Fate Point Distribution

[sidkfjjteidlkkf]

Clovenhoof mentioned this on the experience thread, and I thought it should be its own topic, which is A GOOD ONE...

How do you hand out Fate Points...

Me: Well, Whenever the mood strikes me :lol: If they accomplish some great deed or do something daring, or even talk themselves out of a real messy situation I give them 1.

If they survive some HORRIFIC MONSTER I give them 1

For gaining a level, the do not get one... After each session, I do not give them one.

They have to earn them...

 

[rgrove0172]

I hand out one Fate Point when they level up. I feel they have earned one by leveling.

I also hand out a bonus for a particularly daring and successful encounter, but I mean really out of the ordinary.

In a recent game the 2nd level characters (two of them only) confronted a bandit leader of some reknown. (5th level) They intended to parley but things turned ugly. Some of my roleplaying really ticked one of the players off and his character responded aggressively. Suddenly they were in for a fight. The barbarian player draws his weapon while the noble in the group look nervously at the group around them. The bandit leader, in all his bravado, steps up to dispatch this upstart and gets criticalled and killed in a single blow. There they are, surrounded by a dozen of his men and they drop the big guy in a puddle of his own guts. They turned and walked out, the bandits too stunned to respond.

They earned a Fate Point on that one.

 

[argo]

Generally I give out FP to reward/reinforce behavior that I like in my players. IOW when they choose to act like badass heroes instead of "playing it smart" and running away... they get a FP. The hard part here is that sometimes I, as GM, forget to actually give them the FP when I would otherwise like to

Also, at the end of every session my group votes for "best player" (players vote, not the GM). The criteria is anything the players want it to be: could be the combat MVP, or the guy who stole the spotlight in Roleplay, or the guy who's OOC planning really saved the day, or the guy who told the joke that brought the game to a sandstill for 10 minutes. The winner gets his choice of +10% XP for the session or +1 FP. Oftentimes (but not always) the winner for "best player" is the guy who spent a FP or two that session to save everyone, so it tends to work itself out :wink:

Lastly I have started trying something new. When I first started I would give a rare few "named" NPC's FP as well. What's good for the goose is good for the gander right? Then I realized that not only is it lame for the players to beat down a NPC only to have the NPC spend a FP and live... but it is also a headache for me to track expendable resources for NPC's. So now what I've started doing is instead when a villian gets beat down and I decide that I want him to make a miraculous escape (instead of dying) then the entire group gets a FP in compensation. IOW instead of the villian "spending" a FP I give the players all a FP. That way they get something tangible for their effort, even if the BBEG makes a plot-escape. So far my group has responded well to this.

Hope that helps.

 

[Jeffreywns]

Guess I'll rethink my fate point distribution process with those excellent examples. As is, the party had to defeat (not just survive) someone or something that affected a large group of people. Namely 2 of the Black Kingdom adventures. As the Succubus in Shadizar was "one more Demon in a nest of Demon kissers" all they received were levels, corruption points, a loss of a level and being chased out of Zamora by the Kings Own, led by Captain Diodor. My bad.

 

[sidkfjjteidlkkf]

By the way, when I said SURVIVE some MONSTER, I meant leaving the encounter also counts as surviving..

A part of that transfers into knowing what they are dealing with. I never say "The Dragon is attacking you!", I say "a large than large lizard is glazing his eyes at you."

Know what you are fighting makes you a greater warrior.

You have to know when to hold them, and know when to fold them....

 

[Clovenhoof]

when a villian gets beat down and I decide that I want him to make a miraculous escape (instead of dying) then the entire group gets a FP in compensation.

That's an excellent idea! That way, the players won't feel screwed over when all their effort results in the BBEG getting away _again_. They kinda expect XP anyway (after all, failures can also be experience), but a Fate Point award in such a situation reassures them that you're not doing this to screw them over.

 

[Jeffreywns]

After this and the "fate point obsession thread" I believe I will increase their rate as a reward. Any thoughts on what would be too much? Starting players recieve from 2-4, so maybe 1-2 as a reward and a cap of 6 from obsession sound reasonable? My group ranges at 2,3,3 and 5 now. Their playing style ranges from stubborn (I WILL kill him) to easily distracted (keeping a starting package riding camel alive through 4 levels).

 

[argo]

I figgure each player should get a FP about every 2-3 sessions. Which is about the same rate that I figgure they should be spending them at :wink:

Generally I think it is good for each player to have about 3 FP in the bank at any given time. Obviously they will fluctuate up and down, but over time it should average out to about that.

Of course, the players in my group mostly tend to "hoarding" when it comes to FP. For me the challenge has always been proding them into spending FP, never in having them run out at a bad time (I don't think anybody has even been down as low as 1 FP yet).

Later.

 

[sidkfjjteidlkkf]

Gaining levels to me does not constitute gaining fate points. You gain a level by what you as a whole. Fate points are gained for more or less individual things that you do - that in turn gain levels.