3.P Fate Points House Rules

There are moments in any struggle that influence the outcome. Does the brave warrior lay low the villain before he can finish casting a devastating spell? Does the sly rogue avoid detection as she sneaks into the giant chieftain’s lair? Does the pious cleric finish casting her healing spell before the rain of arrows ends the life of her companions? Just a few die rolls decide each of these critical moments, and while failure is always a possibility, true heroes find a way to succeed, despite the odds.  Fate Points represent this potential for greatness. They give heroes the chance to succeed even when the dice turn against them.

Fate points essentially replace similar systems in D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder, such as Action Points and Hero Points, and as players ascend to mythic status, they function as Mythic Powers.  Originally inspired by the FATE: Core RPG and related systems, the intent with Fate Points is to make players feel more connected to the story, the world, and each other, while providing an edge in moments of high tension.  In general, players will earn Fate Points by winning or losing in spectacular fashion, and they spend Fate Points to affect the outcome of specific rolls or to change the narrative in subtle ways.  When in doubt, assume that all references to Action Points, Hero Points, and Mythic Powers in the rules are substituted with Fate Points.  Many specific conversions follow, and they take precedence over older versions.

Fate Points are awarded to any character with a fate or destiny relevant to the current campaign.  In practice, this means any named character, including PCs and NPCs.  Unnamed characters or generic monsters don’t have fate points, and can’t make use of these rules.  Since all players may use Fate Points, and may potentially ascend to mythic status, it seemed appropriate to combine Action/Fate Points and Mythic Powers, rather than to have 2 or 3 overlapping systems.  Until characters reach mythic status, Fate Points do not renew over time or with rest.  Once spent, they are gone forever.  Fate Points are awarded at the end of each session by your fellow players or during play by the GM.  The GM is the final arbiter on the award and use of Fate Points.

 

 

The following is a table comparing the aspects of various systems for quick reference:

 

Metagame Analysis: Fate Points

Fate Points give players some control over poor die rolls.  Although this has little effect in an average encounter, it makes it a little more likely that characters will survive extremely challenging encounters and less likely that a single character will fall to what would otherwise be a balanced foe because of bad luck.  A reserve of Fate Points lets even careful players expose their characters to more risks, heightening the game’s tension and opening the door to even more heroic action.  This variant also makes it less likely that an entire adventuring group will fall victim to one powerful effect, such as circle of death or cloudkill.

Fate Points also make it more likely that the use of a character’s most potent abilities will be successful.  For example, although its overall effect on an encounter might be minimal, few things frustrate a paladin more than missing with a smite attack – an event that becomes less likely when using Fate Points.

That said, Fate Points can also lead characters to routinely get in over their heads (relying on Fate Points to save themselves), and for GMs to unconsciously increase the difficulty of encounters (since characters are more likely to succeed against foes of equal power).  This is fine as long as the characters have a reserve of such points to spend – but if they run out, encounters that would otherwise be merely challenging can become incredibly deadly.  Keep the number of Fate Points available to your characters in mind when designing encounters.

For GMs who are worried that Fate Points increase the power level of characters without an offsetting cost, there’s an easy solution.  Just think of each Fate Point as a one-use magic item with a broad range of possible effects.  With that analogy, it becomes easy to justify reducing the amount of treasure awarded to balance out the accrual of action points.  Note that this is merely a tool for GMs interested in carefully monitoring character power levels; Fate Points should never be for sale.

A Fate Point is roughly equivalent to a magic item worth 10% per of a character’s wealth by level plus one (since the higher a character’s level, the more potent the effect).  Another way to gauge the value of a Fate Point is to examine some of its possible effects:

·        Up to +20 to a skill / ability check

·        1 spontaneously cast ‘free’ spell at +2 CL

·        1 re-roll of a d20

·        1 move / standard action

·        + ½ per mythic tier / + 1 per mythic tier to most other d20 rolls

GMs and players should consider whether a given option gives less than a Fate Point for equal value.

