Replacing all class "pools" with action points

[tedcahill2]

Eberron introduced action points into D&D 3.5, and I like the idea of them. It got me thinking about all the various pools, turn undead pool, knight's challenge pool, bardic music pool, etc.

Instead of gaining a certain number of action points each level, would it work to give each class a certain number of action points each day, that can be used to either fuel class features that normally draw from a pool already, or as action points per Eberron, +1d6 added to a d20 rolls, or something like that. Or should these pools be kept separate?

[EldritchWeaver]

This both boost and nerfs things. Boosts because you can use the usual action point stuff far more often. Nerfs because if you happen to have formerly separate pools, you get only one which an overall reduced number of uses. Doesn't sound as a good idea to me.

[tedcahill2]

This both boost and nerfs things. Boosts because you can use the usual action point stuff far more often. Nerfs because if you happen to have formerly separate pools, you get only one which an overall reduced number of uses. Doesn't sound as a good idea to me.

I think it would be only a buff actually. Let's say I give each class a number of action points each day equal to 1/2 their level. Clerics can use turn undead 3+Cha per day, so at level 1 Clerics would thus get 3+Cha action points added to their daily pool of AP.

[EldritchWeaver]

So you add all daily uses up in a single pool (instead of e.g. choosing the biggest pool to fuel every ability) and allow that to fuel every ability, then yes, it's a buff. Turning that pool into into a daily refreshing action point pool, which can be used for normal action point-y stuff, is an enormous boost. Might imbalance the campaign too much, but at least players don't get shafted.

[Morcleon]

Could get out of hand with a DMM Persist Cleric, since you can now take domains that give 3+Cha turn XYZ abilities. You can easily get 21+(3*Cha) turn undead per day that way, which leads to a lot of persisted spells. :smalltongue:

[The_Jette]

How would you set it up to prevent potential abuse?

[Morcleon]

How would you set it up to prevent potential abuse?

Keep track of the number of uses of each thing. You can use points in the pool to fuel the base ability (turning undead), but you can't use points in the pool to fuel secondary abilities (DMM) beyond the limits of the original number of uses.

[Zaq]

Ask yourself this: what problem is this solving? How do you envision it making the game more fun, and is that worth the potential abuses that you'll need to deal with in one way or another?

My initial gut check says that not all "pools" are equal, so making them fungible will likely lead to people burning less useful ones for more useful ones. A power increase isn't always bad, but always ask yourself why you want to do it, you know?

[The_Jette]

Also, if you're limited to your daily number, anyways, it might be easier to just tell your players that they can convert daily use abilities into action points, but not vice versa. It'd be easier to keep track of, and limit abuse, even the DMM abuse.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Ask yourself this: what problem is this solving? How do you envision it making the game more fun, and is that worth the potential abuses that you'll need to deal with in one way or another?

My initial gut check says that not all "pools" are equal, so making them fungible will likely lead to people burning less useful ones for more useful ones. A power increase isn't always bad, but always ask yourself why you want to do it, you know?
I'm inclined to agree with this. There's a certain amount of virtue, from a game-design perspective, of only having one type of resource to keep track of, but retroactively adding something like that to 3.5 without throwing everything out of whack would be... challenging. In all honesty, I think you'd be best off creating a universal pool (say, level+5) of "stamina points" or whatnot, then assigning points to things piecemeal. So, say, a use of a Barbarian's Rage might cost 3 points, a Turn attempt 2, and a Wild Shape use 5. It would be a huge job, to be sure, and it wouldn't be perfect, but that's probably the best way to keep things balanced.

(I would suggest pitching every feat and item that grants more uses of stuff. Don't even bother with a new "Extra Points" feat or whatnot, it'll just become a universal feat tax. Set the total pool to whatever you think appropriate and don't let anything change that)

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A more practical idea, perhaps, would be allowing action points to power limited use class-features. Create a formula or table based on daily uses to work out the exhange ratio. Something like:

1-2 uses/day: 4 pt
3-5 uses/day: 3 pt
6-10 uses/day, or any number of uses/hour: 2 pt
10+ uses/day, or anything that recharges in less than an hour-- per-encounter, 1d4 round cooldown, etc: 1 pt