What I would like to get is the Den's thoughts on any or all of the following:
- What point/token systems have you used in the past? If you haven't used one because they are stupid, tell me why or propose another solution - I don't care if it is homebrew or something pulled from another system.
- Has anyone used the Pathfinder Hero Point system? It has an ass-smell to it but I admittedly haven't considered what it is trying to do in detail, 'cause, you know, it's Paizo and I am assuming it is not going to work well.
- Give players a chance to avoid the bad luck that will befall them from time to time via re-rolls, Plot Control, auto-saves or the like. Basically I want to empower the players to act with the foreknowledge they have a chance at succeeding even if the odds seem too steep so they do not feel they have to resort to wankery.
- The goal is to complete most of the modules, despite the module's flaws, without the MC needing to rewrite/customize every encounter to the party's skill level or fix various disconnects with reality. I can pretty much change things on the fly, but if I had the time to rewrite the thing, I wouldn't be running it.
- Prevent every encounter from devolving into a puzzle solving challenge on the part of the players (ala Frank's take on RHoD). Give the players a feeling that they can succeed in the face of tough odds with judicious use of re-rolls/whatever as opposed to having to develop wildly implausible tactics for every fight.
- Party is 5 PC's, all straight Pathfinder types, no Tomes. 4 spellcasters (Oracle, Wizard, Magus, Cleric) and a barbarian. The players are all friends and at least one or two of the players are optimizers (cleric, barbarian) that provide advice on optimization to the other players.
- I do not play with XP points (the players level when it seems like they should) and maintain at least the recommended WBL progression with ready access to all magic items/spell buys/item crafting. I help characters optimize for the challenges ahead and prevent them from taking trap options as best I can (aside: I do not always succeed - ref the barbarian), so they are all reasonably competent. By gentleman's agreement, we stay away from the really broken aspects of 3.x.