Action point rewards - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Action point rewards

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
rrrsenal
Mar 08, 2011 8:27:17 As a DM, I've been looking for ways to inspire my players to not take a full rest after every fight. Their encounter and daily powers really have no difference. To try to get them to have more encounters between full rests, I've started charging them for each rest (using the cost of protection rituals you'd probably use in those situations as an excuse), but even that hasn't stopped them. I'm going to try to use Action points as a reward. They will not start with any action points, but will get one after every encounter withou resting. I will also let them use more than 1 per encounter should they get them. This should make them more powerful with every encounter they do. They have just gotten to paragon tier, so action points are even more valuable. Has anyone ever tried this or have another solution.
#2
slobo777a
Mar 08, 2011 8:40:09 It might work, although you might be better trying to extract from them with open-ended questions why they prefer to play that way. They might be somewhat challenge-averse, or if you have been escalating difficulty in an effort to keep play balanced with more frequent rests, they might honestly feel at this stage unable to tackle multiple encounters between rests.

Personally, I'd just run a session where there were 3 or 4 combat encounters before an extended rest was possible/sensible, and make that clear in the plot hook presented to the players up-front. See how they deal with it. Maybe there will be lots of whining initially as they step out of comfort zone, but eventual triumph - in which case mechanic incentives might not be necessary at all.

#3
thespaceinvader
Mar 08, 2011 9:40:54 Make it clear that there are consequences for sleeping in dangerous places. Ambush them whilst they sleep, or have the monsters prepare for them, lay traps etc. It's not exactly a crazy idea that an encounter that they defeated one day would have been refilled in the 8 hours they spend kipping. Maybe even it could have got worse - the goblin grunts they killed on the way in, crawled away and got reinforcements, next time they face some significantly tougher opponents, and still haven't got anywhere.
#4
johnnii
Mar 12, 2011 4:21:21 I've also thrown out the "AP per milestone" though I let them start with 1 AP and then hand out for very good roleplaying, clever ideas, daring stunts and (one you might find interesting in your case) the Limit Break bonus.

A Limit break comes from some of the Final Fantasy games that are very powerful attacks/effects that are unleashed when your character has suffered enough damage. You can also compare it to the Ultra Combo in Street Fighter 4. Basically, when the situation looks grim, the protagonist pulls of a move that ends up saving the day.

For D&D, instead of inventing a whole new mechanic, Daily powers are basically the same in effect and powerlevel as Limit break but not in useability. So I've let it worked this way:

