Post/Author/DateTime	Post
SirPudding 01-13-06, 11:24 PM	Is anyone familiar with dramatic editing a la Adventure D20? It may not be part of the open gaming license but a homebrew version might fit well in eberron. Dramatic editing is a game mechanic that explains the fantastic and even deus ex machina of the pulp genre. It uses action points similar to Eberron that allows the players to make small re-writes in the game. For instance a player falling from an airship may spend an action point to say he lands on a large bail of hay or a party lost in the desert "suddenly remembers" an oasis he found during his tour of duty during the last war. how much of a stretch the edit is determines how much it costs. This may make action points much more valuable. Whatcha Think?
talion09 01-14-06, 03:01 AM	We used a similiar idea for action points during our last campaign, and it worked well.
ChronosCrow 01-14-06, 04:09 AM	Is anyone familiar with dramatic editing a la Adventure D20? It may not be part of the open gaming license but a homebrew version might fit well in eberron. Dramatic editing is a game mechanic that explains the fantastic and even deus ex machina of the pulp genre. It uses action points similar to Eberron that allows the players to make small re-writes in the game. For instance a player falling from an airship may spend an action point to say he lands on a large bail of hay or a party lost in the desert "suddenly remembers" an oasis he found during his tour of duty during the last war. how much of a stretch the edit is determines how much it costs. This may make action points much more valuable. Whatcha Think? This sounds very interesting and something I think that my players would be happy to hear about. As a DM I have to worry about this being absued or overpowered so I'd like to see some more text on this idea before I'd consider letting be a permanent part of my game.
The Necromancer King 01-14-06, 08:24 AM	I've been using Dramatic Editing systems since the original Adventure! came out. The one that used White Wolf's dice pool system. They've been a huge influence on the underground role-playing scene (and prompted discussions about system, authority, authorship and all sorts of other nifty theory bits), and add quite a bit to the game, so far as I'm concerned. They don't just explain the strange plot twists that help characters in more novelized fiction; they provide a structured way to encourage those kinds of developments. The problem with implimenting a dramatic editing system in Eberron is that Action Points are only ever recharged when a character gains a level, making each AP that much more important. Simply changing this to a session-by-session thing (or using AP as a reward for "dramatic" role-playing) solves the problem, but is a far departure from the normal rules. But let's take a look at them anyway. EBERRON DRAMATIC EDITING Action Points: Action Points are now awarded to a character at the beginning of every session. The amount of Action Points gained remains the same When a player engages in particularly dramatic role-playing (such as witty repartee with the antagonist, an emotional discussion with his father, or just an in-party conversation that advances the plot), their character may, at the DM's discression, gain an action point. A character cannot have more action points than her total. Uses for Action Points: As per the normal uses of Action Points, as described in the ECS, a character may use action points to perform an extra attack or move action, use a class ability or dragonmark one more time per day, and add the result of 1d6 to the roll of any d20 roll. A character may also use Action Points for the following: I'm OH-Kay!!: For the cost of five Action Points, a character that is dying or unconscious may become stabilized and conscious. Regardless of the character's current hit points, she will be brought up to 1 hit point and be capable of performing normal actions and movement. The character remains unconscious for the remainder of combat, but will, when the fighting has ceased, crawl out of a pile of rubble with the explaination "I think I'm ok." Influence: For the cost of one action point, a character may shift the attitude of one NPC by one level of reaction. Friendly NPCs become helpful, unfriendly NPCs become hostile, etc. Great for those parties equipped with the Mouthful of Feet. Impossible Stunt: For the cost of three Action Points, a character can do the impossible. Run up a wall, leap between distant buildings, walk a tightrope in a storm on a swaying boat; some seriously crazy kung-fu stuff. Roll for the result as normal, but reduce the DC to 15; you cannot take 10 or 20 when doing the impossible. Critical Success: Spend one Action Point. Roll an extra d6 with your d20 as per normal. Rather than add the result of the d6 to your roll, treat the d6 as a 'crit die.' If the result of the action is a success, the d6 determines