#action points

ACQUIRING ACTION POINTS

A beginning (1st-level) character starts the game with 5 action points. 

A character above 1st level starts the game with a number of action points equal to 5 + 1/2 his or her current character level.

Every time a character advances, they gain a number of action points equal to 5 + 1/2 his or her new character level.

Action Points and Existing Games

Adding action points to an existing campaign is easy, since characters don’t need to make any special changes. 

Each character simply gains a number of action points equal to 5 + 1/2 his or her current character level.

NPCs and Action Points

Most NPCs probably shouldn’t have action points, due to the added complexity this would create.

In the case of important villains or other significant characters, however, the DM may award them an appropriate number of action points to use against the player characters.

A number of action points equal to 1/2 the NPC’s level is a good baseline.

USING ACTION POINTS

You can spend 1 action point either to add to a single d20 roll, to take a special action, or to improve the use of a feat.

You can spend 1 action point in a round.

If you spend a point to use a special action, you can’t spend another one in the same round to improve a die roll, and vice versa.

Add to a Roll

When you spend 1 action point to improve a d20 roll, you add the result of a 1d6 roll to your d20 roll (including attack rolls, saves, checks, or any other roll of a d20) to help you meet or exceed the target number.

You can declare the use of 1 action point to alter a d20 roll after the roll is made, but only before the DM reveals the result of that roll.

You can’t use an action point to alter the result of a d20 roll when the result is a Critical Fail or Critical Success.

Depending on character level, a character might be able to roll more than one d6 when they spend 1 action point.

Action Point Dice Table

Character Level                         Action Point Dice Rolled

1st - 7th                                                          1d6

8th - 14                                                           2d6

15th - 20th                                                      3d6

If so, apply the highest result and disregard the other rolls.

A 15th-level character, for instance, gets to roll 3d6 and take the best result of the three.

So, if they rolled a 1, 2, and 4, they would apply the 4 to their d20 roll.

Special Actions

A character can perform certain tasks by spending an action point. 

In addition to the actions described below, some feats might allow the expenditure of action points in order to gain or activate specific abilities, at the DM’s option.

Activate Class Ability: A character can spend 1 action point to gain another use of a class ability that has a limited number of uses per day. For example, a barbarian might spend an action point to gain another use of her Rage Ability, or a paladin might spend an action point to gain an addition use of her Smite Ability.

Boost Defense: A character can spend 1 action point as a free action when fighting, as part of a Combat Encounter. 

This gives them greater benefits for fighting for the entire round, giving them a +3 bonus to their AC until their next turn, and Advantage on Initiative Rolls and Dexterity Saving Throws, until their next turn.

Emulate Feat: At the beginning of a character’s turn, they may spend 1 action point as a free action to gain the benefit of a feat that he or she doesn’t have. They must meet the prerequisites of the feat.

He or she gains the benefits of that feat until the beginning of his or her next turn.

Extra Attack: During any round in which a character takes a full attack action, they may spend 1 action point to make an extra attack at his or her highest attack bonus.

Action points may be used in this way with both melee and ranged attacks or spells.

Spell Boost: A character can spend 1 action point as a free action to increase the effective caster level of one of his or her spells by 2.

They must decide whether or not to spend an action point in this manner before casting the spell.

Spell Recall: Spellcasters who prepare their spells in advance can spend 1 action point to recall any spell just cast.

The spell can be cast again later with no effect on other prepared spells.

This use of an action point is a free action and can only be done in the same round that the spell is cast.

Spellcasters such as clerics, sorcerers, wizards, warlocks and bards can spend 1 action point to cast a spell without using one of their spell slots.

This use of an action point is a free action and can only be done as the spell is being cast.

Stable: Any time a character is dying, they can spend 1 action point to become stable.

Improving Feats

The use of action points opens up a whole range of possible feats.

However, it’s easier on characters simply to improve existing feats to take advantage of action points—that way, characters needn’t spend their precious feat slots simply to gain the ability to use their action points.

But below are a few examples of how actions points can be used with new feats.

Unless otherwise stated, each effect requires a free action to activate and lasts 1 round.

Blind-Fight: You can spend 1 action point to negate your miss chance for a single attack.

Combat Expertise: You can spend 1 action point to double the bonus to Armor Class granted by the feat.

Dodge: You can spend 1 action point to increase your bonus to Dexterity Saving Throws by +2.

Improved Critical: You can spend 1 action point to increase your "critical threat range" from 19–20 to 18–20, from 17–20 to 15–20, or from 15– 20 to 12–20, including the effects of other benefits from class, racial or archetypal features.

Improved Initiative: You can spend 1 action point to double your bonus on initiative checks.

Power Attack: You can spend 1 action point to double your bonus on damage rolls.

Spell Focus: You can spend 1 action point to increase to Save DCs for spells or other magical effects by +2.

Spell Penetration: You can spend 1 action point to reroll 1 damage die roll for a magical effect of your creation.

BEHIND THE CURTAIN: ACTION POINTS

Action points give players some control over poor die rolls.

Although this has little effect in an average encounter, it makes it a little more likely that characters will survive extremely challenging encounters and less likely that a single character will fall to what would otherwise be a balanced foe because of bad luck.

A reserve of action points lets even careful players expose their characters to more risks, heightening the game’s tension and opening the door to even more heroic action.

This variant also makes it less likely that an entire adventuring group will fall victim to one powerful effect.

Action points also make it more likely that the use of a character’s most potent abilities will be successful.

For example, although its overall effect on an encounter might be minimal, few things frustrate a player more than missing with an attack— an event that becomes less likely when using action points.

That said, action points can also lead characters to routinely get in over their heads (relying on action points to save themselves), and for DMs to unconsciously increase the difficulty of encounters (since characters are more likely to succeed against foes of equal power).

This is fine as long as the characters have a reserve of such points to spend—but if they run out, encounters that would otherwise be merely challenging can become incredibly deadly.

Keep the number of action points available to your players in mind when designing encounters.

For DMs who are worried that action points increase the power level of characters without an offsetting cost, there’s an easy solution.

Just think of each action point as a one-use magic item with a broad range of possible effects.

With that analogy, it becomes easy to justify reducing the amount of treasure awarded to balance out the accrual of action points.

Note that this is merely a tool for DMs interested in carefully monitoring character power levels; action points should never be for sale.