When a player pulls of a Daily power in a dramatically appropiate situation, either through roleplaying or in a situation where it ends up saving a bad situation, I hand out an Action Point to that character. The result might yield that they use Daily powers with more care and/or they want to keep going after they recieved their Power boost (after all, only 1 AP/encounter and all reset to 1 after an extended rest).
#5
rrrsenal
Mar 12, 2011 7:43:26 I tried my system for the first time and, so far, it appears to be working. I really had to sell them on the value of action points, though, pointing out to them that when the situation occurs that their attack is favorable (combat advantage, attack bonus, target in a bad situation, etc.) an action point can be invaluable.
#6
Houndstooth
Mar 18, 2011 20:14:17 also if you want ot get really crazy, consider using curses or disease, this means when they sleep they have to roll endurance checks to avoid having it get worse... the more you sleep, the worse your odds, spend a whole day aka several encounters trying to get better or remove the curse, up your chances...
I fight against time is a good reason not to nap.
#7
I_smile_alot
Apr 02, 2011 8:46:38 I gave an extra action point to the youngest player at my encounters game, (he's 8 and very shy). I strarted out by teaching him his special sentence, "I use my action point to attack again." Then whenever he would miss with an attack I'd ask him, "Do you want to use your special sentence?" He would usually shake his head yes and then I'd make him actaully say it in order to use it. (It actually didn't come up much, his dice loved him.) One day he had already used his action point, but the game was at a critical point where a hit would have felled the BBEG. He missed. And suddenly a glow came on his face and he yelled, "Action point!" His dad looked at him and said, "No, you've already used your action point." I looked at dad and said, "He can use 2 action points! Youngest at the table gets 2 action points!" Dad, (who's a DM and trying to teach his son the right rules), threw up his hands in disgust, then looked over at the other daddy DM at the table and said, "House rules." and shrugged. Every since then the youngest at the table got 2 action points per encounter, it became a bit of a joke. But, the reason I kept it was because his liberal action points made him unafraid to use them, and his use of his action points made the other players remember their action points and far more likely to use them. I've heard of other DM's who use extra action points to reward good roleplay or cool manuevers, and another who encourages early use of action points by incorporating "action point decay" into his games, ie each round you go without using an action point loses a certain mechanical benefit. Either way, we're all trying to encourage players to act, instead of holding onto all their best actions "until the best moment". Best moment may pass and then your laying your mini on the tiles at negatice HP because you were to afraid to commit your best effort into the fight. I'm planning on trying a new way to allocate an extra action point. Roll a dice at the beginning of the game, that player has a "stroke of luck" and gets an extra action point that they may use in that encounter and only that encounter. I'm hoping that it helps them to remember to use their action points again. (I lost my 8 y.o. and now have three 17 year olds)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 rrrsenal Mar 08, 2011 8:27:17	As a DM, I've been looking for ways to inspire my players to not take a full rest after every fight. Their encounter and daily powers really have no difference. To try to get them to have more encounters between full rests, I've started charging them for each rest (using the cost of protection rituals you'd probably use in those situations as an excuse), but even that hasn't stopped them. I'm going to try to use Action points as a reward. They will not start with any action points, but will get one after every encounter withou resting. I will also let them use more than 1 per encounter should they get them. This should make them more powerful with every encounter they do. They have just gotten to paragon tier, so action points are even more valuable. Has anyone ever tried this or have another solution.
#2 slobo777a Mar 08, 2011 8:40:09	It might work, although you might be better trying to extract from them with open-ended questions why they prefer to play that way. They might be somewhat challenge-averse, or if you have been escalating difficulty in an effort to keep play balanced with more frequent rests, they might honestly feel at this stage unable to tackle multiple encounters between rests. Personally, I'd just run a session where there were 3 or 4 combat encounters before an extended rest was possible/sensible, and make that clear in the plot hook presented to the players up-front. See how they deal with it. Maybe there will be lots of whining initially as they step out of comfort zone, but eventual triumph - in which case mechanic incentives might not be necessary at all.
#3 thespaceinvader Mar 08, 2011 9:40:54	Make it clear that there are consequences for sleeping in dangerous places. Ambush them whilst they sleep, or have the monsters prepare for them, lay traps etc. It's not exactly a crazy idea that an encounter that they defeated one day would have been refilled in the 8 hours they spend kipping. Maybe even it could have got worse - the goblin grunts they killed on the way in, crawled away and got reinforcements, next time they face some significantly tougher opponents, and still haven't got anywhere.
#4 johnnii Mar 12, 2011 4:21:21	I've also thrown out the "AP per milestone" though I let them start with 1 AP and then hand out for very good roleplaying, clever ideas, daring stunts and (one you might find interesting in your case) the Limit Break bonus. A Limit break comes from some of the Final Fantasy games that are very powerful attacks/effects that are unleashed when your character has suffered enough damage. You can also compare it to the Ultra Combo in Street Fighter 4. Basically, when the situation looks grim, the protagonist pulls of a move that ends up saving the day. For D&D, instead of inventing a whole new mechanic, Daily powers are basically the same in effect and powerlevel as Limit break but not in useability. So I've let it worked this way: When a player pulls of a Daily power in a dramatically appropiate situation, either through roleplaying or in a situation where it ends up saving a bad situation, I hand out an Action Point to that character. The result might yield that they use Daily powers with more care and/or they want to keep going after they recieved their Power boost (after all, only 1 AP/encounter and all reset to 1 after an extended rest).
#5 rrrsenal Mar 12, 2011 7:43:26	I tried my system for the first time and, so far, it appears to be working. I really had to sell them on the value of action points, though, pointing out to them that when the situation occurs that their attack is favorable (combat advantage, attack bonus, target in a bad situation, etc.) an action point can be invaluable.
#6 Houndstooth Mar 18, 2011 20:14:17	also if you want ot get really crazy, consider using curses or disease, this means when they sleep they have to roll endurance checks to avoid having it get worse... the more you sleep, the worse your odds, spend a whole day aka several encounters trying to get better or remove the curse, up your chances... I fight against time is a good reason not to nap.
#7 I_smile_alot Apr 02, 2011 8:46:38	I gave an extra action point to the youngest player at my encounters game, (he's 8 and very shy). I strarted out by teaching him his special sentence, "I use my action point to attack again." Then whenever he would miss with an attack I'd ask him, "Do you want to use your special sentence?" He would usually shake his head yes and then I'd make him actaully say it in order to use it. (It actually didn't come up much, his dice loved him.) One day he had already used his action point, but the game was at a critical point where a hit would have felled the BBEG. He missed. And suddenly a glow came on his face and he yelled, "Action point!" His dad looked at him and said, "No, you've already used your action point." I looked at dad and said, "He can use 2 action points! Youngest at the table gets 2 action points!" Dad, (who's a DM and trying to teach his son the right rules), threw up his hands in disgust, then looked over at the other daddy DM at the table and said, "House rules." and shrugged. Every since then the youngest at the table got 2 action points per encounter, it became a bit of a joke. But, the reason I kept it was because his liberal action points made him unafraid to use them, and his use of his action points made the other players remember their action points and far more likely to use them. I've heard of other DM's who use extra action points to reward good roleplay or cool manuevers, and another who encourages early use of action points by incorporating "action point decay" into his games, ie each round you go without using an action point loses a certain mechanical benefit. Either way, we're all trying to encourage players to act, instead of holding onto all their best actions "until the best moment". Best moment may pass and then your laying your mini on the tiles at negatice HP because you were to afraid to commit your best effort into the fight. I'm planning on trying a new way to allocate an extra action point. Roll a dice at the beginning of the game, that player has a "stroke of luck" and gets an extra action point that they may use in that encounter and only that encounter. I'm hoping that it helps them to remember to use their action points again. (I lost my 8 y.o. and now have three 17 year olds)