Experiences With Heroic Action Points

[Steve]

I used them in my Pirates of Drinax Traveller Hero setting, and they were mostly used to mitigate bad dice rolls or enhance PRE attacks. One of the characters had a couple of dice of Luck, so received additional HAPs to use each session.

 

My Delta Green Hero campaign does not use them on purpose, to emphasize that the setting is a harsh and uncaring place.

[Sketchpad]

Has anyone made a cheat sheet with how many HAPs do X Thing? Like say, something like taking a free Recovery? Or maybe Editing the Scene?

[Christopher R Taylor]

I think the primary value of this kind of mechanic is to enforce genre.  It can make sure that someone's big heroic scene isn't ruined by a bad die roll, for instance.  But where you can use them and what value they have varies from game to game, so there's not official list out there that I know of.

[Sketchpad]

4 hours ago, Christopher R Taylor said:

But where you can use them and what value they have varies from game to game, so there's not official list out there that I know of.

 

Unofficial would work as well.  I tend to house rule Hero most of the time as is. 

[Christopher R Taylor]

For what its worth, this is what I came up with for my fantasy campaign

 

COMBAT

· On Target: 1 HAP to automatically hit the target by the minimum required roll.

· Should’ve Done Better: 1 HAP spent on damage can makes the roll on a single die a 6.  This can be done after dice have been rolled.

· That’s the Spot!  1 HAP can be used to choose a specific hit location

· Missed Me! Increase DCV against a single Attack Roll by +3 per HAP spent.

· Just A Flesh Wound!  Spend 1 HAP to make the damage of any attack minimum roll (a 1 on each die).

· Second Wind: Spend a HAP to get a “free” Recovery (get back END and STUN equal to your current REC.)  This can be done at any time, even if your character is unconscious or under some kind of control.

· Sudden Recovery: Pay 1 HAP to wake up at 1 STN and 1 END from unconsciousness.  This ends that character’s phase.

· I Can Take It! Spend 1 HAP to decrease certain effects of damage, such as: ignore being stunned; turn a a disabling blow into an impairing blow, or ignore an impairing blow (thus 2 HAP will completely mitigate disabling wounds).  This can be used to stop natural Bleeding from wounds as well.

· Not Dead Yet! If at negative BOD spend a HAP to stabilize and stop bleeding to death.

· Seize the Initiative! Spend 1 HAP to act first this phase.

· Prepared!  If you abort your phase and Spend 2 HAPs then you do not lose your next phase (effectively you get one free abort-only phase).

 

GENERAL PLAY

· It Worked! Before rolling, 1 HAP can be spent to make any skill, to-hit, or other 3d6 resolution roll be an automatic success.  This success is the minimum required to succeed.

· Cheat Fate? On any skill, to-hit, or other 3d6 resolution roll you can spend 1 HAP to re-roll. You keep the better roll.  You can also spend 1 HAP to force a re-roll of a dice roll by someone else that directly effects your character. This can be a to-hit roll, damage roll, perception roll of a guard if your character is sneaking into somewhere, even a Ritual roll of a Priest trying to heal your character, etc.

· Inconvenient!  Use 1 HAP to ignore a complication.  Even a susceptibility or vulnerability can be ignored, for that phase only.

· Embolden!  Spend 1 HAP to ignore a presence attack, even after the attack has been rolled.

· Even more Impressive: For Presence Attacks, 1 HAP increases each die by +1 of effect, and this can go over 6 points of effect per die.

· Push it Up: 1 HAP can be spent to increase the results of pushing by 5 points.

· Answers!  Spend 2 HAPs to learn the solution to a riddle or puzzle, or to get a tip about the scenario from the GM.

 

· So Lucky! You can even adjust Luck rolls, adding 1 to one die with one HAP before rolling.  If you roll a natural 6 on any of the dice, you get the HAP refunded.

· Bad Luck? No thanks! If you must make an Unluck roll (for your own character or a character associated with yours) spend a HAP to avoid the roll. Must declare before making the roll.

· Tireless!  Spend 1 HAP to not use any END, expendable item, or charges for a phase.  Your GM may disallow this for some resources (such as a magical item).

