Action points to replace crafting experience cost [Archive] - Wizards Community

Action points to replace crafting experience cost [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
greatamericanfolkhero
11-08-06, 07:27 PM I use the action point variant from Unearthed Arcana (5+ (lvl x .5) rounded down). I call that their level pool, those are “use it or lose it” and refill every time they level. I also award action points which go in an “earned pool” and don’t go away unless they spend them.

Because of the nature of the game I run, everyone stays at the same level, and the same experience. This is because there are people who can’t make it every week, but still show up at least once a month (I run the game weekly) and I didn’t want them to fall behind. Because of this I instead reward the players who can make it to the games with action points.

Now that the group has hit sixth level, they are starting to want to use item creation feats. I was thinking that, because of the way I’m handling experience, crafting should instead cost action points. I would allow people other than the crafter to contribute points into the creation so the party wizard doesn’t have to use all of his action points creating a sword for the fighter, who would still have all of his, for example.

My question is, how much experience should an action point be worth for crafting purposes? Or, instead of saying that an action point is worth X experience would you just charge action points directly based on an item’s price (such as one action point for every X gp of the item’s value)?
Seldriss
11-13-06, 11:41 AM You can check the Player's Handbook for the equivalence between XP and levels.
Once you determine the "level" value of a crafting, you can state that this is the cost in Action Points.

Ex : Let's say a crafter wants to make something up and that the XP value would be 36.000xp, that's the equivalent of level 9, so he needs to burn 9 Action Points.
User5127
11-14-06, 12:04 AM I'm not sure on how to use actions points for crafting xp. but there is also a craft variant in UA iirc.

and there is a book called: Advanced Gamemasters Guide. in there there is a variant for XP dept. basically a character doesn't actually lose XP, but they accrue an XP dept, wich they can then burn off by gaining XP. this prevents players from leveling down. and a character can use XP to create magic items once they level up. A character can't spend more than half their total XP on item creation. and a character who's xp dept is equalt to their xp total dies.
level loss is a hit to the dept.. and same with raise dead iirc.
Sildatorak
11-17-06, 06:07 PM I use the action point variant from Unearthed Arcana (5+ (lvl x .5) rounded down).
I have to ideas on how to deal with this, based on the idea that action points should be worth about 1/5th to 1/15th of a level each (assuming levels 1-20). Both ideas have the AP scale up in value as the characters level. Basically, what counts as a "heroic deed" worthy of an action point will go up as the characters level, so a level 20's AP should individually be worth more than a level 1's.

The simple way is just to call each AP 1/10th of a level, splitting the difference between 1/5th and 1/15th. Since levels become increasingly valuable, this means that each AP is worth 100*level xp for crafting.

The complicated way is to figure out how much each AP is worth based on the level and the number of AP they get. So a level 1 AP is worth 200 xp (1000 xp for level 2 divided by 5 AP awarded), a level 2 AP is worth 400 xp (2000 xp from 2 to 3 divided by 5), a level 3 AP is worth 500 xp (3kxp divided by 6), and so on. At low levels this means that each AP will be worth more than 100*level, but then at high levels each AP will be worth less than 100*level.

The downside to this system is that there is nothing to stop a character from using all of their "level pool" every level. Perhaps you should only allow "level pool" AP to account for half of the AP spent on items. This will allow the people who are out doing heroic deeds and earning AP to make more items than those who only show up on occasion, but will still allow a reasonable amount of crafting to those who only play part of the time.

EDIT: An idea strikes me. Perhaps the AP payed by the crafter comes from the level pool and anyone can contribute the earned AP necessary.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
greatamericanfolkhero 11-08-06, 07:27 PM	I use the action point variant from Unearthed Arcana (5+ (lvl x .5) rounded down). I call that their level pool, those are “use it or lose it” and refill every time they level. I also award action points which go in an “earned pool” and don’t go away unless they spend them. Because of the nature of the game I run, everyone stays at the same level, and the same experience. This is because there are people who can’t make it every week, but still show up at least once a month (I run the game weekly) and I didn’t want them to fall behind. Because of this I instead reward the players who can make it to the games with action points. Now that the group has hit sixth level, they are starting to want to use item creation feats. I was thinking that, because of the way I’m handling experience, crafting should instead cost action points. I would allow people other than the crafter to contribute points into the creation so the party wizard doesn’t have to use all of his action points creating a sword for the fighter, who would still have all of his, for example. My question is, how much experience should an action point be worth for crafting purposes? Or, instead of saying that an action point is worth X experience would you just charge action points directly based on an item’s price (such as one action point for every X gp of the item’s value)?
Seldriss 11-13-06, 11:41 AM	You can check the Player's Handbook for the equivalence between XP and levels. Once you determine the "level" value of a crafting, you can state that this is the cost in Action Points. Ex : Let's say a crafter wants to make something up and that the XP value would be 36.000xp, that's the equivalent of level 9, so he needs to burn 9 Action Points.
User5127 11-14-06, 12:04 AM	I'm not sure on how to use actions points for crafting xp. but there is also a craft variant in UA iirc. and there is a book called: Advanced Gamemasters Guide. in there there is a variant for XP dept. basically a character doesn't actually lose XP, but they accrue an XP dept, wich they can then burn off by gaining XP. this prevents players from leveling down. and a character can use XP to create magic items once they level up. A character can't spend more than half their total XP on item creation. and a character who's xp dept is equalt to their xp total dies. level loss is a hit to the dept.. and same with raise dead iirc.
Sildatorak 11-17-06, 06:07 PM	I use the action point variant from Unearthed Arcana (5+ (lvl x .5) rounded down). I have to ideas on how to deal with this, based on the idea that action points should be worth about 1/5th to 1/15th of a level each (assuming levels 1-20). Both ideas have the AP scale up in value as the characters level. Basically, what counts as a "heroic deed" worthy of an action point will go up as the characters level, so a level 20's AP should individually be worth more than a level 1's. The simple way is just to call each AP 1/10th of a level, splitting the difference between 1/5th and 1/15th. Since levels become increasingly valuable, this means that each AP is worth 100level xp for crafting. The complicated way is to figure out how much each AP is worth based on the level and the number of AP they get. So a level 1 AP is worth 200 xp (1000 xp for level 2 divided by 5 AP awarded), a level 2 AP is worth 400 xp (2000 xp from 2 to 3 divided by 5), a level 3 AP is worth 500 xp (3kxp divided by 6), and so on. At low levels this means that each AP will be worth more than 100level, but then at high levels each AP will be worth less than 100*level. The downside to this system is that there is nothing to stop a character from using all of their "level pool" every level. Perhaps you should only allow "level pool" AP to account for half of the AP spent on items. This will allow the people who are out doing heroic deeds and earning AP to make more items than those who only show up on occasion, but will still allow a reasonable amount of crafting to those who only play part of the time. EDIT: An idea strikes me. Perhaps the AP payed by the crafter comes from the level pool and anyone can contribute the earned AP necessary.