The Power to Do Anything!

[RangerWickett]

The Do Something Cool idea originally cropped up thanks to one of my DMs. I personally was more fond of the shock therapy ninja suggestion, though. We never actually gave the players cards, though. So far my group hasn't seemed to need it.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/254338-do-something-cool.html

 

[LostSoul]

If you want players to think outside the box - outside of the rulespace - you have to make what exists outside of the box have an effect on the resolution of actions.

 

[Umbran]

If you want players to think outside the box - outside of the rulespace - you have to make what exists outside of the box have an effect on the resolution of actions.

Yep. If the GM only thinks in terms of the powers and their stats, then there is only the box. Both the player and GM need to be open to other possibilities for the card (or the idea it represents) to be useful.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

We used to call it "titillating the mind buds".
And a guy at a former workplace would refer to "whipping out the brain chucks".

 

[DumbPaladin]

Hmmm...card names:
"Hey, Watch This!"

I think that's the winner, myself.

"It's Worth a Shot" is the only name that comes to mind.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I think I first heard of this from [MENTION=99]Rel[/MENTION] who had a "Do something Awesome" card. If he drops in he may correct my memory though!

 

[lamia]

As someone who once took the feat "confound the big folk" just because I liked the name, I would suggest "confound the DM".
We all love being surprised by the players, but it's definitely true that creative thinking keeps us on our toes!

 

[Rel]

I think I first heard of this from [MENTION=99]Rel[/MENTION] who had a "Do something Awesome" card. If he drops in he may correct my memory though!

Thanks for the mention, PS.

We ultimately ended up calling ours "Stunts" or "Power Stunts" or "Action Stunts" depending on who exactly was doing the talking. The rule in my game was that you could spend an Action Point plus a Healing Surge to "Do something that fits your character concept, which you don't already have a power card for."

The example I frequently use from one of my games was when they were on an out of control airship that was threatening to crash into a cliff face during a battle. The cleric of the nature goddess wanted to "call upon her link with nature to control the winds" so that they didn't smash into the cliff. She had no specific power cards that dealt directly with wind but it seemed like the sort of thing a nature cleric might be able to do. One Power Stunt later she managed to calm the storm and save the ship.

They were used fairly frequently in my campaign and were generally regarded as the best house rule we made to 4e. My thoughts on the AP + Healing Surge cost for such things rather than simply making them At Will or Encounter was that I wanted them to be special and I didn't want to be adjudicating such things all the time. I also wanted them to give me permission to allow things that I didn't want to set as a precedent and the cost associated with doing them meant that they wouldn't be an all the time sort of action.

 

[nedjer]

Yep. That process is there any time you're trying to get a student to think - from roleplaying exercised to physics problems.

The reason I nitpick on the name is, as you've probably also experienced, if you lather, rinse, and repeat this, and the student notices that they aren't getting it, there's a strong tendency for them to get frustrated, and frustration impedes the process. That particular phrase, IME, tends to get folks to focus on the box, and that they are still in it - focusing on the lack of success, rather than on what they can do to succeed.

The card is, in other ways, a pretty solid idea.

I was in such agreement that I went and spent some of last night roughing out a system of cards for recognising a range of 'creative' solutions. My fantasy RPG of choice has had a mechanic along these lines for years, where players can atone for certain actions by carrying out 'good deeds'/ actions that encourage co-operation and collaboration among players. Extending the notion to cover a wider set of 'desirable' actions that encourage players to collaborate/ get creative took moments. Working out how to apply it as an overlay to any system took a bit longer, but it's looking good enough to try out at this afternoon's Traveller session.

I'm hoping it'll operate as set of grappling hooks, ropes and ladders to help players out of that rut by themselves

 

[Cyronax]

Yeah, I agree that the name is pretty pedestrian. Suggestions? ("Do Something Cool" is already taken.)

The point here, though, isn't to force creativity. It's simply to remind people, as they look at their list of options, that the list is open-ended. It's just a nudge to say "You can do one of these things--or you can do something else."

I'd say call it "Pull A Franklin Richards". If that's too obtuse a comic book reference then how about calling it the "Anti-Rule," as don't follow the rules.

I tried something similar when I introduced the concept of 'Destiny Points' into a 4e campaign I ran in 2009. Basically it was just like the Star Wars SAGA rules' Destiny Point except I didn't really include any rules. It was an ad hoc way for a character to 'go nova.'