I just wanted to take a second to talk about the Action point/Character Traits/etc etc business.
What Rel is trying to do sounds a lot like Spirit of the Century/Dresden Files RPG's "Aspects".
[sblock]In this system, when you create your character, you get to write down 5-10 adjectives/phrases that describe Who Your Character Is. "Stubborn as a Mule" "First on the Scene" "Smartest Man in Two States", etc.
At the beginning of each session, everyone gets 5 Fate Points. Fate points are the fuel of the system, and they do one or two things unrelated to aspects*, but I'm focusing on that right now. You can use these points to "Tag" an aspect to give yourself a bonus when doing something related to an Aspect. When you tag, you either get to reroll the dice you rolled for your action, OR gain a +2 to the roll. This is a big thing, because all rolls are skill+(4d3-8). For instance, you could tag "Stubborn" if someone is trying to intimidate you, and get a bonus. Your group could be running towards a fire, and you could tag "First on the Scene" and just arrive there before anyone else, and get to act first. Or your character may need to deactivate an alien bomb, and your "Smartest Man" could be argued to be smart enough to figure out the alien configuration of the bomb for defusing it.
The DM can also compel these aspects. This means that he invokes your Aspect to complicate things. If there's a negotiations where the outcome is in the PC's favor, the DM might compel your "stubborn" aspect to make you resist when it's in your best interest not to. He could compel your "First on the Scene" so you walk into an ambush alone, with your group delayed. Your "Smartest Man in Two States" could be compelled for you to leap before looking, because you're too confident in your smartness. When a DM compels your Aspect, you get a free Fate Point. However, if you want to say "No, I'd like to not do that", you have to instead pay a fate point.
Aspects (and Compels) can even account for rivals, your arch nemesis, etc. If the Dm is going to use these, then he gives you a free fate point at the beginning of the adventure; your rival/nemesis is working behind the scenes.
Players also gain a free fate point if they just roleplay in accordance to their Aspects, without needing to be compelled. Like Rel's example of a guy stopping to drink once they find the casks of alcohol. Of course, the DM could still compel the lover of alcohol to stop right there and drink it, when the PCs are in a hurry to go somewhere.
There's a whole lot more to it than that**, but it's not relevant to what Rel is doing. Aspects (and the Fate Points that are used to activate them) are one of the biggest parts of the system, rather than an add-on like they are being treated here. Not to mention PCs get lots more fate points than they do Action Points in D&D. But, I could definitely see using Aspects as they are, especially since Rel is incorporating them into Stunts.
*Fate Points also work to allow PCs to have a certain narrative control of the story. You can spend a fate point to make a declaration. For instance, if your PC does not smoke, but having a lighter would be very useful at that moment, you spend one and declare, "My character whips out a lighter from his pocket." Or, if your character is not in the current scene, you could spend a fate point and arrive at a dramatic moment.
**For instance, a place can have an Aspect like "Full of Shadows" which a PC can tag when he's trying to be stealthy, granting him a bonus to his stealth roll. Players and enemies can induce aspects; throwing sand in someone's eye can give them the "Blinded" aspect, so the next PC can tag that Blinded aspect to give him a bonus on his next attack, or if the "Blinded" enemy is going to attack, the PC could tag the "blinded" aspect to give himself a boost to his defense ("He is more likely to miss me because he's got grit in his eye!") Players can also try to figure out the aspects of villains, and tag/compel them.[/sblock]