· Solution!  Add a plot element, item, or setting part to help solve a problem.  For example, a poisonous plant is found nearby to help defeat the monster, or a vine dangling down to get across to a location, etc.

 

ROLE PLAYING

· Allows the character to have something in the story be the way he or she wishes it to be, within reason.  This could be something relatively tangible, like having a desired object nearby, or more esoteric, like knowing a fact or a person. The effect could be considered similar to a single level of Luck. You “just happen” to find the right thing, or have read just the right book, or bump into a friend of the family who can help you out, etc.

· Our Hero! Spend 1 HAP to succeed at something heroic and dramatically appropriate (anything you could theoretically do - even if it takes a max roll - as long as its heroic and moves the story along, such as break through a wall to get to the hostages or lift something that would require a push)

· Dramatic Effect: You can use 1 HAP to change events, depending on the drama of the situation or the desired result. For example, a GM might allow the kind of attack used by a foe to alter (say, swinging sideways instead of chopping downward) to allow them to dive behind certain cover.  Whether this works or not is up to the GM’s discretion.

· New Friends: In a strange place, you run into someone who knows you, is an ally, a family member, a fan, or otherwise someone who is helpful and useful as a resource by sending 1 HAP.

Edited June 21 by Christopher R Taylor

[Christopher R Taylor]

I should note that I hand out a lot fewer HAPs than the rules suggest: you start with none unless its a continuation from a previous session (then you keep what you had at the end of the last session).  You earn HAPs by doing certain things.  A rule I borrowed from my buddy Dean's Savage World Star Wars rules is that some HAP you spend goes to the GM, and I can then use them for my NPCs.

[Rails]

I've never used HAP in a Champions game, but Deadlands had a similar mechanic (called "Fate Chips", I think). As a player, that mechanic saved my Deadlands huckster from certain death at least twice--so I loved them!

[Ninja-Bear]

@Christopher R Taylor, your list is great. And I’m glad that you mentioned “within reason”. I’ve seen some on these boards to take that a HAP is an “auto win” for which a player uses them for.  Which I don’t think that they were ever designed for.

[Spence]

On 6/15/2024 at 3:54 PM, Sketchpad said:

My apologies for the thread necromancy, but I've been looking HAPs more and more lately and had a few questions. I really kind of liked the way Mutants & Masterminds handled Hero Points (called Victory Points on the SRD site), and thought HAPs would be a great way of using the same concepts.

 

 

I kind of dig this, Spence. Do you find the costs too cheap? Are there higher costing possibilities?

 

 

 

 

Sorry about the delay.  My Hero forum time has declined over the years...

 

To be honest I never really considered cost and balance.  Just in game play and whether it will enhance the game.  The list I posted above was for Pulpy Investigation types.  I will add/change to fit the game/genre as necessary. 

 

The one thing I really try to avoid is "game" pointing.  +3 dcv, +1 whatever.  In my limited experience, most of the people tend to not be familiar with these and will forget them more than use them.  If I add "calculating" to it they begin to deliberately avoid them which defeats the purpose. So my version of HAPs just sidestep/ignore the game system I happen to be using them in. 

 

Of course, the actions/benefits have to promote the game being played.   My list from above would work great for a pulpy actioner but fail miserably for a serious horror game.

Edited July 14 by Spence
phone double post

[Steve]

Yeah, horror would seem to be one genre where using HAPs would be anti-genre.

[Spence]

17 hours ago, Steve said:

Yeah, horror would seem to be one genre where using HAPs would be anti-genre.

Maybe CoC using their version of Pulp which is definitely not the Pulp most people think of.  Or Down Darker Trails.  And then in a very limited way.  But any version of CoC is not cinematic action. 

[Christopher R Taylor]

Depends what kind you are running.  If you're running Call of Cthulhu, definitely not.  If you're running Friday the 13th, maybe.

[Steve]

One thing to consider is that the players might feel a bit more horror if they’ve been used to using HAPs and suddenly that safety net is gone because it’s a horror campaign.

 

I would likewise suggest increasing the amount of HAPs that are given, for certain genres where players seem more blessed, or the universe more forgiving of heroes.