[TML] Who here is paying attention to Mongoose Traveller?

[Richard Aiken]

On Nov 7, 2007 9:16 PM, Michael Taylor <michaeltaylor1329 at hotmail.com> wrote:
> Action Point systems are modular and handle those situation with ease. A shame more gamers won't give them a chance, but they wind up being a lot smoother in play once you get used to them.

I'm still working on the rules for my next game.  But I'm going to
give someone's house rules for the Serenity combat system a try.  I
think they resemble your action points.  You can use Plot Points
(which you get from the GM for correctly roleplaying your character's
Complications - his disadvantages) to buy additional actions, if you
want to do something when it isn't your character's turn yet.

I note that this Plot Point concept (which isn't unique to Serenity
but is where I first discovered it) seems to go a long way toward
curing munchkinism.  See, you can only get Plot Points (PPs) by
playing Complications.  In addition to the (house rule) action buying,
you need these to make most of the better functions of your Asset
(advantages) work.  You can also use PPs to buy an additional dice to
roll for critical rolls.  You can also use them (at a HIGH cost) to
directly increase the result of a roll you have already made.  AND you
can use them to reduce damage from a wound your character has just
taken.

In other words, would-be munchkins who try to play Serenity are
more-or-less forced to "handicap" their characters with significant
disadvantages, in order to generate juicy PPs.  No Complications means
no PPs.  Can't you just see a munchkin sitting at the table, silently
fuming as he watches the player of "that wussy techie" spend PPs for a
big-enough bonus to hit the Bad Guy that Megawarrior just missed?

So I see one of two things happening.  Either munchkins who play
Serenity-based games will learn to roleplay or munchkins won't play
Serenity-based games.  Since I'll be running a Serenity-based game -
and I detest munchkins - I don't see either outcome as a Bad Thing.
:-)

-- 
Richard Aiken

"Never insult anyone by accident."  Robert A. Heinlein