Fate Rate

bampf

Mongoose
I m preparing to start my Conan campaign and wanted to inquire about the rate of Fate Points used and awarded you guys have seen.

I want to encourage my players to use their FPs and not hoard them (in fact the campaign starts with the party being the only survivors of an ambush... forcing a left for dead just to start gameplay). I wanna strike the right balance that players use the FPs at opportune times but not to the extent that every bandit/pict gets a mighty blow just for good measure.

The follow-up is at what rate do you hand out and replenish FPs? I m assuming that will be a major determining factor for players deciding whether or not to burn one.

Any tips or apropos anecdotes?

Thanks.
 
My suggestion is don't be afraid to be as brutal as you wish with them -- fate points will get used to keep their scrawny asses alive. I haven't played in a session yet when fate points haven't been used by at least one player and often by all! Sometimes multiple.

We're pretty liberal with their use -- using them to alter failed saves or checks -- changing destiny basically.

As for giving them back, I'm of the mind that a player should never have more FP's than their starting number and give them out whenever someone tempts or cheats fate legitimately -- attempting some stunning manuver or making excellent/creative use of their fate points to significantly affect the outcome of the adventure.

Advise for FP use: don't blow them on anticipated outcomes -- wait for the shit to really start raining before burning one! Oftentimes circumstances have a way of working themselves out without the using them -- or other players will burn one in a way that helps the entire party!
 
I think your descriptions sound pretty inline with my expectations and what I want my players to pick up on quickly. I just don t want them using FPs as a crutch though.
 
In some games/genres I perfer that "fate points" (or action points, or whatever) be used all the time to change dice rolls and put the action really over the top. But in Conan I want to emphasize how rugged and self-sufficent the characters are and just how close to the edge they live. So I dont' let fate points be used to alter failed saves or checks or to add values to a die roll.

However, that doesn't mean that I don't expect fate points to be used often! Conan is plenty deadly and often being heroic can mean simply getting out with you hide in one piece :twisted: I also encourage players to "barter" with me if they can come up with something cool and inspired depending on the current situation. Just no overturning of bad die rolls.

As for how often a player should get points back. I like to manipulate the number of points as a sort of psychological stress on the player. if they have 3 or 4 (they should rarely have more than 4) they should be feeling prety good, bold and ambitious. If they drop to 1 or 2 each they should be feeling the pressure. If a player gets particularly reckless then I will let them languish with no fate points for a while, let them sweat it out. So when I want the players feeling good I find an excuse to give them a point (which leads to them trying more cool things, which provides more excuses to give them points) and when I whant them feeling woried I crank up the heat of the encounters so they have to burn a point or two. Though I do have a rule that at a bare minumum they get one point every time they level up, so they can bank on that.
 
My group uses them much like hero points are used in Mutants and Masterminds, only more powerful. Trade it in for an automatic hit on a missed attack roll, speed up crafting rolls, turn a hit into a crit, and use a feat your character doesn't have for the duration of the scene / battle / encounter / appropriate unit of time. If a player has something that seems to advance the story and wants to use a fate point, I'm good with it.
On the other hand, I am pretty harsh about "Left for dead" and the goal is to avoid being in that position. What other uses do you folks allow?
 
Qjedi said:
On the other hand, I am pretty harsh about "Left for dead" and the goal is to avoid being in that position. What other uses do you folks allow?

That's the primary focus I expect it to be used for frankly, in case the combat results go bad, it gives them a "reboot" by being left for dead. I also have allowed the use to overcome the swooning effect of failed terror checks - it's pretty lame for the party to all keel over at the sight of a beast and not very heroic either.
 
I like it, slaughterj, the group freaking out from terror does suck, especially if they haven't figured out that they should run from some encounters or spread out with missile weapons or something...
My DM is currently grabbing encounters and adventures from the most demon-filled game he could find in the style. Melnibone. Try it on your PC's if you wanna hurt 'em.
 
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