A Note on Luck and Inspiration

Some other point systems are similar to Fate Points in flavor and function, but since they are class features which may not be shared by all characters, they remain a separate pool of points.  This includes Grit, Panache, Luck, and Inspiration points, among others.  Note that Luck pools from D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder stack (such as those gained from Luck Feats and the Sleuth Investigator or Technician class features).  The Inspiration pools of the Investigator and Factotum do not stack, despite many similarities.

 

Awarding Fate Points

 

Each character begins play with a number of Fate Points equal to 3 + ½ their level + their mythic tier.  This is the maximum number of Fate Points that a character may have at any given time.  In addition, whenever a character gains a level, she earns an additional 1 Fate Point, up to her maximum.  Finally, at the end of each session, each player may nominate another player to receive a Fate Point.  Aside from these basic rules, awarding additional Fate Points is up to the GM.  The following options are just some of the ways that a GM might award additional Fate Points.

·        Character Story: GMs can award a fate point for the completion of a written character backstory. This reward encourages players to take an active role in the history of the game. In addition, the GM can use this backstory to generate a pivotal moment for your character concerning his past. When this key event is resolved, the GM can reward another fate point. Alternatively, the GM might award a fate point for painting a miniature or drawing a character portrait in the likeness of your character, helping the rest of the group visualize your hero.

·        Compelling Flaw or Mistake:  If one of your flaws or an element from your background changes the outcome of an encounter, the GM might award you a fate point for your troubles.  You can also receive a fate point when you roleplay an in-character mistake, for example if you ignore out-of-character knowledge and have your character choose the wrong option in a situation where they wouldn’t benefit from that knowledge.

·        World Fact: The world of the Ledge doesn’t always match up with the rules of the D&D or Pathfinder systems.  Whenever a player willingly limits their character in a way that makes sense in the context of the world, but not necessarily in the context of the system, they are entitled to a fate point.  For example, teleportation is risky in this world, so choosing the long way qualifies.

·        Faith: In a campaign where the gods play an important role in every character’s life, fate points might represent their favor. In such a setting, the GM can award fate points to characters whenever they uphold the tenets of their faith in a grand way, or whenever they take on one of the faith’s major enemies. Such fate points might be temporary, and if not spent on the task at hand, they fade away.

·        Group Service: The GM can award fate points for acts outside the game as well. Buying pizza for the group, helping to clean up afterward, or even hosting the game for a night might be worth a fate point. This sort of fate point should be given out of generosity, not as a payment.

·        Heroic Acts: Whenever a character performs an exceptionally heroic act, she can be awarded a fate point. This might include anything from slaying an evil dragon when the rest of the group has fled to rescuing townsfolk from a burning building despite being terribly wounded. It does not have to be related to combat. Convincing the reticent king to send troops to help with a bandit problem or successfully jumping a wide chasm might earn a character a fate point, depending on the circumstances. Note that a fate point should only be awarded if the PC involved did not spend a fate point to accomplish the task.

·        Return from the Dead: When a character dies, she does not lose any fate points she has accumulated. If she died with no fate points remaining, she gains 1 fate point when she is brought back from the dead through powerful magic, such as raise dead or resurrection.

·        Maximum Fate Points: Characters can have no more than a total number of fate points equal to 3 + ½ their level + their mythic tier at any one time. Excess fate points are lost.

 

Using Fate Points

 

Fate Points for GMs

Although all of the options presented here should be carefully considered before they are added to your game, fate points deserve closer inspection. Although fate points do not drastically increase the power of the PCs, they do grant the PCs the ability to greatly increase their chances of success during critical moments. While the game itself is set up to give the player characters an edge, fate points take that a bit further, possibly more so than you might be comfortable with.

The value to fate points is that they add dramatic tension to the climax of your game. Most uses of fate points do not guarantee success, making the moment they are used even more important to the players. Fate Points are a very limited resource and their use should be described with additional detail and dramatic style. Used in this way, they can help create very memorable sessions for both you and your players.

