Fate Point Options -- Opinions wanted....

[imported_Rasyr]

Currently, Fate Points can be used for the following:

• Extra Dice (Self) - The player may roll one or more extra dice (1 die per Fate Point spent) and then add or subtract the total from a single roll that directly affects his character. Max of 3 dice.
• Extra Dice (Other) - The player may roll one or more extra dice (1 die per every 2 Fate Points spent) and then add or subtract the total from a single roll that does not directly affect his character. Max of 3 dice.
• Remove Snag Points - May remove Snag Points, 1 Snag Point for each Fate Point spent.
• Extra Boon Point - may spend 2 Fate Points to gain 1 Boon Point. No more than 1 Boon Point may be gained in this manner for any given roll.

Was thinking of some additional options for Fate Points... How do these sound:
[/list]

• Act Now - Spend a Fate Point to go out of normal initiative order. Resolving your action before the character whose turn it currently is. (i.e. Big Bad goes first, spend FP to resolve your action before him)
• Static Bonus (Self) - instead of rolling, you gain gain a static +/-5 to a given roll, that directly affects you, per Fate Point spent. Max of +/-15
• Static Bonus (Other) - instead of rolling, you gain gain a static +/-5 to a given roll, that does not directly affect you, per every 2 Fate Point spent. Max of +/-15
• Extra Action Points - Gain 3 extra Action Points in a single round for every Fate Point spent. Max of 2 Fate Points per round.
• Inspiration -- If the player is stuck, he may spend one Fate Point for the GM to give him a hint. If there is no information to be gained (i.e. no hint), then Fate Point is not actually spent.
• Narrate Story Element - The player may spend 1 Fate Point to be able to narrate some minor point of the story. This should not require any rolls by the GM or other Players, and it should advance the story in some small manner. The GM holds veto power over this Story Element and if he does veto it, the Fate Point is not spent.
  
  Example: The PCs are in a tavern and the barkeep is angry at them and about to throw them out. A player asks to spend Fate Point to Narrate a Story Element, and suggests that before the barkeep throws them out, he takes a swig of his ale and it goes down the wrong pipe and sends him into a choking fit. This brings his wife running from the back and she begins slapping him on the back. By the time that he has recovered, he has forgotten about throwing out the party. The GM likes the idea and tells the player to mark off a Fate Point, and then he narrates the scene as suggested by the player, perhaps even throwing in an embellishment or two of his own that enhances the suggestion made by the player, but doesn't change it.
• Cheat Death -- spend 3 Fate Points to not die in a situation that would normally cause death result in death.
• Special - spend 1-5 Fate Points (GM's call) to accomplish something not normally possible, such as talking down a raging dragon or using sand to surprise and blind a foe.

Thoughts? Opinions? Comments?
[/list]

[Fidoric]

I think all these options are interesting as they allow a character to go a little beyond the boundaries of possible and impossible.

[samwise7]

The more options the better.  I'd also say you could spend a Fate Point to narrate a minor detail in the story, but we already went down that road before.    hehe.

[imported_Rasyr]

The more options the better.  I'd also say you could spend a Fate Point to narrate a minor detail in the story, but we already went down that road before. 



Please, let's go over it again...

define for me, "narrate a minor detail in the story", please.

I remember some of you guys suggesting it, but at this point, I don't remember how you wanted it to work (will try searching in a few minutes as well). And since I am currently open to adding more options there (the changes to the spells are going to add several pages, so a couple more paragraphs for Fate Points won't be as big an issue as it was back when you first made the suggestion (IIRC).

[imported_Rasyr]

Was this the thread/idea you were referring to?

http://www.firehawkgames.biz/forum/index.php?topic=693.0

Specifically, this post from the original thread that the above link links to

darnest wrote:

My system does that using a mechanic called Story points.  Characters can spend them to get a bonus in the current situation, addition info or mechanical bonuses its negotiated between player and GM.  What ever the bonus the have players has to add something to their characters background.  Whatever they add is accessible to other players and the GM, so it can really expand the ongoing story or give the GM and other players more ideas to do stuff.  Characters get more story points the more passions they have.  Once spent theya re gone until the next session. '
'
So there is another idea for ya to play with.

