[any ed] Plot tokens

[oxybe]

the idea of action points is something i really like in D&D when they were first introduced to me in Eberron, and expounded later when i bought Unearthed Arcana. when i ran a 3rd ed game i ran them by UA rules and they worked pretty well. i liked how PCs can "alter" reality and get that extra edge on their enemies every so often. and how enemies can do the same :smallamused:.

now, i was reading Chatty DM's blog and he talked about a "but that's not how it happened" tokens, which intrigued me.

basically it bestows a greater narrative control to the players in one specific instance. the players can use it to alter the environment or the outcome of an action, similar to an Action Point, but with a much larger effect. this made me remember something similar i read that went along the lines of a car chase


stuff happened and the bad guy is getting away. he hops into his already running getaway vehicle. the pcs waste a bit of time jumping in, starting the car and picking up speed, so there is some distance between the Bad guy and the Heroes. the Bad Guy use his AP to have the light turn yellow as he starts passing and then red, which would cause the PCs to stop due to the other cars start moving, or at least force a very difficult "drive" (or whatever the skill was) check to not crash.

the heroes then use up an AP in response to have the light stay yellow just long enough for them to pass, turning red as soon as they cross the intersection.

they (the heroes) then use up a second AP to get an extra drive check and catch up to the bad guy

now i'm using the term AP/action point, but i think i prefer the term "plot token".

has anyone done something similar in the past? when i start up my next campaign i'm thinking about giving the group one "plot token" to start with and have them gain more as they complete major plot/personal quests.

[jmbrown]

There are some systems based entirely around this idea like FATE which has fate points. Fate points are spent by both the player to make things happen and by the DM to reverse situations on the PCs.

Character's have aspects that define them. They're neither negative or positive. A character may have "butterfingers" and the DM could invoke that the character drops his gun at an inappropriate time. On the flipside the character could be getting grappled and he says "I slip out" because of his aspect.

A few other systems use these "plot points" but rarely in systems as combat heavy as D&D because it's very abstract and towards the narrative heavy, rules-lite end.

[evildmguy]

I have used something like this before. I called them Drama Points for the obvious reason.

Buffy the RPG was great for these and it had a great explanation of them. Essentially, to stop the BBEG from being defeated before the appropriate time, the DM can give out points when she has to force something to happen. It gives the PCs a reward that they can use and lets the DM keep things on track.

I like them! I think they work well! I like it when the players have more control, though, especially over their characters. And, to some extent, over the adventure as it gets them more involved.

edg

[valadil]

I use something similar in D&D which I call fate chips (having ripped them off from Deadlands). They let you fudge one of your own die rolls or influence a plot, but only in ways that make sense for the character. I was thinking that since 4e already has action points I'd abstract out the story part into its own chips. They sound exactly like what you describe except that I was planning on calling them plot points.

Some of my players took the idea and ran with it in a one shot game. Everyone started with a number of fate chips. At any point in the game someone could spend a fate chip and become the GM. It sounded like an awesome way to do collaborative storytelling, but I'm not sure I'd play a whole campaign this way.

Incidentally I've also got a project on the backburner to throw out dice entirely and resolve conflicts based on how many fate chips/plot tokens a player is willing to spend. I've got most of the individual components of the system worked out, but gluing it all together is taking some time. I'll probably make a big post here when it's done (or at least ready for beta testing).

[vartan]

Also White Wolf's Adventure! game had the Inspiration mechanic that allowed PC's to rewrite the story within certain guidelines for a certain number of points. Even more rules-lite is the Inspectres system on... Memento Mori Theatrics I believe is the website- where you use in game confessionals to foreshadow or change the in game situation.

[oxybe]

I'll definitely have to check out our FLGS to see if they have those games in stock. i've got GURPS, nWoD (only the core book) & D&D 2nd-4th to draw from here at home so it's refreshing to see how other systems go about doing stuff like this.

4th ed has a great combat engine and while i like my RP rules-lite, having stuff like "plot tokens" seems like it could really spruce up the game.

[elliott20]

I'm currently working on incorporate some aspects of the Burning Wheel system into D&D for this very reason. That specific parts I'm culling are the belief system, and the artha system.

To give you a quick run down, the belief system is basically set of character plot hooks or goals that each character has. (players generate 3 for their character) When the character acts towards achieving their goal or resolving that plot, they get an action point for it. (once per session per belief) If they resolve the belief, however, they get a destiny point.

Belief system also replaces alignment, btw, and a lot of mind effecting spells will also interact with beliefs in some way.

An action point in this case, can be used just to give you a +2 circumstance bonus to a roll, or be used to for a re-roll. pretty powerful stuff.

Destiny points, on the other hand, are far more powerful. When you spend one, you may announce that you have just rolled the best possible result on your next roll. Meaning, if you're rolling a d20, you treat it like you just rolled a natural 20. If you're rolling for damage, you treat it like you just maximized it. If you're rolling for that 10% stabilization, (with <10 being the target) you assume you rolled a 1.

Destiny points also allow you to cheat death. In a situation where you would have been outright killed (i.e. getting knocked down from 10 hp to -27), you can give a destiny point to set yourself at -9, but stabilized. Give justification on how you did it though. And don't think doing this will not have precautions. The near divine favor you just received might cost you dearly later on.

[jmbrown]

I'll definitely have to check out our FLGS to see if they have those games in stock. i've got GURPS, nWoD (only the core book) & D&D 2nd-4th to draw from here at home so it's refreshing to see how other systems go about doing stuff like this.

4th ed has a great combat engine and while i like my RP rules-lite, having stuff like "plot tokens" seems like it could really spruce up the game.

FATE is free as is the FUDGE ruleset it's based on. The aspects in FATE are one of my favorite methods for determining character "stats" because it's a descriptor (or a motto, piece of equipment, or catchphrase) of the character instead of an arbitrary number.

[elliott20]

FATE is free as is the FUDGE ruleset it's based on. The aspects in FATE are one of my favorite methods for determining character "stats" because it's a descriptor (or a motto, piece of equipment, or catchphrase) of the character instead of an arbitrary number.

i didn't say this in my previous post, but I too fully endorse trying out the fate system, specifically Spirits of the Century and the Sci-fi equivalent, Starblazer Adventures.

[oxybe]

i couldn't find the 3.0 core rules so i'm currently reading through the 3.0 SotC stuff right now. lots to digest so i'll be looking over it for the next few days, grabbing ideas on stuff to steal borrow for my own houserules.