So, I'm still an idiot when it comes to the Emulators. The Evil Genius online Mythic tool has a thing for "Favor Points"--when I google this, I see folks talking about this as an element of Mythic. But, I don't see it in the rules--I have the Mythic GM Emulator and Mythic Variations. How do Favor Points work?
http://www.evilgenius.org.nz/blackmagic.html
http://www.evilgenius.org.nz/blackmagic.html
Friday, December 23, 2016
So, I'm still an idiot when it comes to the Emulators. The Evil Genius online Mythic tool has a thing for "Favor Points"--when I google this, I see folks talking about this as an element of Mythic. But, I don't see it in the rules--I have the Mythic GM Emulator and Mythic Variations. How do Favor Points work?
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Page 20 & 21 of the Mythic Core Rules (red book).
ReplyDeleteEveryone needs favors
A very special type of note are favors. Whether your character is a Mythic character or not, you may want to have favor points. Favor points are points the player may elect to spend to change the outcome of the Fate Chart (which we’ll get to in a later chapter.) Since the Fate Chart is used to answer all important questions, and questions move the adventure along, favor points can come in pretty handy.
Mythic uses favor points to give characters an edge. Every central character in a book or movie has an edge, and that edge is usually a great big wad of luck. Favor points represent that storehouse of luck. You can choose to live fast and furious, and count on favor points to bail you out, or you can play it safe and cautious, and only use favors when you really need them. The former tend to burn brightly, then suddenly bite the dust when their luck runs out. The latter live long and productive lives, but maybe just not as exciting.
*NOTE: Continues on page 21*
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NOTE: this is inside a box on page 20.
Favor Rewards
Favor points are a Mythic character’s best friend. They should be awarded at the end of each scene based on how well the character did. They are awarded for:
0 The character made no progress in this scene.
+10 The character made progress toward solving an open thread.
+25 The character helped solve an open thread.
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*NOTE: this is a continuation of page 20 but on page 21*
Characters start out with 50 favor points, and may
gain more at the end of each scene (see Chapter 7). When a question is asked on the Fate Chart, the player may spend up to 25 favor points to change the result of the percentile roll used to answer that question, on a point-by-point basis.
In other words, if the Fate Chart says there is a 35%
chance of a yes answer to a particular question, and a 45 is rolled, the player may spend 10 favor points to change that roll to a 35. The player can do this after the dice are rolled, effectively changing the outcome. However, the points can only be spent directly after the roll. A player can’t change his mind one minute later and go back to change a result.
Characters can earn more favor points by doing well in a scene. At the end of each scene, if the character did poorly, he won’t receive any more favor points. If he did well, and moved closer to solving a thread (an on-going storyline), he will receive 10 additional favor points. If he did very well, closing an open thread, then 25 favor points are awarded.
Now, don’t say we didn’t do you any favors.
So, do people use the Favor Points, even they're not playing Mythic proper? I can see the appeal, as there have been quite a few close calls that have screwed me. At the same time, most systems I play with have SOME sort of auto-success tool (Hero Points, Force Points, Luck, Willpower, etc), and I'm not sure what it'd be like to combine all these.
ReplyDeleteI totally missed Favor Points so I don't use them. Ha. Now that I'm aware of them, I'm ambivalent.
ReplyDeleteI feel like it's one more thing to remember, and when you can barely remember to increment chaos regularly that's significant.
Like everyone ever, I hate it when I really want an outcome and I don't get it because I roll the 6% chance of failure. But I love how things play out when they go in an unexpected direction because I "failed" an important roll.
Personally, I've been experimenting with mechanics that let you reroll and take the highest, for some sort of in-game cost. It seems to give me the right amount of control -- I can spend a resource if I really want to -- but it's not as certain as "I invest this many points, I get the answer I want".
Maybe that's just a small psychological difference, I don't know!
That's sort of what I was thinking. Like, if the game has a "Luck" mechanic, you spend an appropriate amount and get to use that to modify your result if needed, but I wasn't sure what other folks did.
ReplyDeleteI might be more inclined to use them if one point bumped you one level of success (then you'd need fewer points to track). I never use them because I forget. Maybe if the online tool had a big button that said "I AM NOT HAPPY WITH THIS RESULT", I might remember to use them.
ReplyDeleteDon't use/track them directly since I'll skew the odds from time to time to get the same effect if I think the player or story needs it. So, I have 'favor points' but only track them as the director/author of the scene. I think it would make more sense in a single player and one GM game.
ReplyDelete