The Bank: An action point-alternative

[Asmor]

Here's an idea I had for something that could easily be adapted to any system, but as this is a D&D board I think applying it to D&D is appropriate...

Each player begins every session with a 1 in the Bank.

After making any d20 roll (GM's discretion, to avoid abusing the system with frivolous rolls), but before finding out if the roll succeeded or not, the player may "Bank" the roll.

When a roll is Banked, you act as if you rolled whichever number was in your Bank, and the number you actually rolled is now the number in your Bank. In essence, you swap your rolled number for your currently Banked number.

Treat a Banked roll as if it were actually rolled. For example, a Banked 20 counts as a natural 20, and so will always cause a saving throw or attack roll to succeed.

Example

Johnny starts the game with a 1 in the bank. In the first encounter, he rolls a natural 20 for initiative. He decides to bank the 20, so now that 20 is in his bank and he acts as if he rolled a natural 1 on initiative. He adds his normal +5 initiative modifier, so Johnny's initiative for the combat is 6.

Later on, Johnny really wants to make sure he kills a goblin before it has a chance to sound an alarm. He makes an attack roll and gets a 17. Though he suspects that would have hit the goblin, he decides to Bank it, putting the 17 in his Bank and acting as if he'd rolled a natural 20.

He then rolls to confirm the crit-- a 5. Even with his +7 attack bonus, he's not sure if the 5 will be enough to confirm it, so he decides to Bank it. Now he's got a 5 in his bank, and his confirmation roll is 17, +7 for attack bonus is 24. The DM announces that he successfully critted the goblin and gutted the nasty little bugger.

Motivation

Much like action points, the idea of this system is to give the players some control over the fates of their characters. They have more control than the action point system, and the bank is a resource which never runs out. On the flip side, it is something the player has to manage, and this means that at least once they're going to have to accept failure where they would have succeeded in order to load the bank with a good roll.

 

[deanruel]

I'm sorry but the system as presented just doesn't work. When looking at it in the context of a single fight it works allright, but in an entire game it's almost entirely unusable. I can take my one to fail at just about anything and then bank a decent number to be used later on. The level of control is too high especially when applied across an entire game. There are a few ways to make it usable but they require some changes. For instance if the player wasn't allowed to know what number they were "banking" then it might work. You take a 1 on something that doesn't matter to get a potentially decent number on something you need to get an ok roll on later. It might also work in the space of a single encounter only. Like you get a 1 in your bank at the beginning of every fight and lose whatever is in your bank by the end. That way you fail at something and then later can maybe use your "banked" roll when you need it.

There are likely other options as well. It could be a really interesting system and idea it just needs a little tweaking is all.

 

[Cheiromancer]

Three things I like about the idea;

1. That banked numbers reset. Reduces the temptation to hoard them- I wonder, though, if each session is too fast?

2. That they start out as a 1. I like the notion that there is a cost to the player- in exchange for a success when it counts, you need to absorb a failure.

3. Dramatic arc. The hero suffers set-backs and misfortune early on, but triumphs in the end.

I am a little concerned about the fact that a trivial failure could be used to start the ball rolling. If the success is going to be dramatic (a 20 when it counts) the initial failure should be significant to the plot.

One system for action points (Monte Cook's?) gives them to players when the DM pulls a nasty trick on them. Maybe something similar could work for banked numbers. So if the DM wants them to overlook something he could say "OK, everybody make a spot check... you all fail. Bank those rolls." Or "The mummy's blow connects... make a saving throw. Bank that roll- you have mummy rot." Or something like that. It would prevent the problem of trivial failures, and it would help the dramatic arc.

I would propose that you should be able to have more than one banked number, and that they reset at the end of every story line (or maybe at the next level of experience). Just based on the dramatic qualities. Per session would be too short- if they get banked rolls when they are captured by slavers, they should be able to use those rolls the next session, when they take their revenge.

 

[Asmor]

Something which was suggested in another place I posted this was a 10/20 rule, where you can only use the bank on rolls where you can't take 10 or 20. That preserves the spirit a bit since you can only take 20 when there's no consequence of failure, and the bank demands a consequence for failure.

Another important consideration is group checks... If everyone's rolling spot, even if you rolled the highest it's probably not going to be that bad if you bank your roll.

I think the simplest fix is to prescribe which rolls are allowed to use the bank. For example, you may only use the bank on initiative, attack rolls (including confirming crits), saving throws, and caster level checks.

Another idea I had is that you allow people only to bank a number higher than their currently banked number. For example, if you've got a 15 in the bank, you can switch that 15 for a 17 you just rolled. If you bank out a high number in favor of a low number, your bank is reset to 1, so in the example above when Johnny banked out his 20 to ensure a critical threat, instead of putting his rolled 17 in the bank he now has a 1 in the bank again. This allows people to keep raising their bank, but ensures that when they "use it" they've gotta take another failure before they can start again.

Alternatively, and perhaps simpler, completely ditch "switching," and don't bother with having a 1 in the bank at the beginning. Instead, you can bank any roll, but if you do you treat it as if you'd rolled a 1. Then later on you can use your banked roll as normal, but now your bank is empty. You can only have 1 roll banked at a time, and if you bank a different roll it "overwrites" any previous ones.

 

[Pyrex]

The problem is that's it's very easy to "buy off" the 1 that the bank starts with by expending it on an inconsequential roll.

Similarly, trading up the banked roll is frequently cost free (say you need to roll an 8 to hit, have a 10 in the bank and roll a 20 against a nearly-dead minion).

It also leads to some savage min-maxing with, say, Power Attack...

Edit:
The thought occurs to me that there is a simple solution that reduces the worst of the min-maxing, and distills the concept to it's barest essence.

At any time, the player can just declare a natural 20. Each time he does so, the DM gains a token which he can use to declare any roll made by that player to be a natural 1.

 

[Asmor]

Interesting idea... I like it better than the reverse, as Cheiromancer suggested, of letting the DM tell people they fail and then they get credit for later... That seems heavy-handed and railroady, while letting the players take the 20 first feels more like a case of "be careful what you wish for."

Of course, that could be abused too just by saying "I take 20" on every single roll. I'd suggest either not letting them take 20 again until the DM uses his token, or putting some limit on the frequency (such as only usable once per encounter, or 3 times per session).

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

I actually hate action points, but I think I like this. I don't think it's abuseable so long as the players practice common sense.

Player: I take 20 on a Pick My Nose check, then bank it!
GM: Alright, but first you have to swallow this stainless steel d4 I special ordered for you...

TS

 

[Asmor]

Okay, I've been thinking a lot about Pyrex's idea, and here's how I'd implement it.

Before making any roll, a player may Call on Fate and declare the result of it. For example, before making an attack roll or a saving throw, the player may simply say "I roll 20."

When the player does this, they become Marked. At any time, before a player who is Marked makes a roll, the GM may Seal Their Fate and declare the result of it. For example, "Okay, the mummy hits you. You need to make a saving throw, but since you're Marked you roll a 1. You now have mummy rot."

After a player's Fate is Sealed, they are no longer Marked.

You can only be Marked once at any given time, and while Marked you cannot Call on Fate. After the GM Seals your Fate, you may Call on Fate again.

 

[Pyrex]

Works for me.

 

[Mark Chance]

I like the Marked-Fate system. It's simple and quick to implement.

Regarding banking dice rolls, how about having the bank reset to 1 after each encounter? How do you all think that would balance the idea?