S Is for Sudden Developments
Back to the topic of hero points in The Boogie Knights of the Round Table (BKotRT), I find myself drawn over and over again to one of the concepts fundamental to Marvel Heroic Roleplaying. In that game, heroes can use a Plot Point (that system’s name for a hero point) to alter the current scene. This alteration creates what in BKotRT is a quality with a die rating. The hero then can use this quality as part their narrated action. I like this idea, but the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying version is a tad too complex for BKotRT.
So, let’s simplify.
For the cost of a hero point, a player can narrate a sudden development during a scene. This can be a change to the environment (Blaring Fire Alarms), a lucky break (Keys in the Ignition), a useful bit of something (Gas-Powered Chainsaw), et cetera. The only real limits are the power of the player’s imagination, the force of his narrative, and the good nature of the GM. The new quality is rated at 1d6. The player can then use the new quality as part of any action in which he can reasonably narrate the new quality’s influence. This ends up giving the player three dice to roll: ability score plus two qualities. The player then picks the two best dice to generate his hero’s action total.
The duration of the new quality, who else can use it, and other such questions are too numerous and wide open to try to come up with much in the way of rules. In short, if it makes sense and/or makes the story better, a sudden development quality may be used by a wide variety of persons active in the current scene, to possibly include the bad guys.
