Criticism for my Plot Point System? Please.

[RedMattis]

I really like your ideas Maz.
I haven't really got time to write a full reply at the moment, but I'll try to get something up this evening. (GMT+1)

[RedMattis]

Fate Point Spending

Heroic Feats
Heroic Effort (1)
Make one dice roll at +6. This must be decided before you roll the dice.
If dramatically appropriate, add +2. If the player gives a good or interesting description of the action, add +2
only half bonus is given for long tasks such as rituals, construction, scientific experiments...

Lucky Shot (1, Cumulative)
Improve the result of a roll by +3. If the result gets a margin of success above at 10 or above by this method it is considered a critical success. Critical Failures are also removed
If dramatically appropriate, add +2.
Only half bonus (round up) is given for long tasks such as rituals, construction, scientific experiments...

Overclock (1)
Improve one ability as per Temporary Enhancements (GURPS Powers p.172). Include a bonus as if Heroic Effort had been used to the Temporary Enhancement Roll. This costs no fatigue point, but additional fatigue points can be used to mitigate penalties.
The GM is the judge for which abilities can be enhanced like this, and how. Cannot be combined with Heroic Effort.

Gritted Teeth (2)
You are able to stay conscious no matter what, in order to complete a certain task... for instance, carry a loved one to safety or get to the engine room and turn of the self destruct, or hold off the horde of Orcs until your friends get away. Too simply be able to keep fighting is not motivation enough (Except perhaps if you are the last one on your feet and surrender is not an option).

Second Wind (1)
No matter the injuries you are able to get back up on your feet. Even after failing an Unconscious roll you can use this to get back up again. Further activity might require new rolls to avoid falling back.

Fury (3 to 2)
At the cost of 3 plot points the character can release his or her fury and get the following bonuses:
+3 to all attack rolls
+2 to damage, or +1 per dice whichever is better
+1 to defense rolls
This ability can only be used after some form of serious provocation, and must be role-played. Extremely ‘good’ provocation decreases the cost to 2 plot points.
Being insulted or in mortal danger is not enough to permit using Fury. This feat is meant for when someone stabs your friend, or shoots a loved one.
Rename Heroic Fury, Tranquil Fury, or anything else befitting the character.


Aegis of the Plot

Flesh wound (1)
Reduce the injury from one incident to ¼ of its original value (rounded up). This must be done before death or unconscious rolls.

Not Quite Dead (1)
At the cost of a plot point a player can fudge a death roll and stabilize the character, avoiding death. This does not protect against further injury though, and if several death rolls are failed the player may have to spend several plot points.
If the character still dies the plot points spent here counts for “Back from the Grave” should the player want so

Deus ex Machina “Insurance” (3 to 6)
At the point the character fails an unconsciousness roll the player may spend 3 Plot Points to guarantee that the character will survive until he or she has returned to consciousness. Beyond that it offers no protection.
Another alternative is for a conscious character to spend six Plot Points to guarantee that he or she will not be permanently killed at any point during the rest of the gaming session. Beyond not dying it offers no protection.

Deus ex Machina “Cushion” (2)
IF in a horrible situation you can use this to change it to a less horrible one. For instance if being pushed into a volcano you could use Deus ex Machina to change the 'falling into lava' to 'getting a grip on the edge of the volcano, slowly slipping'. If your weapon blew up you could change it to just being jammed. A powerful rocket hitting your car might just glance it puncturing the tiers and only giving you superficial burns...but still rendering you immobile, and so on. Inspired by Burning Wheels

Back from the Grave (5 or more)
By spending five plot points the character can return from the dead in some form. This can take any form, and might take time in game depending on what form. Exactly what kind of creature the character returns as is up to the Game Master. At 5 points the GM will likely be quite sadistic for how exactly this works out. At 10 points the GM will be more generous, and make the ride a bit less bumpy. At 15 Plot Points the GM will explain alternatives and allow the Player to pick.
Back from the Grave cannot be bought with Character Points.


Plots Twists

Serendipity (1 or more)
The player can request one lucky occurrence of moderately improbably event, such as a taxi being waiting just outside the building he or she escaped from, the guard at the nightclub being an old associate, or your friends coming to save you in the nick of time.
Very unlikely or downright ridiculous cases of serendipity cost more points.