[samwise7]

The idea is that players by spending a Fate point get to narrate a "minor thing" in the campaign as if they were the GM.  I know 7th Sea and the newest version of Barbarians of Lemuria does this as well as some Story Games.

Basically it boils down to a player making a suggestion for the how the scene should play out, or that there just happens to be a floating piece of wood in the water after a ship goes down, and other suggestions that don't wreck a campaign or a session.  These suggestions could become fact by spending a Fate Point and with a GM's permission (he can veto these).  These Fate Points can't be spent to change something the GM has already stated but rather it fills in the blanks, or to put it another way the player proposes "something cool" and with the GM's permission and the spending of a Fate Point it becomes part of the game. 

Player: "The angry bartender that is about to kick us out of the bar takes a swig of his ale and it goes down the wrong pipe.  This distracts him and he forgets he was going to kick us out." 

GM: "That sounds plausible, go ahead and spend a Fate Point." 

GM: "The angry Bartender takes a swig and starts to horribly cough.  His wife comes out from behind the bar and slaps him on the back a few times.  The Bartender sits down and seems to have forgotten about your group... for the time being."   

[imported_Rasyr]

Okay, I think that we can add something like that.

It should not be something that needs to be rolled for.
It should be something that advances the story in some minor way (and be plausible)

I have added "Narrate Story Element" to the list in the first post (including your example) -- How is that?

[samwise7]

Awesome.    Nicely done.  Thanks.

[imported_Rasyr]

And actually, I think that I will put it all in as a bullet list instead of a series of paragraphs (the extra dice portions are much clearing in the bullet list above than they are in my attempts to explain them normally in regular prose.

and of course, I will alphabetize the list as well....

[imported_Rasyr]

Okay, so here is the current list of options (rewritten for inclusion in the rules)

• Act Now - The player spends a Fate Point to resolve his character's actions outside of the normal initiative order. When used in this manner, the character's action will resolve before the actions of the character (or NPC or monster) whose turn it actually is. Refer to p. for more information on Initiative.
• Cheat Death - There may be situations where the character is killed by something that could not normally be avoided. By spending 3 Fate Points, the player can save his character from this death in some unusual or clever manner. The character may still end up being badly injured or trapped, but he will be alive and conscious.
• Extra Action Points - By spending 1 Fate Point, before declaring actions for the round, the player gains an additional 3 Action Points for his character for the round. The player may not spend more than 2 Fate Points on this each round.
• Extra Boon Point - The player may spend 1 Fate Point to gain 1 Boon Point for use with any roll he has just made or is about to make that may possibly earn Boon Points. This Boon Point is gained even if the roll does not generate one normally, and  it is simply added to any Boon Points earned normally. Like normal Boon Points, it must be used immediately. The player may not gain more than 3 extra Boon Points on a single roll using this Fate Point option.
• Extra Dice (Other) - The player may spend 2 Fate Points to roll a d10 and add or subtract the result from any single die roll that does not directly affect his character (i.e. he could apply it to the Saving Throw of a bad guy to ensure that he fails it). No roll may have more 3 dice from Fate Points affecting it.
• Extra Dice (Self) - The player may spend 1 Fate Point to roll a d10 and add or subtract the result from a single die roll that directly affects his character (i.e. an attack roll, a Saving Throw, a skill roll, etc). No roll may have more than 3 dice from Fate Points affecting it.
• Inspiration - There may be times when a player gets stuck about what should be done next. When this happens, he may ask the GM to provide a hint. If there is a hint that the GM can provide to the player, then the player spends 1 Fate Point to receive the hint. If the GM determines that there isn't any hint, then no Fate Point is spent.
• Narrate Story Element - The player may spend 1 Fate Point to be able to narrate some minor point of the story. This should not require any rolls by the GM or other Players, and it should advance the story in some small manner. The GM holds veto power over this Story Element and if he does veto it, the Fate Point is not spent.
  
