Fate Points and Class

[High Lord Dee]

I am kicking around the idea of giving fate points based on character class. Conan seems to have had a plethora of them in his career. Must have used many when he was armorless.

I am also sick and tired of having all the tough fighter types using fate points to survive only to see the thieves, scholars, and nobles massing them up since they usually can successfully avoid combat if the fighter types do their job.

There is a system of Luck Points in the Book of Roguish Luck put out there S&S that I am reviewing. It seems like it may work for class. I may even give the luck points a try....

Certainly would allow the barbarians to go without armor and have a chance to survive long term.

 

[geordiekimbo]

Just been pondering this. I don't think there is any real need to vary the number of fate points you get because of your class and its predilection to combat.

It just seems that you should remind your GM that he can award fate points to players upon successful completion of key events in a scenario. Thieves and scholars can still get a chance to spend fate points but if they don't get into combat or feel the need to change their destinies that is the players choice.

 

[Thoth Aw C'mon]

I am kicking around the idea of giving fate points based on character class. Conan seems to have had a plethora of them in his career. Must have used many when he was armorless.

I am also sick and tired of having all the tough fighter types using fate points to survive only to see the thieves, scholars, and nobles massing them up since they usually can successfully avoid combat if the fighter types do their job.

There is a system of Luck Points in the Book of Roguish Luck put out there S&S that I am reviewing. It seems like it may work for class. I may even give the luck points a try....

Certainly would allow the barbarians to go without armor and have a chance to survive long term.

I dont think its a good idea to dole out fate points or luck points according to character class. Its just the nature of the role of fighter types that they take the brunt of the fighting and therefore its a hazardous occupation. Only the very best survive long enough to reach old age. But that shouldnt entitle them to more fate or luck points. If the GM decides to grant a fighter more XP or more loot by virtue of their doing the majority of the heavy lifting during the course of an adventure then thats his or her decision to make. But having a house rule thats gives more fate points or luck points by class is IMHO a bad idea.

 

[geordiekimbo]

Good call Thoth.

Just thinking about it..say a GM doles out an average of one fate point every 3 adventures, and the character goes up a level every 3 adventures..assuming he uses two thirds of the fate points he has, he's still going to have 10 or so extra fate points at around level 10.

If you're using more than this just to be left for dead, I think your GM is being really hard on you.

 

[argo]

I also disagree. Fate points should be a response to what the player does in the game, not what his class is

I am kicking around the idea of giving fate points based on character class. Conan seems to have had a plethora of them in his career. Must have used many when he was armorless.

Consider giving out fate points as a reward for heroic/courageous actions. That would certainly guarantee Conan a steady stream of them.

I am also sick and tired of having all the tough fighter types using fate points to survive only to see the thieves, scholars, and nobles massing them up since they usually can successfully avoid combat if the fighter types do their job.

You can use FP to get rid of a point of corruption ... so that should take care of the scholar's FP right there. As for nobles and thieves, they are probably the character classes most likely to use the Destiny special ability to retcon in the NPC contacts they need to do thier stuff (spys, fences, black market suppliers, etc).

Also, although these classes may be able to avoid combat most of the time, they are also the most likely to go down in one unlucky round.

 

[Sutek]

I've been considering the idea of having 1FP = 1 LVL. In other words, if the character is going to level up, he can opt to take a FP instead. This may not work well, but I know a 5,000XP price tag might. Or maybe even 1.000 XP per current level of the character as a price, meaning that a 3rd level character could buy a single FP for the cost of 3,000XP.

Doing it this way, you could have character that arent'high level buddied up to higher level characters, but they survive by being exceedingly lucky. That's a fantasy staple...

 

[René]

I am also sick and tired of having all the tough fighter types using fate points to survive only to see the thieves, scholars, and nobles massing them up since they usually can successfully avoid combat if the fighter types do their job.

In my group there is no such disparity in Fate points. Maybe this due the small size of the group (three PCs), so everyone has to rely on them as a last resource.

 

[SetWorshipper]

I had a problem of player's holding onto fate points and only using them to be left for dead. Unless I upped the difficulty some players were starting to get 5+ fate points.

What I did was place a hard cap on them. At most a PC can have 3 Fate Points in reserve. Hyboreans can have 4 (racial ability = +1 fate point).

Generally you'll get 1 fate point if the adventure was successful. You also get slated for bonus fate point awards if you tempt fate by successfully doing something particulary dangerous, "huzzah" to the story, etc.

 

[geordiekimbo]

I don't think a cap on the number of fate points is fair.. If a PC has been successful in his adventures and has saved them up I say good for him. He's been lucky enough or mean enough not to have needed to spend any, wheres the problem in that?

 

[Sutek]

I agre....just give them out less often.

 

[arnon]

I started using Fate Points in my Midnight game. While it hasn't been long, I think it'd be wrong to base it on class or cap them out.

Fate Points should be handed rarely, not at the end of every session or adventure, but when the PCs truely do great things... (it doesn't matter if for personal gain or for others): wheather the PCs find something he looked for a long time, or, like has already been mentioned, the PC laughs fate in the face and lives...

cheers,
arnon

 

[High Lord Dee]

I started using Fate Points in my Midnight game. While it hasn't been long, I think it'd be wrong to base it on class or cap them out.

Fate Points should be handed rarely, not at the end of every session or adventure, but when the PCs truely do great things... (it doesn't matter if for personal gain or for others): wheather the PCs find something he looked for a long time, or, like has already been mentioned, the PC laughs fate in the face and lives...

cheers,
arnon

Interesting. My experiences from Fate Points are also based on Midnight. Great setting BTW! The front row guys seem to always be in balance since the DM constantly throws big numbers against us. Over 9 levels, the channelers, rogues and wildlander have amassed so many points that the DM forced them to convert them into stat pumps or feats. Not too happy about that as a player but that is how it was handled. Now the DM is limiting the FP's to one per level. In Midnight and I fear Conan, due to being low magic with lack of Raise Dead and limited healing, that may not be enough to survive. I would handle it differently but it does appear that 2nd line characters stay out of harms way far more than the front line over the long haul. I will probably play the Conan FP's as stated but has anyone had experience running a Conan campaign from 1st level to say...10th? How did the FP's work out?