic Tier):
Prerequisite: Primal power source
You may expend hit points equal to 10 percent of your maximum hit point value (rounded up) at any time to gain 1 bonus TP to be used for a primal power source power of your choice. You may do this as many times as you want, including multiple times for one power. This loss of hit points cannot be prevented, reduced, or redirected by any means, and does not trigger any beneficial effects that trigger on damage.
Improvised Stunts
I said up at the top that I would tell you how to incorporate improvised stunts into this sytem and now I will. An improvised stunt must be "paid for" with TP the same way that a power use is paid for. The TP cost of an improvised stunt is equal to the TP cost of a power of the same strength as the stunt, plus 2. For example, an improvised stunt that is about as powerful as a paragon tier encounter power sould cost 5 TP. The cost of an at-will power is 0 TP, of course so the cost of an improvized stunt that is about as powerful as an at-will is 2 TP. (The 2 TP additional cost reflects the an improvised stunt is by definition something that the character ahs not trained for, and will thus have a harder time pulling off than a power that he knows and has practiced. This additional penalty can of course be modified depending on how prevalent you want improvised stunts to be in your campaign.)
Just like with powers, attempting the same stunt again in an encounter gives an additional 2 TP cumulative cost. Of course a character can attempt a different stunt with no additional penalty.
New Feat:
Combat Improvisation (Heroic Tier):
The character is an expert at coming up with improvised stunts. Once per encounter, the character can get 2 bonus TP toward an improvised stunt.
Special: This feat can be taken more than once. Each additional time it is taken, it can be used one additional time per encounter. However each use must be on a separate stunt: a character with 2 instances of this feat can't get 4 bonus TP on one stunt.
