Bonus Rolls

[pblackcrow]

Something a new player has suggested. Before the first part of each scenario game begins have the players roll percentiles 3 times and a D20 3 times, and the GM keeps track of them for use at anytime of the game to substitute for rolls. If the player doesn't use a roll he can turn it in for 500 exp at the end of that scenario.

I'm sorta iffy about it. Um, how about you guys? And I am the deciding vote.

[ZorValachan]

can he use the roll for bad guys? Otherwise you roll a 1 on the d20 and probably do not want to use it, so get the exp... If you roll the 1 and the bad guy rolls a 20, he may then want to have it be a 1...

[MADMANMIKE]

I don't know. I like the idea of the reserve rolls, but being able to get extra EPs for sitting on them seems pretty lame to me. EPs are for playing the game well, not to reward choosing not to cheat...

[PhellaOne]

I don't know. I like the idea of the reserve rolls, but being able to get extra EPs for sitting on them seems pretty lame to me. EPs are for playing the game well, not to reward choosing not to cheat...

Well said.

[zyanitevp]

I don't know. I like the idea of the reserve rolls, but being able to get extra EPs for sitting on them seems pretty lame to me. EPs are for playing the game well, not to reward choosing not to cheat...

Love the idea of reserve rolls, but agree with Madman- no extra xp... but I am stealing the idea...

[J. Lionheart]

In a BTS game I ran, I had some poker chips I'd use. I'd give one chip to a player who had done something worthy of a significant experience bonus (a very clever idea, a significant sacrifice for the good of others, etc) and they'd hold on to them. During that same session, they could opt to trade in the chip for a mulligan on a die roll. Functionally, they were giving up the XP the had earned in order to get a second chance at something. At the end of each session, any chips they had were collected and the XP went to their character as usual.

The differences are that this was XP they had already legitimately earned, and they had no way of knowing what the result of the re-do would be - it could be better, or could be worse. Attempting to use it was effectively a punishment - the loss of earned xp. I wouldn't use these things in a serious long-term campaign, but it added some spice to a short one. The system your player is suggesting would break a game in to tiny pieces and spit on its grave. Within 10 sessions, your entire party could be level 5 or 6 just from those freebies alone - that's insane.

[Cinos]

I'm not sure about the EXP cash in at the end, as I'd rather encourage the replacement rolls use at the right time, rather than seeing players horde it to get a head in EXP. I did do something tangentially similar, and introduced a stat that players could tap into for rerolls / bonus after rolls to provide a mitigating luck factor, but it was limited so they had to be careful with using it (requiring time and monies to replace, as the basic idea was Morale, so they had to have time and money to burn to relax with). It was a good and well received mechanic overall. But the 'keeping rolls' bit can work out too, and requires less over head work to set up. I actually like pre-saves, where players roll several D20's before hand, and any time the GM needs a save check (particularly hidden ones), he just goes down the line on it, it lets players feel they're still rolling (as its a big view point among players that they should be the one's physically rolling), and it can provide an inkling as to how well they're doing, without giving exactly away what's going on which can then be played off of for suspense.

Edit, to expand on this, and in agreement with J. Lionheart, the actual numbers you use for that EXP cash in at the end (3K EXP per session) is really really high, and will remove any control you as a GM has over how quickly the party levels, and puts it firmly in the PC's hands. And from my experience, most players will pass up a ton to get EXP, including a failed roll unless it will be a roll that kills them. This also creates sorta a cold war arms race, as once one player starts hording the rolls for EXP, everyone more or less needs to just to keep up with that one players level, or that player will start dominating the game play, and you'll have to balance fights around him, or remove him some how (Remove in terms of effectiveness, not necessarily drop the player), and things get bad at that point. Hurt players crop up, cries of fairness will flood you, and it's all sorts of bad. The method of awarding chips instead of EXP is at least better, the player knows they can replace this resource through RPing, and can make that call more easily to expend some EXP to get an instant payout, though I as a player would rarely use them other than to avoid death, and build up EXP until the chips failed to make a meaningful difference in advancement, but I can see the field being a bit more even at that point, and things not being a black / white or better / worse situation then, which is a good spot to be.