What do you think about action points?

[Imaro]

This quote is taken from the WotC/headache thread, and I didn't want to derail that thread but I gottta say I agree with everything Wayne says here, and then some. So what do others think of the AP's, Do you use them? Have you changed them, or do you think they're fine as is.

...I'd like to add another "mistake" that bugs me, although I might be the only one: Action Points.

Don't get me wrong, I like the reasoning behind APs but they don't do enough for me. It becomes a contest of trying to meta-game the DC so you know when to use one, rather than use it to do something heroic. Adding a paltry d6 to a roll usually does nothing as you can fail even if you burn one. Plus, they only get used in the "boss fight" because you know that you're probably going to gain a level and restore all of them. I would have preferred something more akin to White Wolf's Willpower system; you can burn one and automatically succeed on something. So it really does let you do heroic things like swing across the 80' pit with the rope or make a running leap off of a tower onto an airship that's starting to pull away.

1. In a nutshell I think a d6 is paltry, especially at higher levels when your bonuses are really high.

2. I hate that they only recycle every level, thus not really facilitating the "pulp" action they we're created for in Eberron.

3. These could have been a real inspiration to do cool things, instead they're largely disregarded by my players(except in a neccesity situation) because the bonus isn't significant enough and you get very few.

 

[wayne62682]

Well I would give my view but.. you already quoted me

I'd like to add that they get a bit better with the Unearthed Arcana version which lets you burn one to emulate a feat that you don't have but meet the prereqs for (although it opens a HUGE can of worms with emulating Sudden Meta-magic feats as you never need to take the non-Sudden version, you'll just be using a lot of APs), but it's still not enough IMO for reasons that were quoted above (most importantly being that adding a d6 isn't enough of a bonus; That's not to say that there hasn't been situations where the AP has turned success into a failure, just that the train of thought went "Hmm.. I know I need to roll a 15 or better to hit this thing based on what we've rolled in the past few rounds, and I just rolled a 14 so I can use an AP to succeed" instead of "I'm going to pull off <insert cool stunt here> because it would be awesome and everyone will enjoy it")

 

[Greg K]

I prefer Mutants and Mastermind's Hero Points.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I like them until the become a crutch, or so common that I see them in use every encounter. I do much prefer mechanics that allow something cool to happen as opposed to a straight +die roll (although I don't mind that for the occasional "save your butt" type situation. In most games I've seen, they are far too prevelant for my liking. Grim Tales take on the DM giving players an AP for screwing them over (confirming a crit against them, or a critical failure) is very enjoyable, I must say.

I think they can encourage sloppy mechanics and gameplay, and can make it much harder for a DM to design encounters.

 

[iwatt]

I prefer Mutants and Mastermind's Hero Points.

Or True20's conviction. They reset with time and when players do something aprropriate to their nature.

 

[WhatGravitas]

1. In a nutshell I think a d6 is paltry, especially at higher levels when your bonuses are really high.

That's my problem as well. The average is 3.5 - hardly worldshaking for such an investment (i.e. very limited resource) - my average d20 will change from 10.5 to 14 - that'll increase the likelyhood to succeed by 27.5% - that's not enough "bang" for such a precious buck.

Additionally, the d20 is already very variable. If you want to use action points, you want to ensure your success. Adding another variable is psychologically not very good - you want something constant out of it.

 

[sckeener]

I give them out as rewards during XP and I also reward players for not wasting them since I hand out more than usual. If they save them up, they can buy an extra feat, use them instead of XP cost spells, etc.

I've got a nice table at home for our house rules.

 

[EricNoah]

I like the concept but have changed it so a) you get one per session and b) it's just an automatic success, within reason (as determined by me).

 

[KidCthulhu]

We've recently gone to using them in Piratecat's campaign, and we really like them. We're playing at Epic levels, and the action points really help bolster that feel. They just give you that extra ability to do something super cool, and that is always good for players and DM.

 

[Kestrel]

I use Piratecat's system. When I gave the players the printout, they went, "Who's Kevin?"

Guess I should have editted it first.