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alternate power system?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
thundrio
Dec 29, 2009 1:50:20
i have an idea for an alternative encounter/daily power system. so instead of trading out powers as you level up you keep all of your powers. i believe you can only have 3 dailies/encounters normally. so what you would do is you can only cast 3 + some modifier encounter powers per encounter, but they all could be the same power. so if my assassin wanted to use targeted for death (daily) 3 times he could do that but he would not be able to cast any other daily all day. i am going to try this out when i start my next campaign. let me know what you think.
#2
pluisjen
Dec 29, 2009 5:20:35 Why would you use a level 1 Daily if you could just use your level 9 Daily 3 times instead?

It'll mainly reduce the number of different things a character does, and that's about it.
#3
PrimeSonic
Dec 29, 2009 7:12:37 Problem is, some encounter and daily powers become unbalanced to the point of cheese when they're used multiple times in an encounter.
It gets even worse when you consider powers that impose stacking penalties.

I have a houserule in my games for allowing characters to reuse encounter powers by spending an action point but without taking the extra action. You might want to try that.

If you allow the players to reuse powers, you'll be seeing many of them use the same ones over and over again, round after round.... gets kinda boring after a while.
#4
bone_naga
Dec 29, 2009 14:32:28 I can see pros and cons to being able to use the same power repeatedly. It can be a good decision tactically, and sometimes it makes sense, but other times it may lead to cheese and brokenness.

Also, part of the reason for trading in powers is so that you only have a few powers to deal with even at high levels. I have memories of spellcasters not familiar with all their spells having to sit there and look them up in the middle of combat. You could run into the same problem here with players searching through their entire power list to find just the right one for that particular situation.
#5
blue23
Jan 07, 2010 17:27:39 I was thiking of a bit of a variation on somethings like this, but mroe for character consistancy.

Basically, you never have to trade out powers at higher levels. If you have four encounter powers, you can use four encounter powers from your whole list. But still can only use an encounter power once.

The only thing this is intending to address is the emersion breaker of forgetting how to do things. "Quick, do that push trip thing, we really need it!" "Umm, I cant' do that any more, but I can do an extra 2[W] and spend a surge." "That doesn't help us now."

It's a mild bit of power creep, both general in more flexibility and since can take more conditional powers because you can use something else in it's place.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 thundrio Dec 29, 2009 1:50:20	i have an idea for an alternative encounter/daily power system. so instead of trading out powers as you level up you keep all of your powers. i believe you can only have 3 dailies/encounters normally. so what you would do is you can only cast 3 + some modifier encounter powers per encounter, but they all could be the same power. so if my assassin wanted to use targeted for death (daily) 3 times he could do that but he would not be able to cast any other daily all day. i am going to try this out when i start my next campaign. let me know what you think.
#2 pluisjen Dec 29, 2009 5:20:35	Why would you use a level 1 Daily if you could just use your level 9 Daily 3 times instead? It'll mainly reduce the number of different things a character does, and that's about it.
#3 PrimeSonic Dec 29, 2009 7:12:37	Problem is, some encounter and daily powers become unbalanced to the point of cheese when they're used multiple times in an encounter. It gets even worse when you consider powers that impose stacking penalties. I have a houserule in my games for allowing characters to reuse encounter powers by spending an action point but without taking the extra action. You might want to try that. If you allow the players to reuse powers, you'll be seeing many of them use the same ones over and over again, round after round.... gets kinda boring after a while.
#4 bone_naga Dec 29, 2009 14:32:28	I can see pros and cons to being able to use the same power repeatedly. It can be a good decision tactically, and sometimes it makes sense, but other times it may lead to cheese and brokenness. Also, part of the reason for trading in powers is so that you only have a few powers to deal with even at high levels. I have memories of spellcasters not familiar with all their spells having to sit there and look them up in the middle of combat. You could run into the same problem here with players searching through their entire power list to find just the right one for that particular situation.
#5 blue23 Jan 07, 2010 17:27:39	I was thiking of a bit of a variation on somethings like this, but mroe for character consistancy. Basically, you never have to trade out powers at higher levels. If you have four encounter powers, you can use four encounter powers from your whole list. But still can only use an encounter power once. The only thing this is intending to address is the emersion breaker of forgetting how to do things. "Quick, do that push trip thing, we really need it!" "Umm, I cant' do that any more, but I can do an extra 2[W] and spend a surge." "That doesn't help us now." It's a mild bit of power creep, both general in more flexibility and since can take more conditional powers because you can use something else in it's place.