Frequency for Automatic Actions

[Majestic]

Last night our use of Advancement Points was awesome. It just hummed along, and even one returning player (who hadn't played this game for nearly two years) got right into the swing of things, racking them up by using his Traits appropriately.

One thing that I kind of wondered, regarding the use of Automatic Actions, though. The rules don't really spell out how often they can be invoked. One Elf PC, when climbing up the wall in "Don't Leave the Path", decided to invoke his Nimble Trait. As a prolonged action that takes three tests of Athletics (to go both up and down the thirty foot-high wall), he succeeded on his first two tests on the way up, then invoked an Automatic Action (citing Nimble) for the third (and most dangerous) one. All good so far. But then he had the trek back down (this time assisting a victim). He again invoked Nimble (to guarantee a success) for the first test down, then rolled for the next two.

Do you think that's too much? I allowed it in this case, as the actions seemed distinct and different enough. But I could see the danger of 'overusing' this ability, too.

What do you think?

[zedturtle]

Every time you invoke a Trait for a common skill check auto success, you rob yourself of a potential advancement point (unless you are maxed out in that category). So using it multiple times is not game breaking.

That said, I am thinking that I will be restructuring a lot of my more important tests as prolonged tests and counting total number of successes. That way, a hero that plays it safe and invokes a Trait each time will never get zero successes for that roll, but will never get 2 (Great) or 3 (Extraordinary) either.

[Falenthal]

That way, a hero that plays it safe and invokes a Trait each time will never get zero successes for that roll, but will never get 2 (Great) or 3 (Extraordinary) either.

Exactly.

Sometimes time is of importance, too.
In my last adventure the group was looking for an herb in the hills to heal a dying dwarf. I ruled that they needed 4 successes of Heal or Search. Every player could roll 2 times per day (one in the morning, one in the afternoon). Only the best success of every part of the day counted.
One of the players had Herblore as a Specialty. He could invoke it as a Trait everytime, but that would have meant that the search would have lasted 2 full days. By risking rolling, he achieved an extraordinary success, shortening the lenght of the search and being able to return faster to the sick people.

[Majestic]

Cool. Good to hear we're viewing this much the same way. I too figured it wasn't really game breaking, and in this case it guaranteed no roll of the Sauron icon, which in my case the Elf did have happen with one of his four other rolls (which, had he not spent Hope, would have caused a fall).