Post/Author/DateTime	Post
scwolf 05-02-07, 09:57 PM	UA's section on Action Points has an option for characters to spend an action point to emulate a feat that they meet the prerequisites for, but don't actually have. I've never seen that option offered up in any other D&D/d20 product that uses action points, however. If I had to guess, I would imagine the developers realized that the sheer number of published feats out there (with each new book adding what seems to be at least half a chapter's worth) would make action points so much more versatile than originally intended, and that much harder to balance effectively. Even so, the idea intrigues me, and I was wondering if there were any online resources that dealt with the topic. One concept I'm toying around with is instead of giving characters the ability to emulate any feat in the catalog, they would be limited to a short list of "Feats Emulatable" much the same way a sorcerer is limited to "Spells Known". I'm a big fan of Andy Collins' Umber Campaign Setting, especially the part where characters get a feat every level to offset the scarcity of magic and magic items in that setting. I'd like to do the same sort of thing with feat emulation. I'm probably going to make "having been in an encounter where the feat is used" a prerequisite for being able to add it to your "Feats Emulatable" list. The game would still have the "Kick the Door In" and "Kill the Bad Guys", but with less "And Take Their Stuff" and more "And Learn Their Best Tricks". So, has anyone done this sort of thing before and detailed it online somewhere? (Or in published books for that matter.) I don't want to re-invent someone else's wheel.
Rickiel 05-03-07, 01:59 PM	I've never thought of this before and it intrigues me. I've heard of spending a certain amount of action points to train in class/racial specific abilities as seen in the D&D Online game. But never to actually emulate feats... I shall give this more thought now.
scwolf 05-03-07, 10:59 PM	One thing that I know for sure is that I want emulated feats to be less powerful than the original. I'm thinking of limiting them to one use per day (and excluding any feats that are only used/useful once a day), to keep them from overshadowing the real thing. That way, players still have incentive to take the feats they'd be using on a frequent basis.
Seldriss 05-04-07, 02:35 PM	For a while i was using this "feat emulation" option for Action Points, but i dropped it. In my experience it was considerably slowing the game. When they were in a difficult situation, the players were discussing which feat could save their life, nervously flipping through pages to look for the right feat. Not good. So i removed this option, but i replaced it with the possibility to add the d6 result to many figures, not only d20 rolls. Examples : Bonus to AC for desperate parry, bonus to speed for expeditive runaway, temporary HP bonus for heroic last stand, extra action, additionnal spell points, etc. Basically, whatever is the situation, the d6 can improve it. I also allow a reroll after a failure, but at the cost of 2 Action Points.
scwolf 05-04-07, 08:02 PM	Well, I figure that restricting it that players can only emulate a feat if it's on their list of tricks should curb that problem. Instead of worrying about every feat ever written, the players just keep track of the ones on their lists.
EonOmega 05-05-07, 12:24 AM	(Just had a brilliant/extremely idiotic idea) What if you could spend action points to: Emulate Maneuvers? Like, there's a kick in the door attack that the Stone whatchamacallit gets (doesn't have book on hand at the moment.), and it would be incredibly useful just for those dramatic entries, or the actual "Death from Above" attack, or possibly even jumping away as a swift action. That would make Action points actually ACTION based, instead of using it to shore up weaknesses, you could use it for dramatic things more often, albeit on those "I wanna be cool" occasions. Even the little "omg i jump away as a swift action", it's fantasy awesomeness, where the hero leaps away from being nearly cornered, brandishes his weapons, and henceforth charges. Just an idea, but yeah.
Rickiel 05-05-07, 03:28 PM	And Skill Tricks! Or rather, if you had bought a skill trick, an additional use per encounter is going to cost an action point.
Cantuse 05-08-07, 12:51 AM	Well, I figure that restricting it that players can only emulate a feat if it's on their list of tricks should curb that problem. Instead of worrying about every feat ever written, the players just keep track of the ones on their lists. I have been tinkering with this idea as well... What about the idea of only letting the players select a specific or variable amount of feats they can emulate, and only feats they otherwise qualify for? For example, how about a system where each player can select three feats they can emulate for one minute at the expenditure of 1 or more action points. These feats are selected at first level and are thereafter fixed; and new feats may be chosen only when one of the selected feats is actually taken as a feat. Thoughts?