Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Angered Roach 08-17-04, 01:37 AM	Hey there everyone. We all know and love our friend the Action Point, those handy little d6s that add so much cinematic value to our table-top games. Everything from making that save vs. poison at a critical moment, to making that arrow hit the orc in the eye for sheer badassness. Unearthed Arcana delved a bit deeper into Action Points, showing us ways to temporarily improve a feat via the use of an action point, or emulate one that we qualify for but don't have. Here, i'd like to delve even deeper. Some of this may be unbalanced, I tried my best. Gimme your thoughts and opinions on whether or not this stuff is workable, if you would be so kind. ------------ Escaping Melee Sometimes, that axe is just way too close for comfort, and that blade is about to sink in right where your head is. By spending an action point, a player may take one of the following actions during an opponents attack. These needn't be made before the roll is declared. 1. Roll a Tumble Check. The DC is whatever the opponent's attack roll was. The player tumbles into another square 5 ft. away, unharmed. If he tumbles into a square next to another hostile foe, however, that enemy may take an Attack Of Opportunity against the player. (Ex.: Jack Sparrow The Swashbuckler is going toe to toe with an Orc armed with a Greataxe. Watching his DM make the roll, he realizes it's a critical, so he expends an action point to leap into a square right behind him, out of harms way, or so he thought. A Goblin Rogue was in the shadows waiting for an opportunity to strike, and takes an Attack Of Opportunity against our hero, who is in prime condition for a sneak attack. 2. Not all players are good at tumbling, obviously. Another option is to take a 5 ft step away from the foe, by expending an action point to avoid a particularly nasty strike. Players doing this will draw an Attack Of Opoprtunity, though, and as a bove, they draw an Attack Of Opportunity if they end the turn in a threatened square. (Ex. Sir Lancelot the Paladin is going toe to toe with a most vile Orc, armed with a Greataxe. Sir Lancelots player watches with horror as the DM rolls a 20- A critical. Knowing that Orc could very possibly cleave him in two with that, The player spends an action point to take a 5 foot leap away from the Orc. The orc takes an attack of opportunity against him, his axe glancing harmlessly off Lancelot's Shield. Lancelot, however, did not account for the Hobgoblin in the shadows, who just took an Attack Of Opportunity and thrust it's shortsword into a kink in his armour, applying sneak attack dice to the hit.) Avoiding Blows During an Opponents turn, even after the attack roll has been declared, a player may expend an action point to add a d6 to their Armour Class, thus possibly avoiding getting hit. This may not be done in conjuction with the Escaping Melee rules above. Additionally, this variant works best when used in conjuction with the Players Roll Armour Class variant, but it can work with the standard system as well. In brief, spend an action point during opponent's turn to add a d6 to AC against that attack only. Turning an unfortunate situation into a horrible situation Melee is full of people rolling Ones and Twos and other such attacks destined to miss barring an insanely high Attack bonus. Usually, such things are taken in stride, but a particularly crafty hero can turn these moments of weakness into moments of distaster. An overbalanced swing can be easily parried aside, but cannier heroes dive dramatically out of the way, leaping quickly by an opponent, or even under their legs for larger opponents. By expending an action point during an opponent's turn, a player can roll a Tumble check (DC 10+Opponent's Attack Roll). If they fail, nothing happens, but they're down an action point. If succesful, the player ends up in the square directly behind the enemy. During the player's next turn, whether it's in the next round, or is in the same round, the enemy has their Dexterity bonus to AC denied, and Sneak Attack damage dice may be applied to the attack. While this can be done at any time, it's generally quite difficult to do unless the opponent seriously messed up an attack. -Roach's Note: I find this pretty cool, and think it would be pretty nifty to see in a fight with a giant. This could be turned into a feat, but I think it would be a pretty underpowered feat. *Shrug* (Ex. Hairfoot the Halfling Rogue is fighting an Orc with a greataxe, who rolls a one on his attack roll, equalling a 5 [Bonuses]. Hairfoot knows he can make a DC 15 Tumble check pretty easily so he tosses out an action point, and makes his tumble check, ending up behind the orc. The round ends, and Hairfoot thrusts his shortsword into the orc's back, dispatching him with a sneak attack. ---------------- I might come up with more later, but this is what I got for now. Questions, Comments, Flames, Death Threats welcome. Edit: Broke up the paragraphing a bit more so it's a bit less of an assault on the eyes.
Galen_Michael 08-17-04, 01:57 AM	I like the 5-ft. step variant better than the Tumble variant for Escaping Melee. I like the adding action points to AC variant. I'd probably change the "Turning an unfortunate situation into a horrible situation" variant to something simpler, such as spending an action point to gain an Attack of Opportunity against an opponent who rolls a natural 1 in melee. Great variants, but I think you rely too heavily on the Tumble skill (used in 2 of your 4 variants) which is only in class for 3 classes and cannot be used untrained. Just my $.02 I'd love to see other people's suggestions for new uses for action points as well. I'll try to think of some of my own and post them later. Peace, Galen
Wraithverge 08-17-04, 03:16 AM	Weren't action points first used in the Conan Series of modules for TSR? I think they were called hero points back then. Also I enjoyed your ideas - When I think about action points I have the image of Kurt Russel in "Big Trouble in Little China" catching the dagger thrown at his head by Lo Pan and burying said dagger to its hilt in Lo Pan's skull in one fluid move.
