Action points in CORE20 (written up in chapter 5, “Playing the Game” of the CORE20 Player’s Guide) are a mechanic that grants a heroic edge to player characters. Action points are built on a foundation of the action points that appeared in 3rd edition D&D’s Unearthed Arcana supplement, and the variation of those rules that were a core part of the Eberron campaign setting. Anyone who played Pathfinder 1st edition using that game’s Advanced Player’s Guide will also recognize the evolution of the original action point concept in the hero points mechanic.
Player characters gain action points in CORE20 by taking the Heroic Action feat, which every starting character gains as a bonus feat, and which grants 1 action point at the start of each game session. (A player who wants their character’s heroic edge to be even more sharply honed can take the Heroic Action feat up to three times, granting up to 3 action points at the start of each session.)
By spending an action point, a player can provide their character with a wide range of benefits:
- Gain advantage on a d20 roll before making it
- Gain a reroll on a d20 roll already made
- Gain an extra move action or minor action
- Make an extra attack
- Cast a 0-level spell
- Turn a critical hit or grievous hit into a regular hit
- Automatically recover while dying to return to life with 1 critical point
Characters can also share action points, allowing a player to grant their character’s action point to another player’s character who needs to pull off a clutch move. Sharing action points in game might play out as one character shouting encouragement that grants an ally a reroll on an important attack or defense roll, or having a dying character share an action point to represent the fury an ally feels at seeing their comrade fall.
Whither GM?
In talking about player characters, the breakdown above establishes that action points are for players only. The full “Action Points” section in chapter 5 of the Player’s Guide underlines that idea, which was an intentional part of the action point design.
For me, mechanics like action points are intended to give the players an intentional edge. They’re meant to let the heroes pull off wild moments of unexpected success while facing impossible odds. Action points are about turning bad moments in the game into triumphs — and as such, giving action points to the GM felt as though it would have undercut that by letting the GM potentially turn player triumphs and high points into unexpected negative beats within the story.
For this same reason, I’ve never liked 5e D&D’s legendary resistance for monsters, which is why you don’t see that mechanic in CORE20. For me, as a lifetime forever GM, I don’t like bringing abilities into play that make the players feel as if their coolest attacks, their most potent spells, and the fortune represented by their best die rolls have been wasted.
The Cost of Success
About a year ago, though, I was inspired to think about GM action points in a new way as a result of noticing a typical pattern in the way action points were used during games. Because the player characters start each session with their action points reset and ready to be used, most players weigh the benefit of using an action point early in the game against waiting to use it later when it might do even more good. The classic example of this thought process comes in a combat-heavy session when a player decides against using an action point to gain an offensive advantage, expecting that they might have more of a need to use it later for defense, especially negating a critical hit or automatically recovering while dying.
Looking at how players were using action points this way created a clear sense that action points already had a variable cost. The longer a player waits to use an action point, the more it’s potentially worth to them. And from that observation came the idea of building on that cost model to give GMs access to action points — but in way that gives the players a measure of control over how much GM action points are worth.
Spend and Receive
In a test of a GM action points system that I and a number of other CORE20 GMs have been running for a number of months now, each time a player uses an action point in a session, the GM gains an action point. GMs have no baseline pool of action points they can draw from before the first player action point is spent in a session, and just like with players, GM action points reset (to 0 in the GM’s case) at the start of each game session.
Each time a player considers whether to use an action point or not, that decision now comes with an extra layer of potential cost. “Is the benefit I gain from using this action point right now worth the potential benefit I give to the GM?”
GM action points are usable in all the same ways that players can use action points, but also have additional guidelines:
- Just as a player can use only one action point on their turn, the GM can use only one action point per turn of any creature they control.
- A GM can’t use an action point to counter any roll for which a player uses an action point.
With the system having been initially playtested, GM action points will be part of the next revision of the CORE20 Player’s Guide for the public playtest. But GMs can make use of the revised rules right now by downloading the revised “Action Points” section from chapter 5 of the Player’s Guide.
Art by Dean Spencer
