PDA

View Full Version : Hero points/Fate points



Red Sky Knight
2007-02-07, 10:29 PM
My DM is considering putting these in her game and wants some suggestions. We don't play ebberon, and have only a vague idea how they work. Can anybody fill me in?

I'm interested to know how many people use thes or similar devices in their games, how they house rule or variate them, and any tips and problems that they have had with them in the past

Raum
2007-02-07, 10:34 PM
Action Points (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/actionPoints.htm) are described in the SRD.

BCOVertigo
2007-02-07, 10:46 PM
Another thing that might be worth considering is many people have suggested charisma be somehow linked to actions points, raising it from dump score to something valueable to any character. (Like con but less so.)


The specifics of how to do it though would be up for debate.

lordmarcoos
2007-02-08, 12:49 AM
Vertigo, it seems like a simple Cha mod + (some number between 0 and 3, not sure) +1/2 level would work.

Cybren
2007-02-08, 01:31 AM
Another thing that might be worth considering is many people have suggested charisma be somehow linked to actions points, raising it from dump score to something valueable to any character. (Like con but less so.)


The specifics of how to do it though would be up for debate.
Well charisma does come from Greek, meaning "divine favor" or "gift".

Closet_Skeleton
2007-02-08, 04:53 AM
There's an ability in d20 Modern called 'Faith' that lets you add your Wisdom modifier to all Action point rolls. You might want to make that standard but for charisma.

daggaz
2007-02-08, 05:33 AM
Are hero/faith points the same as action points?

Red Sky Knight
2007-02-08, 07:56 AM
Hehe, i like that idea, i'll put it to my DM; thing is i find it really difficult to dump in cha anyway, i like to have my characters capable of relating to the world around them, and with at least some force of personality, so i guess if we applied cha bonus to action points gained, id get a few more benefits.

Marius
2007-02-08, 08:21 AM
Are hero/faith points the same as action points?

No, the hero points that I'm using in my WoW d20 campaign are much more powerful that action point but you usually have only one and it's not easy to gain another. While an action point let's you add a 1d8 a hero point let's you do almost anything. Usually you can use it to give you a +20 bonus on an attack roll or to hit a particular part of the enemy or to act before your initiative count or to do something really cinematic for what you just don't have mechanics.
But the ONLY way to gain a hero point is to do something really cool and heroic WITHOUT using a hero point.

wormwood
2007-02-08, 08:29 AM
Yeah, the Fate point comes from Warhammer FRP. It's basically a "no, really, I wasn't skewered by that attack" point. You get a few when you create your character and that's it. They are not to be wasted.

I think the original poster was thinking more along the lines of an action point.

Red Sky Knight
2007-02-08, 10:50 AM
Well, no, maybe i should have been a little more clear :). i think my DM is considering fate points because the campaign has only two players in it, and she wants to avoid TPK, and balance modules she runs so that they aren't too hard.

having had a look at the SRD i think that we might modify them a little, i think they come a little too easy. 5 chances to avoid death every level? well, i don't know if im crazy, but i like the idea just a little that a bad roll might be just around the corner. thems the breaks, and we expect big gain, so we risk horrible, less than heroic deaths. in other campaigns ive played, it has been one of the most exciting aspects of the game.

I think we are considering only giving out 2 at first level, and they can be used for a very limited number of things, so far, mostly to stop the game grinding to an immediate halt incase of TPK, but i like the idea of having access to one off feats, as well.

we've neer used them, and im wondering if anybody has had any game breaking experiences we should keep in mind when deciding on if or how to use or limit them

Subotei
2007-02-08, 11:10 AM
If the reason you're considering fate points is your party has just two members it may be better to get a useful NPC in to round out the party, instead of making the party that much harder to kill.

Just a suggestion - it may not fit your storyline.

Rigeld2
2007-02-08, 11:12 AM
Activate Class Ability

A character can spend 1 action point to gain another use of a class ability that has a limited number of uses per day. For example, a monk might spend an action point to gain another use of her stunning fist ability, or a paladin might spend an action point to make an additional smite attack.



In an Eberron game, I used lots of action points for my frenzied berserker to rage+frenzy in basically every fight we had. That plus me being the only semi optimized character in the bunch meant that I slaughtered whole airships while my peers were working on a handful of mooks.

Catharsis
2007-02-08, 11:45 AM
The system we use provides a character with a single hero point each time he gains a level. You can then spend a hero point to reroll any one die roll (even one the DM made).

It's quite a balanced system: You really have to treasure them for life-and-death situations, and they can't help you much if you're in deep trouble. If you reroll the ogre's attack that killed you, and he needs a 3 to hit, chances are you still end up dead. On the other hand, if you died due to a greataxe crit, chances are you'll survive the reroll...

Our DM even gave out bonus XP to players who used their own hero points to save somebody else's character who had run out of them.

Matthew
2007-02-08, 03:14 PM
I have been known to use Fate / Destiny Points over the years. Usually I award one per level in default D&D, but the maximum any character can retain is three. They are used to reroll any die the player has rolled (up to three times), but the final result must be the one abided by. I don't allow players to use these points to alter anybody else's roll. I have experimented with giving Villains a point or two, mainly to avoid Save or Die disasters. Overall, I have found them to be a useful mechanic.