BullyBoy 08-17-04, 05:26 AM	Here's a few from various d20 products. I'll leave out the details to avoid copyright. - Additional Attack - Confirm Critical Threat - Confirm Opponent's Critical Failure - Cancel Opponent's Critical Hit - Add to AC - Improve DC of Spell - Use Untrained Skill - Use Untrained Feat - Reuse a spent Class Feature - Reuse a spent spell spot - Stablize when bleeding - Applied Metamagic to a spell spontaneously - An inspiration check (for when you are stumped) - DM Approved Narrative Control for a single moment - 2 Action Points = Use an Action Point for someone else - Switch Positions with someone else in combat - Take a wound for someone else
q'afuu 08-17-04, 07:19 AM	I dislike many of the extra uses for action points suggested in UA (especially those that allow you to do something you can't normally do rather than improve something you can or improve the chance of something to succeed) but that's neither here nor there. What I specifically don't like about the uses suggested here is that they require player knowledge of DM rolls. I *never* tell my players what I roll, only what the result is, let alone that I'd allow them to see my rolls. I'll give some descriptive info ('the troll easily slams through your defenses') but that's it. Players can (and should) deduce enough info from the results of their own rolls, they don't need info on NPC rolls nor should they get it. YMMV.
Endless_Helix 08-17-04, 08:10 AM	The Action Surge feat covers alot of the "extra" abilities, and is an interesting feat, definately worth taking at higher levels, IMO. The Instant Metamagic is a little overpowered, without a feat, in which case the feat would be severely underpowered, unless it added other things in. The 5-ft step is a good idea, but it is similar to pursue. It's better than it but, such is life. Tumbe is an excellent skill, and I honestly think that most classes benefit from CCing it, paticularly a fighter. Maybe a feat that allows you to do something like 1 AP: Switch combatants with a player within ten feet, you recive all the damage he would have taken. Also it's too bad the cut the lucky mascot feat out, that was what I wanted on my halfling swashbuckler with a bad french accent(bahd frlench Ah-ssent):D .
MarkB 08-17-04, 08:46 AM	A few possible uses - apologies if any duplication, I don't have the book in front of me. :dice: After casting, but before learning the result of an enemy's saving throw, spend a point to add 1d6 to your spell's save DC. (Maybe too powerful with area-effect spells - then again, maybe not). :dice: When combat is declared, but before rolling initiative, declare that you're spending an action point. This adds 1d6 to your initiative roll. :dice: Defensive action. Spend 1 action point to take a non-movement action which would normally provoke AoOs without drawing AoOs. You must take extra care, so the time required for your action increases - move-equivalent actions become standard actions, standard actions become full-round actions. You can expend 2 points to avoid the AoOs without taking extra time. :dice: Cool under pressure. Spend 2 action points to take 10 on a skill check even when under pressure or in combat.
Angered Roach 08-17-04, 08:28 PM	Here's some more uses. Q'afuu, these don't necessarily need knowledge of DM rolls. If you describe the orc as though it were about to slam it's axe into the player's head, then there you go. Myself, I roll dice in combat openly to avoid the temptation of fudging. Different strokes make the world go round... -------- Using uneasy terrain to one's advantage This variant works similiar to the "Making a bad situation worse" variant. When fighting on thin boards, ceiling rafters, trees, beside cliffs, suspended catwalks, basically anything where falling off would result in falling damage. When the opponents attack roll is made you make a tumble check (DC 15+Opponent's Attack Roll) to leap out of harm's way, and you must then make a succesful balance check (DC Varies), as well the opponent. Those who fail the check fall from the surface, and may make a Reflex Save (DC 12+Attacker's Attack Roll) to grab onto the edge. -Roach's Note: A tad clunky and taking a lot of rolls, but then it's for a rarer, very specific situation, so it won't come up every fight, especially when the risk of it backfiring is too big. I'd really like some comments on this one. (Ex. Johnny The Swashbuckler has finally caught up to the evil Blackguard named Horace The Red. They're engaging in an epic fight atop Horace's tower. Lightning strikes above and Horace rolls his attack versus our intrepid hero, coming up with a 9, due to a pretty bad roll. Johnny rolls a tumble check succesfully and leaps out of the way, causing Horace to over-balance and go over, but Johnny makes his balance check. Horace rolls his reflex save and grabs onto the edge, and Johnny steps atop his hand, forcing him to admit defeat, or go over.)
q'afuu 08-17-04, 08:42 PM	Originally posted by Angered Roach Q'afuu, these don't necessarily need knowledge of DM rolls. If you describe the orc as though it were about to slam it's axe into the player's head, then there you go. Not quite true. You'd be giving the players a very good indication of the result of the rolls and moreover, you'll be doing it before the complete round is resolved (since, if such an action point use results in movement, that might change actions from characters further down the initiative stack). I'll describe how easy it seemed for the opponents to hit, and from the damage suffered I'm sure the PCs can figure out whether it was a crit, but that's all after the round is completed. Certainly not in the middle of the round, while players might still get to make their actions for the round.
ChrisTheS 08-17-04, 10:41 PM	My only problem with action points is that I tend to give players automatic success on actions if they describe them cinematically (i.e. in situations where action points would normally come into play). Plus I really hate it when you burn a resource that's supposed to improve your situation and then roll a 1, or get a max roll but it's still not enough to change the outcome: if and when I ever get a chance to run this game, I'm more likely to just make judgement calls when players use their APs.
lord zog 08-22-04, 02:25 PM	That unused action points are lost upon levelling up -- unlike the case in D20Modern, where they at least acrue -- is lame.
Angered Roach 08-22-04, 02:32 PM	I believe it's done like that so players don't get all penny-pinching and hoard their action points, until the epic fight with the BBEG happens and they blow all their 229 Action Points and beat the ever-loving crap out of him. If they don't acrue, it doesn't reward point hoarding (Though some might still conserve action points until they're ready to level and thus may as well blow them.), and you don't have to worry about big challenges being blown because they suddenly use their action points to augment every roll they make.
lord zog 08-22-04, 02:37 PM	That unused action points are lost upon levelling up -- unlike the case in D20Modern, where they at least acrue -- is lame.