Derailment points

[Xuincherguixe]

I'm the kind of Game Master who encourages creativity. At some point, I'm going to be doing a game in which a major theme is the power of choice.

Railroading has come up a bit too in some of the things I've been reading.

This got me thinking, about every time the players make the game take a drastic turn from where the GM was planning, they got some kind of "freedom" points. Maybe spending them let you reroll, or events about to come will be subtlety altered in your favor.


There's some obvious problems. Railroading DMs, aren't likely to encourage it. Players in those games aren't going to have as much fun if they can't take it off of them. And people who run freer games don't really need to reward people anyways. Encouraging people to disrupt plot is going to be pretty damaging to plot.

But, I think it might be appropriate if one is running a campaign that is about individuals, or defiance in the face of seemingly impossible circumstances.


I just thought I'd share.

[Gaiwecoor]

Hmm... Your phrase of "freedom points" brought to mind Action Points (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/actionPoints.htm), from Unearthed Arcana. I haven't used them in any games, but they look like they're pretty close to what you're talking about.

Rather than just giving them the points as the gain levels, as suggested, maybe have them be an extra type of experience award from the DM? While XP can be awarded for overcoming obstacles, AP can be given for doing so in creative, unanticipated ways.

[Prometheus]

The problem I would worry about is taking arbitrary and bizarre actions in order to get the points. Make sure that you give it only when it fits in with the roleplaying personality and also to give it when they solve the problem (keeping the plot on track) but in an unpredictable way. In general though, if you leave their options open, players will do unpredictable stuff.

My question is whether you would grant the party points, or just the person who suggested it. The former would certainly be more fair but the latter gets more complicated. It would either encourage each player to take an active decision making role, or simply reward the player who already takes control anyway.

[Xuincherguixe]

My question is whether you would grant the party points, or just the person who suggested it. The former would certainly be more fair but the latter gets more complicated. It would either encourage each player to take an active decision making role, or simply reward the player who already takes control anyway.

Yeah, I haven't really decided on that part. Or even what exactly they could be used for. This is one of the multitude of half thought out ideas I come up with. So I don't have an answer.

I'm vaguely familiar with Action Points, so those might be a good basis.

[Breaw]

Well, the DM in the game I'm playing in keeps a small sheet in front of him (well he keeps hundreds of sheets in front of him, but I'm only talking about one of them...). Every time someone does something really clever, or something that he doesn't expect, or pulls something off really well he puts a tick beside their name. Also, generally if someone does something that is going to drastically affect the world...
Like when the dwarf dangled the head of a spider beast we had just killed in front of the hoard of spiders as we made it to safety, thus breaking a peace treaty between the spiders and the local humans. This pretty much forced us to challenge the leader of the spiders directly (who was a almost unkillable ancient evil). Through the help of a 10th level Wizard, some good planning, ample use of delay poison and a lot of lucky fort saves, we defeated the spider and became instant celebreties!
... he'll also give you a tick mark. Those tick marks (along with completion bonus for successfully finishing goals) decides the XP we'll get.

If you want the players to have these wildcards to get themselves out of tight spots that's cool too, but if all you want to do is promote interesting play you need look no further than the almighty XP. ;)

[Tsotha-lanti]

I don't understand - what's the advantage / pay-off? Every GM worth their screen knows the first rule - "No plot survives contact with the players."

In Mutants & Masterminds, there's a very cool system that works the opposite of this - every time the GM messes with the players for the sake of plot, they get a hero point (same as action points, basically). It works great with the genre. Something unexpected happens that allows the villain to get away - the PCs get a hero point. The PCs get captured without any real chance of avoiding it in order to facilitate an adventure that starts with being captured (a staple of the genre) - they get a hero point.

In Conan d20, there are fate points (again, like action points), and one of the possible uses is to change the story. For instance, if the PCs find themselves in a dead end plot-wise - because they missed something earlier, or killed the wrong person - one of them can use a fate point in order to invoke a deus ex machina to help them.

