More than two actions per panel

[sgingell]

I frequently find that I want to have NPC's perform more than two actions per panel. I feel like Rogue should be able to fly up to someone, punch them, and engage in witty banter all in the same panel, that Mystique should be able to fight and command while in an assumed form, or that Psylocke should be able to make a running leap to attack with psiblade and kicks together just to grab examples at random.

Sure the more actions you can do the more powerful combinations open up, but I'm willing to risk it, so I've been thinking about the following house rule for a game I've been planning.

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You may make as many actions as you please in a given panel, however for each action you take per panel in excess of 2, all your actions suffer a 1 stone penalty for distraction and split concentration.

For example, if you take three actions each of those three actions will cost one more stone than normal (meaning you pay 3 energy for the privilege all in all).

If you take 4 actions, each of those four will cost 2 extra (meaning you pay 8 energy for the privilege of doing so much).

If you want to go wild and take 5 actions, each will cost 3 more and you'll be spending 15 stones just on multi-tasking. 5 actions is a lot of actions, but having to blow 15 basically wasted stones should discourage most people.

-Stephen

[sphynx]

I posted somewhere, but forget where it's at. Previously I had also created a House rule fr multiple actions, basing it off of Power Armour rules. If you pay double for your Intelligence, you can do up to your Intelligence per panel in Actions. If you are already paying double for Intelligence, Ie: for energy, then the cost is triple. If you're already paying triple, Ie: Fey Blood, then the cost is quadrupled.

[Kaimontfendo]

Both good suggestions.

However, yet another suggestion I have is that certain actions don't count against your action limit to maintain, but only to activate. Invisibility and Shape-Shifting being the two main examples that spring to mind. (I generally allow 'witty banter' as a free action, anyway.)

It should be possible to exceed that two action limit, and there are just so many possible ways that all work pretty well.

[dorkknight23]

Yeah, I allow people to do certain things without using an action. Witty banter is (in fact) the best and most common example.

I think the more actions are going on, the harder it can be to keep track with all of them. With everyone doing just 2 actions it usually isn't too awful, but if people started doing 3 or 4, I think I would lose a handle on what's going on.

My two cents. I won't include it in my stuff, but it looks more than fine for your own.

DK

[piratespice]

I really like sgingell's suggestion. I'm often in the same position, as both a player and a GM, and find the 2 Action limit stifling. But I also see how more than 2 could get out of hand. Sgingell's idea for "distraction" penalties has potential. I think I'll playtest this and get back to you guys about how it goes (assuming I can playtest it soon).

[sgingell]

The main place the limit comes up for me is with multiple powers. Trying to drive a motorcycle skillfully, while taking potshots at your enemy, and use general knowledge to work out who he is doesn't come up very often (and it doesn't really stress me to say you can't do all three).

Where it comes up most often is when someone has an attack power, a defense power, and a movement power. It seems reasonable to me for Sue Storm to fly after a fleeing villain with a defensive force field in place while simultaneously taking RC potshots at him with some gadget of her husband's.

Social skills are another one. Recent Lucas (my character in the Planescape game) wanted to move, attack, and threaten in an attempt to scatter some thugs. I tend to think that if you want social skills to have action numbers and mechanics in the rules then those need to get used in game. As it was I posted Teleport to reach the thugs and Close Combat to attack them, but didn't actually put any stones into my demand that they surrender.

There is a lot of debate about how social skills should be handled mechanically (or if they even should be modeled at all), but it seems like if you have a system that says "Social Skills: 3 means that you can spend three stones, and spending stones lets you influence people" then it makes perfect sense to have the thugs ignore the threat as I haven't put any effort behind it. If everyone reacts to what a character says based on the words used and the situation (ignoring stones spent) then it doesn't really make any sense to charge character creation points for a mechanic that governs social skills. This is certainly a contentious point (we don't want games where the player just says "Oh, I'll have my character say something threatening, here is 8 stones.") but if you do end up coming down on the side of "Social effects need stones to power them." then you will frequently need a third action per panel to support the common comics trope of "Moral debate during power fight."

-Stephen

[rennyn]

Exactly what I tried to say in my other post under the body density thread, spingell.

As it is, in MURPG, you couldn't hurry down the street while trying to convince your friend to go somewhere for dinner tonight, all while you are fiddling with your Gameboy or something. (Speed, Social Skills, Technology/Video Games).

[vigilante]

Just on the social actions point, i've always (in what ever rp system) given players a circumstance modifier based on what they say.

i.e Big D is trying to convinve suicide girl to not jump off the top floor of an office block. Big D is a tank and has only social skills 1, but Dan, the guy playing Big D puts forth a brilliant speech thats also excellent rp, so i award him a +3 modifier to social skills (he also put his 1 stone in) and he succeeds through use of stones and roleplaying.

I dont count low effort social skills (2 stones or under) as counting towards an allowed action, more stones than that and the character is obviously putting in more effort than just chatting while doing something else.

Hope that makes sense.

[Brainstem]

Social Skills doesn't really seem like it needs to take up an action though. Think about all those Wizards games... talking is a free action. Yeah, Bluff and Diplomacy are different, but for the most part speaking in general doesn't take up time. I see Social Skills level not so much as an amount to be spent but more as the Charisma rating in D&D or SWRPG. It's a gauge of how well you interact with people and you'd be able to overcome challenges that are less than your SS in difficulty. Granted, sit mods can come into play and make you less effective overall, such as acting while in combat and whatnot.

On another note... of the circumstances you explained, I don't see why they all can't happen. The Psylocke example, for instance, can happen with two actions used. Psi-Weapon is already in effect, so it doesn't take up an action to have it out, running uses one action, and the close combat hit uses the second. Psiblade and kicks together could just be the characters way of describing how the action was resolved.

~Steve~

[quixoteles]

I think what the problem here is that the book, because it is written a little wonky (No offense Evan!) doesn't explain that there is no time in a panel. It is just the time in which two actions take place. That's it. I never had people ask for more actions because I said that outright. Non-linear gaming, it's the new millennium.

As it is in real life, I couldn't sprint full tilt while reprogramming my gameboy and try to get a date with an heiress during her morning jog. This MURPG, not real life. Those stones mean something enormous. Hell the average person only has three stones. Red stones are huge blocks of life being invested. Maybe you can do all that at once but I can't. Beating Ikargua on my ps2 in 5 minutes requires using two controllers only like 4 stones!

And take into account a lot of the actions described, they can have stones split to multiple targets. And you usually end up combining actions anyway. And most things you would consider multiple actions just aren’t in MU* assault/defense in close combat are one action no matter what. Multiple targets in RC? Same thing. Movement? As long as you are in same distance difficulty AN you can go where ever you want. If you don't believe me, just look at Quicksilver. Imagine AO 5 with speed faster than the naked eye and the ability to travel a mile between targets... It is the Quicksilver we see in the comics it tell you!