New "use" for Action Points? [Archive] - Wizards Community

New "use" for Action Points? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Ch@pel
10-25-04, 04:37 PM Well, it isn't so much a new in game mechanic for APs, just something I came up with last session to help make the overall game smoother.

One of our regular players was not going to be able to make it to this session and I was not aware of this until the day before the game. I had set up all the encounters under the asumption of four, 4th level players. Now, I usually try make the campaigns and encounters in my game not totally dependant on one player's class abilities or equipment; exactly because it would make the game unplayable should that person ever have to miss a game. So usually, if someone misses a game, and the others were going to go ahead with whatever I had planned for them, the only thing that they would really lose (by not having that person there) would be their raw firepower, the amount of damage that they account for in any given fight. If the person missing is a rogue, they might have to simply attack an enemy camp rather than scout it out efficiently (or simply decide to avoid it altogether), but it should still be doable. (if a little more difficult)

So my solution in this situation was to give the group, as a whole, a number of special action points equal to the missing character's level. These special APs must be used before the end of the session, and more importantly, they can be added to ANY roll, including damage. Other than that, they function exactly like regular action points. This allows the group to make up for the missing person, while still leaving the encounters as they were designed. They get normal experience, divided by the number of people actually playing.

What do you think?
Gadriel
10-25-04, 05:12 PM Sure, I like the sound of your idea, but I'd be wary about the adding to damage part. Just make it so that it never multiplies on a critical hit. Trust me, a Warforged Juggernaut that uses a Dire Pick and does 200+ damage on a critical hit is never fun. Or, allow it to multiply, but always use stuff that's immune to critical hits.
Ch@pel
10-25-04, 05:25 PM Oh, no no no! I'd never let that get multiplied on a crit. That would be senseless. I just wanted to give them some sort of compensation for the missing person. I figure, for four APs, the average damage that they'd be adding is about 13-14, total for the whole session. Thats not nearly equal to the damage a fourth level rogue would normally deal, which is why they still get full experience for the encounters, but it helps.
Amaril
10-25-04, 08:10 PM I would just pull my punches as a DM if I feel things might be too unbalanced.
Ch@pel
10-25-04, 09:58 PM Well, I usually pull punches here and there if the party is really rolling poorly. I'm not one of those DMs who is really trying to kill PCs all the time; I want them to succeed. On the other hand, I don't want to have to modify every single damage roll for a whole session in order to keep them alive. I don't want to have to knock some HP off the top of the bad guys just so the PCs can kill them. The whole point was that I didn't want to have to adjust the encounter I already set up for them. This way, they stand a much better chance of winning an encounter, without me stepping in and helping them out. It gives them the feeling of doing well without me going easy on them; which most observant PCs will usually notice.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Ch@pel 10-25-04, 04:37 PM	Well, it isn't so much a new in game mechanic for APs, just something I came up with last session to help make the overall game smoother. One of our regular players was not going to be able to make it to this session and I was not aware of this until the day before the game. I had set up all the encounters under the asumption of four, 4th level players. Now, I usually try make the campaigns and encounters in my game not totally dependant on one player's class abilities or equipment; exactly because it would make the game unplayable should that person ever have to miss a game. So usually, if someone misses a game, and the others were going to go ahead with whatever I had planned for them, the only thing that they would really lose (by not having that person there) would be their raw firepower, the amount of damage that they account for in any given fight. If the person missing is a rogue, they might have to simply attack an enemy camp rather than scout it out efficiently (or simply decide to avoid it altogether), but it should still be doable. (if a little more difficult) So my solution in this situation was to give the group, as a whole, a number of special action points equal to the missing character's level. These special APs must be used before the end of the session, and more importantly, they can be added to ANY roll, including damage. Other than that, they function exactly like regular action points. This allows the group to make up for the missing person, while still leaving the encounters as they were designed. They get normal experience, divided by the number of people actually playing. What do you think?
Gadriel 10-25-04, 05:12 PM	Sure, I like the sound of your idea, but I'd be wary about the adding to damage part. Just make it so that it never multiplies on a critical hit. Trust me, a Warforged Juggernaut that uses a Dire Pick and does 200+ damage on a critical hit is never fun. Or, allow it to multiply, but always use stuff that's immune to critical hits.
Ch@pel 10-25-04, 05:25 PM	Oh, no no no! I'd never let that get multiplied on a crit. That would be senseless. I just wanted to give them some sort of compensation for the missing person. I figure, for four APs, the average damage that they'd be adding is about 13-14, total for the whole session. Thats not nearly equal to the damage a fourth level rogue would normally deal, which is why they still get full experience for the encounters, but it helps.
Amaril 10-25-04, 08:10 PM	I would just pull my punches as a DM if I feel things might be too unbalanced.
Ch@pel 10-25-04, 09:58 PM	Well, I usually pull punches here and there if the party is really rolling poorly. I'm not one of those DMs who is really trying to kill PCs all the time; I want them to succeed. On the other hand, I don't want to have to modify every single damage roll for a whole session in order to keep them alive. I don't want to have to knock some HP off the top of the bad guys just so the PCs can kill them. The whole point was that I didn't want to have to adjust the encounter I already set up for them. This way, they stand a much better chance of winning an encounter, without me stepping in and helping them out. It gives them the feeling of doing well without me going easy on them; which most observant PCs will usually notice.