[Kurald Galain]

This got me thinking, about every time the players make the game take a drastic turn from where the GM was planning, they got some kind of "freedom" points. Maybe spending them let you reroll, or events about to come will be subtlety altered in your favor.

While pretty much every system other than D&D has a kind of mechanic that lets you improve crucial rolls, that doesn't actually help against railroading.

I don't think any rules can help against railroading, by definition. However, what you may be looking for is something like the Indiana Jones card-event roleplaying game. Essentially, each player gets a few "event" cards that they can use to modify the story as described on the card. For instance, "an old friend of mine happens to be in the area", or "I find an old discarded weapon on the ground".

[Thane of Fife]

I don't know about that - check out The Sun Never Sets (http://www.1km1kt.net/rpg/The_Sun_Never_Sets.php).

The most important game mechanic is the idea of the Flashback, the creation of which allows the player complete control. While I haven't actually tried the game, it at least sounds intriguing.

[Zincorium]

The only problem I can see happening is that a system rewarding breaks from the plot by comparison punishes people who want to follow the story as presented and see where it goes.

I can't see implementing anything like this unless it's a free-ranging type of game where your players are attempting to get out of the passive acceptance of a pre-determined storyline they were previously used to.

[Lapak]

I don't understand - what's the advantage / pay-off? Every GM worth their screen knows the first rule - "No plot survives contact with the players."

In Mutants & Masterminds, there's a very cool system that works the opposite of this - every time the GM messes with the players for the sake of plot, they get a hero point (same as action points, basically). It works great with the genre. Something unexpected happens that allows the villain to get away - the PCs get a hero point. The PCs get captured without any real chance of avoiding it in order to facilitate an adventure that starts with being captured (a staple of the genre) - they get a hero point.

In Conan d20, there are fate points (again, like action points), and one of the possible uses is to change the story. For instance, if the PCs find themselves in a dead end plot-wise - because they missed something earlier, or killed the wrong person - one of them can use a fate point in order to invoke a deus ex machina to help them.The Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG combines these two mechanics. You can earn "drama points" by doing something impressive, dramatic, funny or good for the story, but you can also be awarded them if the DM needs to have Something Bad happen to your character for the sake of the plot. You can use them to boost rolls or shake off injuries, or you can burn them to advance the plot - if the players are stuck, they can burn drama points to have some fortunate plot-event happen that gets them back on track similar to the Indiana Jones function that Kurald Galain described.

[Craig1f]

The action point system Gaiwecoor mentioned is a very good system, especially if you want all of your players to level at the same point, but still want to provide a reward for exceptional players (as well as for showing up to the game on time).

The action point system also allows you to throw harder monsters at your players, or "try" things that might have unintended consequences, as it gives players an edge when they need it. Finally, it allows players to occasionally do something spectacular (like use an action point to get a feat for a round, for which they meet the prerequisites) which is the hallmark of a good hero.

In our game, you can also buy fate cards for 3 action points. Fate cards further allow you to break the game by causing something to happen. They're played out-of-character, so your character isn't aware of them. This is GREAT for DMs who like completely open-ended games (like my DM). Some examples ...

Name: "Why yes, we're open"
Played: "Before you approach a shop"
Effect: "The shop is open for some reason, regardless of what time it is"

Name: "Why won't you stay dead?"
Played: When you're killed by HP damage.
Effect: Instead of dying, you're brought to 0hp and stable

Name: "This food tastes funny ..."
Played: When someone starts to eat
Effect: The food is poisoned

Name: "How do you like them apples?"
Played: Immediately after saying "How do you like them apples?" and then attacking with a weapon
Effect: You deal max damage

Name: "Just give me a minute to think ..."
Played: When combat is inevitable, but before it has begun
Effect: Combat is delayed for 1 minute for some reason


In game, the DM has to come up with an IC reason why all these things happen. He has been very clever so far. One time, we were trying to rescue some prisoners who had been poisoned so they'd stay asleep, and I played a card called "We're here to help", that says help arrives. Five of the prisoners woke up ... and happened to have class levels :-).

While this does take SOME realism out of the game, at the same time, it adds some realism, because events can occur that are seemingly random ... albeit that favor the party.