how well the action was performed; a one indicates a narrow margine of success, while a six is an incredible success and should be suffixed with "and you look good doing it." If the action is a failure, the d6 determines how poorly the character failed. A one indicates a near-miss, while a six indicates a horrible failure that further complicates the situation. With multiple action points, always take the highest of the rolls, even if that means a horrible critical failure. Critical Successes cannot be used in combat; only for skills and related abilities. Burst of Health: For seven Action Points, a character can recieve the 'burst of health' seen so often in the best action/adventure movies. Though the bads have been beating on the character horribly, he suddenly finds a reserve of strength and vitality, and battles with renewed vigor and strength. Gain 10 temporary hit points, and recieve a +2 bonus to any attribute for the duration of combat. Plot Twist: Spend seven Action Points to find the missing clue, stumble across the bad guy's Lair of Evilness, chance on a shipment of that spice you were sent to find, or have some other strangely beneficial thing occur. This can be anything from a sudden escape route unveiling itself to you, to the Corpse Crab dying from heart failure when half your party's down. As always, it's totally up to the DM whether or not what you want to have happen, does. (As a note to DMs, we are trying to facilitate dramatic play, not stamp it down, so if the players come up with a good plot twist, run with it. Sometimes, they're more trouble than their worth. ^__^) Return from the Grave: It wasn't really you in that explosion; it was your evil twin, Skippy. You found a back way out of the lich's lair, one that even he did not know about. You weren't dead at all, but instead in a deep sleep, and clawed your way out of your own grave. A group of gnome-hippy-clerics found your wasted body inside the Temple of Badness, and gifted you with renewed life. Whatever the explaination, you're back from the dead. Spend 15 Action Points, and only at the DM's discression. And try to come up with a good story for why you're not actually dead anymore. Those are just my suggestions. As a limited resource, Action Points can be used for a huge range of things, from the relatively simple (as per the ECS), to the slightly more complex, game-wise (Return from the Grave...). I run my games pretty fast and loose; when someone wants to do something outrageous, I come up with an Action Point cost off the top of my head. As a great example, one of my players decided to take a swan dive off a flying carpet to sneak-attack a glidewing in flight. A couple of Action Points later, he was airborne and kiling dinosaurs. *shrug*
Romulus LoneWolf 01-14-06, 09:49 AM	Necromancer King, I definetly like your ideas, and I'm going to use them for my upcoming Eberron campaign. The "I'm Ok" rule will especially be useful since our group only has one healer, a Mystic Ranger 4/Artificer 1. Unearthed Arcana also has a lot of optional ideas for using Action Points, such as: -Activate Class Ability: spend 1 AP to use a "uses per day" ability one more time -Boost Defense: spend 1 AP as a free action to double the normal benefits for fighting defensively for the entire round (+4 dodge bonus to AC; +6 if you have 5 or more ranks in tumble) -Emulate Feat: Spend 1 AP as a free action at the beginning of your turn to gain the benefit of a feat you don't have, so long as you meet the prerequisites for it. -Extra Attack: During any round you take a full attack action, spend 1 AP to make an extra attack at your highest attack bonus. Both for Melee and Ranged attack. -Spell Boost: spend 1 AP as a free action to increase the effective caster level of one of your spells by 2. This must be done before casting the spell. -Spell Recall: If you prepare your spells, you can spend 1 AP to recall any spell you just cast. The spell can be cast again later with no effect on other prepared spells. This use of an AP is a free action and can only be done in the same round that the spell is cast. If you cast spontaneously, you can spend 1 AP to cast a spell without using one of your daily spell slots. -Stable: Anytime you're dying, you can spend 1 AP to become stable at your current HP total. (This is basically like "I'm Ohkay", but not as good.)
cuhullen 01-14-06, 10:37 AM	Good thread. 7th sea had a system much like this that I really enjoyed. I like the action points of Eberron but have been thinking that they were a bit limited.
jknevitt 01-14-06, 11:53 AM	7th Sea's Drama Dice were a bit like this too. I really like the above ideas re: Action Points use. I'm also planning on using Spycraft v2's 'Campaign Qualities' to further customize the whole thing.
ChronosCrow 03-29-06, 06:39 PM	Does anyone else have any ideas of some Dramatic Editing uses for Action points? Or other fluff like elements to add to this concept?