Just like PCs, named NPCs can make use of fate points. A number of spells and magic items, as well as the Hero’s Fortune feat, grant fate points to a character. Such fate points should be used sparingly, and should be reserved for life or death situations (as NPCs rarely, if ever, gain levels). If you use them too much, the players will begin to resent the system, making it more of a problem than an opportunity to enhance the game.

Fate Points can be spent at any time and do not require an action to use (although the actions they modify consume part of your character’s turn as normal). You cannot spend fate points more than once during a single round of combat. Whenever a fate point is spent, it can have any one of the following effects.

·        Bonus: When you spend 1 fate point to improve a d20 roll, you add the result of a 1d6 to your d20 roll (including attack rolls, saves, checks, or any other roll of a d20) to help you meet or exceed the target number. You can declare the use of 1 fate point to alter a d20 roll after the roll is made, but only before the GM reveals the result of that roll. You can’t use a fate point to alter the result of a d20 roll when you are taking 10 or taking 20.  Depending on character level (see table), a character might be able to roll more than one d6 when he spends 1 fate point. If so, apply the highest result and disregard the other rolls. A 15th-level character, for instance, gets to roll 3d6 and take the best result of the three. So, if he rolled a 1, 2, and 4, he would apply the 4 to his d20 roll.

·        Extra Action: You can spend a fate point on your turn to gain an additional standard or move action this turn.

·        Inspiration: If you feel stuck at one point in the adventure, you can spend a fate point and petition the GM for a hint about what to do next. If the GM feels that there is no information to be gained, the fate point is not spent.

·        Recall: You can spend a fate point to recall a spell you have already cast or to gain another use of a special ability that is otherwise limited. This should only be used on spells and abilities possessed by your character that recharge on a daily basis.

·        Reroll: You may spend a fate point to reroll any one dice roll you just made. You must take the results of the second roll, even if it is worse.

·        Special Mechanical Benefit: You can petition the GM to allow a fate point to be used to attempt nearly anything that would normally be almost impossible. Such uses are not guaranteed and should be considered carefully by the GM. Possibilities include casting a single spell that is one level higher than you could normally cast (or a 1st-level spell if you are not a spellcaster), making an attack that blinds a foe or bypasses its damage reduction entirely, or attempting to use Diplomacy to convince a raging dragon to give up its attack. Regardless of the desired action, the attempt should be accompanied by a difficult check or penalty on the attack roll. No additional fate points may be spent on such an attempt, either by the character or her allies.

·        Special Story Benefit: You can petition the GM to allow a fate point to be used to change the story in a subtle way.  For example, you can introduce an NPC that has a neutral attitude toward the party, or you can create a stash of explosive barrels in the middle of a battle, etc.  Such uses of a fate point must plausibly benefit all characters in the current encounter or none of them at all.  You can’t simply summon an ally, for example, nor can you change the attitude of an enemy to make them friendly, etc.  The GM is the final arbiter on what would be a fair story benefit.

·        Activate Class Feature: You can spend 2 fate points to gain another use of a class feature that normally has two or more uses per day, or to gain another two rounds of a class feature that normally can be used for two or more rounds per day.  For example, you can spend 2 fate points to gain another smite attack or another two rounds of bardic performance.

·        Hasten Infusion: On his turn, an artificer can spend 1 fate point to imbue an infusion in 1 round, even if the infusion’s casting time is normally longer than 1 round.

·        Stabilize: When your character is dying, you can spend 1 fate point to stabilize at your current hit point total. Spending a fate point does nothing for you if you’re already dead.

·        Cheat Death: A character can spend 2 fate points to cheat death. How this plays out is up to the GM, but generally the character is left alive, with negative hit points but stable. For example, a character is about to be slain by a critical hit from an arrow. If the character spends 2 fate points, the GM decides that the arrow pierced the character’s holy symbol, reducing the damage enough to prevent him from being killed, and that he made his stabilization roll at the end of his turn.  The character can spend fate points in this way to prevent the death of a familiar, animal companion, eidolon, or special mount, but not another character or NPC.