Yakk
2008-06-01, 01:36 PM
Monsters in 4e get abilities that recover randomly. I thought I'd poke at doing a similar system for PCs!
Random Recovery of Abilities (4e variant)
For each number from 1 through 5, pick a different encounter power. For 6, pick two daily powers.
If you don't have enough powers, some numbers will be blank. You may not pick a power twice.
At the start of each turn, roll two 6 sided dice. If they don't match, nothing happens.
If they do match, pick a power assigned to that number. The following effect happens:
Encounter Power: If used, the power refreshes. If unused, you may use this power this round without it being used up.
Daily Power: You may use this power this round without it being used up, even if you already used it today.
...
This grants you a free use (or a refresh) of a power 1 in every 6 rounds, once you have 6 powers to use. Which one you get is also random.
This boosts player power slightly, but it also adds some neat positive tactical surprises to the game. "Oh crap, I have to use ability X this round. How will I pull that off?"
In a "typical" 10 round fight, you get 1.39 encounter powers and 0.28 daily powers to play with from this.
It also means that late in a long fight after a long day, interesting moves still crop up on the players side. Just less often.
Random Recovery of Abilities (4e variant)
For each number from 1 through 5, pick a different encounter power. For 6, pick two daily powers.
If you don't have enough powers, some numbers will be blank. You may not pick a power twice.
At the start of each turn, roll two 6 sided dice. If they don't match, nothing happens.
If they do match, pick a power assigned to that number. The following effect happens:
Encounter Power: If used, the power refreshes. If unused, you may use this power this round without it being used up.
Daily Power: You may use this power this round without it being used up, even if you already used it today.
...
This grants you a free use (or a refresh) of a power 1 in every 6 rounds, once you have 6 powers to use. Which one you get is also random.
This boosts player power slightly, but it also adds some neat positive tactical surprises to the game. "Oh crap, I have to use ability X this round. How will I pull that off?"
In a "typical" 10 round fight, you get 1.39 encounter powers and 0.28 daily powers to play with from this.
It also means that late in a long fight after a long day, interesting moves still crop up on the players side. Just less often.