DoveArrow 03-30-06, 01:41 PM	I got this idea from the Campaign cards they use in the RPGA. Basically, what I've thought about doing is buying one of the "Dork20 (http://paizo.com/store/brand/dorkTower/v5748btpy73yo)" decks of cards, from Atlas Games, and distributing a random card from the deck for each action point my players have. When choosing to use an action point, they can either use it regularly to modify any d20 roll, or they can use it to activate the power on the card. I know some of the special powers are a little bogus, so I may decide to up the number of action points they have to expend based on the power of the card, but it's something I've considered.
CameronVk 03-30-06, 02:12 PM	I got this idea from the Campaign cards they use in the RPGA. Basically, what I've thought about doing is buying one of the "Dork20 (http://paizo.com/store/brand/dorkTower/v5748btpy73yo)" decks of cards, from Atlas Games, and distributing a random card from the deck for each action point my players have. When choosing to use an action point, they can either use it regularly to modify any d20 roll, or they can use it to activate the power on the card. I know some of the special powers are a little bogus, so I may decide to up the number of action points they have to expend based on the power of the card, but it's something I've considered. I did something like this in a campaign once, I made a deck of "Action Cards" and the players got one card at the beggining of each session. There were cards ranging from +1 to any action to plot twist cards. They became almost a sub/meta game on top of the campaign and the players loved them. I took the first draft from the Torg game and adapted them for my use.
realdm 03-31-06, 03:35 AM	uh, blown away by what I read, necromancer king congratulations, its a very well made set of rules. compliments to all of you for this thread. Cameronvk I did something like this in a campaign once, I made a deck of "Action Cards" and the players got one card at the beggining of each session can you please explain in detail? I am very interested.Thanks
Dex 03-31-06, 04:05 AM	Hey, I made a whole bunch of these just recently. My version was basically a blend of the Book of Roguish Luck's Luck Points, and Eberron Action points. So far, they're working well.
Esgay 03-31-06, 05:12 PM	I'm currently playing in a serenity/firefly campaign and the rules use plot points which are essentially used to give your character that extra edge, advance the story, things like that. It gives examples such as recognising the barman as an old war buddy, or just happening to have packed the right tool for the job this morning, maybe for a few plot points that mook has a twinge of conscience instead of shooting you. little things like that make the game seem more dynamic and the pcs more heroic. tha's why i'm letting my PCs spend action points in the same way as plot points, it changes them from adventurers into big damn heroes.
The Necromancer King 04-01-06, 01:32 PM	Serenity's plot points are fairly heavilly based on Hero Points as taken from Eden's Buffy, Angel and Armageddon games. About the only thing I can say about Serenity that makes it more Eberronesque is that if you picked up the crew of the Serenity and dropped them on an airship, they'd fit perfectly (whereas Buffy and Xander might take some tweaking. :P) Action Points, to a degree, are already a Dramatic Editing system. It's nowhere near so pronounced as in the games listed above (or, as mentioned earlier, 7th Sea), but the rule allows you to break other rules in favor of your character. Modifying the rule to better fit your game's needs... Well that's part of our art, isn't it? Part of why we sit on these forums and argue about rules? Ultimately, if you really wanted to, you could completely replace a game with Dramatic Editing. I've seen games written with all of three rules, and most of those can be broken through the DE system. How far you want to take it, and the specifics of your editing system, are really up to you. If you can get the RPG.net columns section working (there was a PHP error when I was trying to find my reference), there is a great essay on Dramatic Editing and how you can design it to fit your game. I think the column is defunct now, but it was called The Chop Shop when it was up and running. Might give you some ideas.
Tonpa 04-01-06, 01:46 PM	I myself like the hero point system in Mutants and Masterminds: Pushing It to the Limit: Extra Effort & Hero Points http://www.mutantsandmasterminds.com/super-vision/000195.php They basically let you do the things that action points let you do with some feats in Eberron, plus some additional thing. The rules, or really pseudo-rules, for gaining more are very cinematic too. Good system otherwise too. The Rewards of Heroism: Earning Hero Points http://www.mutantsandmasterminds.com/super-vision/000196.php