  Example: The PCs are in a tavern and the barkeep is angry at them and about to throw them out. A player asks to spend Fate Point to Narrate a Story Element, and suggests that before the barkeep throws them out, he takes a swig of his ale and it goes down the wrong pipe and sends him into a choking fit. This brings his wife running from the back and she begins slapping him on the back. By the time that he has recovered, he has forgotten about throwing out the party. The GM likes the idea and tells the player to mark off a Fate Point, and then he narrates the scene as suggested by the player, perhaps even throwing in an embellishment or two of his own that enhances the suggestion made by the player, but doesn't change it.
• Remove Snag Point - The player may spend 1 Fate Point to remove 1 Snag Point that is earned through a bad dice roll. This option may be used multiple times with no limit.
• Special - It is highly possible, and likely, that a player will want to use Fate Points for something that has not been covered in this list in order to accomplish something that normally would not be possible. This option allows for the GM to set a price of 1 to 5 Fate Points for such actions.
  
  Example: A player wants to use a handful of sand to temporarily blind a foe who is so large that he normally could not reach. The GM decides that 2 Fate Points would be enough to allow the foe to stumble and bring his head down to a point where he might be blinded by such an improvisational attack. Another player, wants to talk down a dragon who is rampaging in an uncontrolled rage. The GM decides that this is so extremely unlikely that it will cost the player 5 Fate Points, and that it will get the dragon to listen to him for a few minutes.
• Static Bonus (Other) - This option allows the player to spend 2 Fate Points in order to add or subtract 5 points from a given roll that does not directly affect him. No roll may have more than 3 bonuses, be they positive or negative, from this option applied. This modifier may also be used in conjunction with Extra Dice (Other) and counts as 1 die in regards to the limit on the amount of dice that may be used on a given roll.
• Static Bonus (Self) - This option allows the player to spend 1 Fate Point in order to add or subtract 5 points from a given roll that does directly affect him. No roll may have more than 3 bonuses, be they positive or negative, from this option applied. This modifier may also be used in conjunction with Extra Dice (Self) and counts as 1 die in regards to the limit on the amount of dice that may be used on a given roll.

Thoughts? Opinions?[/list]

[Fidoric]

This list is great  and I agree that the bullet presentation makes things clearer.
When reading the "narrate story element", I found myself wondering who will pay the price for it. It's a very useful option IMO and it supposes a good "team spirit" to work. If I don't like my comrades enough, I am not likely to spend one of my precious fate point for their benefit... But thinking a little more, I think maybe we could go a little further and give a pool of "team fate points" to use when the collective good is at stake. Each party of characters could decide how much of their fate points they want to mutualize and put aside for a further collective use.
For example, everybody in the party puts one fate point in the pool, so the party owns one collective fate point.
To gain a bonus toward a personnal goal would use personnal fate point whereas common fate points can be tapped too when striving toward a collective goal.

[imported_Rasyr]

I think that perhaps you misunderstood something...

The option to Narrate a Story Element is meant solely to get the player more engaged in the game. The reference to "other players" is only to mean that the story element should not require any rolls to be made by anybody, not that the story element should be about other players.

For example, Joe wants to narrate a story element. In doing so, the bit he narrates should not require Henry to make a skill roll to attempt to do something, nor should Jim need to make a skill roll for it, nor should the GM need to make a skill or saving throw against a skill roll.

And the purpose is to "move the story forward", not to benefit any individual character in any way. And of course, the GM actually has veto power over it (in case it conflicts with something he is planning, or if it is abused in some manner in an attempt to bypass parts where skill rolls are required.

[Shagwell]

Good stuff.

To me, the "Narrate Story Element" and "Special" options fit pretty well together.  "Special" seems like an extension of "Narrate..." that possibly brings rolls into play and the GM takes more control over.  You could possibly formalise this a bit and make the cost 2-5 or even 2-6???

[imported_Rasyr]

Yeah, Narrate is for things that don't need a roll and that are within the realm of normal possibility and Special is for things that might not normally happen, and might require rolls. I like the idea of changing the FP costs on Special and will do as you suggested there.

[Fidoric]

I like all this stuff. Narrate is especially cool.