Gizmo (1 or more)
The character has some useful, but possibly very unlikely object which just happens to be what is needed to solve the task at hand. This Plot Twist allows a character who just minutes ago went through a metal detector to pull a gun, or a character to just have happened to collect some blood of that Thing Man-Was-Not-Meant-To-Know when they last encountered it.
The more unlikely the “gizmo”, the more costly, but in general this Plot Twist is more powerful than the Gizmo Advantage.


What is dramatically Appropriate?
There are many things that can make an act dramatically appropriate. A few short examples will be given.

• The crooks who wrecked Jon's apartment are escaping by car with the outside. Joe decides to try jumping down into the backseat of their roofless car as it races by ten stories down. (Notably difficult, but cool)
• June decides to throw a heavy vase across the room into the head of the woman who just shot her brother. (Very difficult, dramatic as an act of vengeance or desperation)
• Tim rushes out of the Black Hand's Headquarters, goons following just a few paces outside. It sure would be convenient if a cab was outside now... (Cinematic, style)

Generally, things that happen in movies, especially memorable scenes tend to be dramatically appropriate

[RedMattis]

Gritted Teeth, Second Wind, Deus Ex Machina "Cushion" are all by Maz.

[RedMattis]

New Idea. After noticing how the "Specialist" on the part keeps collecting character points for Fate-Point purposes I've been playing with the following idea:

Character Points can be used for Fate Points, but only Character Points earned the previous meeting, and never more than five.
Also, "Heroes" have a max of 15 Fate Points. If a "Hero" goes over 15 at any point his total is lowered to 15.
Back from the Grave has no extra cost for being bought with Character points with this rule.

Both rules are of course made to discourage Hoarding of Fate Points.


(I've been pondering lowering the Fate max to 10 for heroes, but I'll first check what happens after this change before lowering it further)

[Ego Archive]

Originally Posted by RedMattis

New Idea. After noticing how the "Specialist" on the part keeps collecting character points for Fate-Point purposes I've been playing with the following idea:

That was actually my first thought when I read the initial post, "why wouldn't I just make a specialist, and store up CP?", other than a couple instances there is no real disadvantage to using them.

Personally, I'd probably say anyone can use CP in place of FP, but the cost is always x2, or something like that. It allows the Specialist the option of the big gain effects, but they are much more costly then if the hero used it.

Other than that, I really like the revised system!

[LemmingLord]

I like what I see. :)

What about some kind of "Great First Impression" - 1 fate point, when the character is first introduced, she gets a +5 to all rolls for the first fight scene and a -4 on self control rolls.

[RedMattis]

Originally Posted by Ego Archive

Personally, I'd probably say anyone can use CP in place of FP, but the cost is always x2, or something like that. It allows the Specialist the option of the big gain effects, but they are much more costly then if the hero used it.

I was pondering something similar myself, but I know that at least my player will just hoard even more of them, and feel punished when using them.
By my gut feeling I'd rather go with "It's fine to sacrifice a bit of character advancement for plot benefit" than "You can sacrifice Character Advancement for plot benefit, but it's really not a very good deal".
At the birth of the Fate Point system only Fate Points could be spent to get plot benefits. If the 5 CP max doesn't solve the issue I might reverse back to that. There are a few advantages to keeping Fate and CP separate.

For now, the new limits should prevent my players from feeling Immortal-by-Plot (though to be frank, they seem to be more Paranoid than confident). Or so I hope.

Other than that, I really like the revised system!

Good to hear! :)

[RedMattis]

In order to avoid cheapening climatic struggles, contests and such some GMs might want to use the bonus values for "Long Tasks" instead of the normal ones.

For example:
The Arm-wrestling challenge to prove your point.
The struggle to avoid getting possessed by an malevolent spirit.
The Hacking into the Core's AI at the centre of EvilCorps.

This could be used when the GM feels a true contest of skill is appropriate, or perhaps because the GM feels that according to TV Plot logic failure would be very possible here, or perhaps using it according to more strictly defined rules.
This can be used to get a bit more control over the Fate Point system.

Rounding down Lucky Shot's bonus to +1 instead of rounding to +2 can work to raise the tension, just make sure your players are clear on what rules you will be using beforehand.