Action Points, Part 2

1. Splitting Movement and Action Points into Two Pools

Tim thinks splitting AP into separate movement points and action points is a cool idea. Temple of Elemental Evil had a version of this inherited from D&D — you could walk a certain distance for your move and then do an action, or skip moving to take two actions.

The advantages of two fully separate pools are significant. You can have perks that target only one pool — a "Runner" perk increases movement points without letting the character attack more often. Conversely, perks can reduce the action point cost of using weapons without affecting movement at all. This separation makes effects more specific and less abstract.

1.1. Penalties Become More Meaningful

With two pools, injury penalties map naturally to the body. A crippled leg reduces movement points or makes walking cost more. A crippled arm increases the action point cost of using weapons, picking locks, or manipulating objects. This makes far more intuitive sense than a single-pool penalty that vaguely reduces everything.

1.2. Integration with Other Mechanics

Separate pools create interesting overlap with existing systems like fatigue. Running might burn movement points but also fatigue — and when fatigue runs out, movement costs double. Weapon sway could increase with fatigue, but you could spend an extra action point to steady your aim. These interactions become much richer with two distinct pools.

1.3. The Downside: Complexity

The tradeoff is complexity. Some actions span both pools — is a jump kick movement or action? Or both? What if you're short on one pool but not the other? Players may also get confused, thinking they got "extra action points" from a perk when it actually grants movement points. The rules and edge cases multiply.

2. Borrowing Action Points from Future Turns

Tim has reservations about borrowing AP from future turns but finds the concept interesting. His design recommendations if implementing it:

• Make it a perk — not a default ability everyone has
• Charge interest — borrowing 2 AP might cost you 4 next turn (double the borrowed amount)
• Limit usage — cap the number of times per combat or the total amount borrowable
• Expect abuse — without limits, players will borrow 100 points from three future turns and rampage across the battlefield in a single turn

Tim's "design hackles" go up because he sees many ways this could be exploited, but the core idea has merit if properly constrained.

3. Donating Action Points Between Party Members

Tim doesn't like this one. His concerns:

• It doesn't make narrative sense — being personally fast shouldn't make your friend faster
• Battery characters — players will min-max characters whose sole purpose is accumulating action points to donate to the real fighters, using all their stats and perks to maximize their AP pool while being personally useless in combat
• Degenerate party composition — parties could devolve into one or two combat characters supported by point batteries

Tim does concede that a "battery" character is at least an interesting design concept — someone who is individually worthless but empowers the team. Still, he advises extreme caution with this mechanic.

4. Multi-Turn Action Accumulation

Tim loves this idea. The concept: abilities that cost more AP than you have in a single turn can be "charged" across multiple turns. A character with only 3 AP per turn could use a 5 AP ability by standing still for two turns and unleashing it on the third.

4.1. Why It's Great Design

This is Tim's favorite of the five questions because it embodies his ideal choice-consequence-balance:

• Low-AP characters aren't locked out — they can still use powerful abilities, just less frequently
• Planning is rewarded — you have to set up and commit turns in advance
• Consequences aren't binary — instead of "you can never do this," it's "you can do this, but it takes preparation"
• Dramatic moments emerge — a character standing still for two turns then bursting into action on the third is inherently cinematic

Someone in the original video's comments pointed out that this means characters with low action points aren't hard-locked from high-cost weapons or abilities — they just use them every other turn instead of every turn. Tim considers this the perfect expression of meaningful character differentiation.

5. Higher Action Point Pools and Balance

The fifth point was more of an observation than a question: larger AP pools allow finer-grained balance. Tim agrees. With a 100-point pool, giving +1 here and there through perks or items barely shifts the balance. With a 10-point pool, three or four +1 bonuses represent a 50% increase — a massive swing.

Larger pools let designers offer more perks, items, and abilities that grant small AP bonuses. Players who want to build a speedy character can stack a speed perk with fast boots and other bonuses, creating satisfying character customization without breaking the game's balance.

6. References

• Tim Cain. YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wIx8zd8qvA