I'm thinking of giving the following a try in my next Pendragon campaign. I can't take credit for it however: I found it online on a page detailing a Pendragon campaign called "Requiem":

Each player knight will begin with 3 Plot Points which can be used in the following ways:
-Automatically succeed in Inspiring a Passion or succeeding normally with a skill
-Minimize damage done to you from a single blow with a weapon. The PK must declare that he is spending a Plot Point before dmg is rolled
-Automatically score a critical success with a weapon in combat
-Automatically receive a critical success with First Aid for maximum Hit Points (6)

A PK may be awarded an additional Plot Point for some extraordinary heroic action

Additionally, I'm thinking of awarding PKs with 1 Plot Point per 1,000 Glory Points (e.g. the PK receives an additional Plot Point at the same time he receives a Bonus Point during the Winter Phase).

These are really what most would call "Hero Points"...not sure why they're called "Plot Points". Maybe because it helps prevent holes in the plot from forming when a PK dies...?

I think this could work well since the players only get a limited amount of them and they're not easy to come by. And it doesn't outright prevent a PK from dying; but instead gives the PK some flexibility when faced with long odds and/or bad luck. It also places the onus of survival on the player instead of the GM. "Should I use a Plot Point now to reduce the damage I take from this hit, or do I spend one on my next strike for the crit and hope i take out this baddie..."

I roll the dice and let them fall, but due to the nature of my apartment rolls are "kinda in the open." As in, I'm not hiding them, but we are all spread out on couches and chairs and such and can't really see what we roll.

I don't try and "save" my PKs from death, but I do make sure they don't forget the little things that can keep them alive. Like making sure their Squires have decent First Aid stats. Or making sure they THEY have decent First Aid stats.

Remembering that you can leave a long battle to get some healing and then come back for a later round (if you make your rolls to get out/in). This last one helped reduce the casualty count at the Battle of Lindsay from 3 down to 1.

Fighting Defensively is your friend, but is hard to do when you've critted on your "hate saxon"!



I somewhat like the "plot point" idea, but with some caveats.

Simple caveat 1: I would allow 2 Plot Points to be used to negate a damage roll AFTER it has been rolled, or 1 PP before it is rolled.

LARGE caveat 1: Gaining an additional plot point per 1000 glory seems like WAY TOO MUCH. I would change that to 1PP / 2500 glory, if not 1PP/5000 glory. But that would depend on how much glory you give per game/year.

Simple caveat 1: I would allow 2 Plot Points to be used to negate a damage roll AFTER it has been rolled, or 1 PP before it is rolled.

LOVE this idea. I'm going to adopt it.


LARGE caveat 1: Gaining an additional plot point per 1000 glory seems like WAY TOO MUCH. I would change that to 1PP / 2500 glory, if not 1PP/5000 glory.

Upon further reflection, I agree with you. Still casting about for a way for PKs to earn these besides "awarded by GM for 'heroic' action", which is a little too subjective, IMO:

-1 per 5K Glory probably too much, 1 per 2,500 Glory sounds about right, though I have a weakness for round numbers, 1 per 2K Glory maybe...
-or perhaps allow a PK to SPEND a Glory Point and buy a Plot Point with it...could lead to some interesting PKs....a somewhat average PK who somehow happens to survive some pretty harrowing adventures...thanks to the timely use of a plot point...

Each player knight will begin with 3 Plot Points which can be used in the following ways:
-Automatically succeed in Inspiring a Passion
-Automatically score a critical success with a weapon in combat


I would be careful with those two... Critical success with a weapon tends to be a fight winner just by itself. And, just considering the probabilities, the players might be best served by taking this option with their first strike when facing the Big Bad. After all, if he is down and bleeding, they get the Glory AND won't be needing to spend their points on deflecting damage rolls from him.

Automatical success in Inspiration can be very unbalancing as well, if you are using the +10 to one skill from the books. Even though in my experience, players only tend to roll passions that they already have at a pretty high level (14+), so this might not be nearly as 'probability changing' as the automatic crit can be.

I like all these ideas!


T.

Each player knight will begin with 3 Plot Points which can be used in the following ways:
-Automatically succeed in Inspiring a Passion
-Automatically score a critical success with a weapon in combat


I would be careful with those two...

Maybe one could invoke these by spending two points...


T.

In savage worlds ( the game) players get 3 bennies per session to spend on a reroll ( no an auto success) or to reduce damage suffered. This is better than an auto success IMO.

I would suggest allowing them to
A: spend 1 to reroll ( they get to keep the best roll result) but it costs 2 to reroll a fumble.
B: spend 1 to get a con roll to reduce damage suffered from a single blow: success reduces damage suffered by 1/2 con, Critical reduces it by con.

As for getting extra that's for roleplaying well etc not for going up in glory - glory has its own rewards.