Author Topic: Fate Points: when can a player decide to use them? Before or after rolling dice?  (Read 1184 times)

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Offline harper1973

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Hi everybody, pretty much what the title says: I'd say before, when a player wants to decide to add + 50 or + 100 to a die roll, and after, if a player wants to subtract -25 or -50 to a crit she/he just received. What do you think and suggest?
Many thanks!

Offline ImaginosMusic

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I have not found anything in the rules specifying when the fate point must be spent. I have used the rule of call it before the roll or it doesn't happen.

Offline Glenn_Gould

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We do not use the +something from the rules but use fate points to avoid deadly blows (after the results have been looked up), plain and simple.

There've been very few occasions where players have asked to use fate points for something different and where it has been granted - I remember a situation when a big crowd of the really bad guys was close behind the badly wounded group and one player wanted to try casting a spell despite being out of power points to somehow secure the unprobable escape with a last stand. The request was granted: He hat to sacrifice a fate point and was allowed to cast the spell using hit points (or was it constitution?) instead of power points to reflect a true heroes desperation.

(The spell worked and combined with other heroic efforts from other players the group managed to barely get away with their lifes and it created a great role playing situation).

Offline harper1973

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We do not use the +something from the rules but use fate points to avoid deadly blows (after the results have been looked up), plain and simple.

There've been very few occasions where players have asked to use fate points for something different and where it has been granted - I remember a situation when a big crowd of the really bad guys was close behind the badly wounded group and one player wanted to try casting a spell despite being out of power points to somehow secure the unprobable escape with a last stand. The request was granted: He hat to sacrifice a fate point and was allowed to cast the spell using hit points (or was it constitution?) instead of power points to reflect a true heroes desperation.

(The spell worked and combined with other heroic efforts from other players the group managed to barely get away with their lifes and it created a great role playing situation).

Wow, what a fantastic roleplaying situation!!!
Many thanks to all of you!

Offline Spectre771

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We've never allowed Fate Points to directly affect the numbers rolled on the dice.  We did allow a re-roll though.  However, the player was stuck with the 2nd result no matter what.  That was what "Fate" decided would happen.  Fate Points are so rare in our game worlds that players tend to save them for death situations, not on a crit re-roll.  The players know the re-roll could be worse, but in most cases, they were dealing with a death blow anyway, and there isn't much worse than death. 


We did allow a lot of leeway with what a Fate Point could be used for.  One example from RM2, a player so badly fumbled a Locate Secret Opening roll that he wouldn't be allowed to retry the skill in that room for a month.  He ended with a net result worse than -175 and the chart in RMC-II had that result.  He just shook his head and said he had to use a Fate Point.  Done and done.
If discretion is the better valor and
cowardice the better part of judgment,
let's all be heroes and run away!

Offline craig

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Hi everybody, pretty much what the title says: I'd say before, when a player wants to decide to add + 50 or + 100 to a die roll, and after, if a player wants to subtract -25 or -50 to a crit she/he just received. What do you think and suggest?

Whenever the player (or NPC if a GM gives fate points to an NPC) wants to use them.  Before a roll, after a roll, even after the total has been added and the result looked up.

The only limitation is no retro-active changes.  Once an action is over and somebody else takes their turn in the round, fate has been decided.

The whole point of a fate point is it allows characters to change an undesirable outcome.   They're a scarce resource, so there's no need to nerf them...if a player wants to waste them on something trivial, let them.

The HARP rulebook says:

Quote
Fate Points may only be used in situations where success or failure will have an immediate and important impact on the character such as during a confrontation of some sort; they may not be used for something as mundane as the crafting of an item or other non-stressful situations.

Stress and fateful situations are reasonable limitations, but context is important.  There are situations where making a crafting roll might be an extremely stressful situation that determines whether they earn the title of Journeyman or Master, or become a Failed Apprentice.