Fumble Points

Sometimes, Lady Luck doesn't smile on you during a game session. Roll after roll you continue to fail during the more important scenes.

The idea for Fumble Points came after watching a youtube video showcasing a certain player's remarkable "ability" to fail nearly every roll by a wide margin through two gaming sessions. It got me thinking how frustrating that would be during a session, sitting there and continually failing and not doing anything useful. So I had the idea for Fumble Points.

Fumble Points tries to help alleviate a player's string of bad luck with a mechanic that grants the player free re-rolls whenever they fail miserably. Now, I know this idea is nothing new, I've read/heard about similar mechanics in other games, but since I can't remember what those games are, I came up with my own rules.

Below, I have describe using Fumble Points for 5th Edition, D20-based games, and Fantasy AGE. But I think these rules can be used with nearly any roleplaying game that relies on dice rolls to resolve actions and doesn't already have a similar mechanic.

5th Edition Fumble Points

(1) Earning Fumble Points: Whenever a player rolls a 1 or 2 for an action and fails, they receive one Fumble Point.
(2) Spending Fumble Points: Spending a Fumble Point works like Inspiration.
(3) Success, Failure, and Fumble Points: If the action succeeds, the Fumble Die is spent as usual. However, if the action fails even by spending the Fumble Point, the Fumble Point is not spent.
(4) Limits on Fumble Points: A character can only have one Fumble Point at a time.

D20-based Fumble Points

(1) Earning Fumble Points: Whenever a player rolls a 1 or 2 for an action and fails, they receive one Fumble Point.
(2) Spending Fumble Points: Spending a Fumble Point allows the player to get a second roll for one action, choosing the better roll. Fumble Points can be used on ability checks, skill checks, saving throws, and attack rolls.
(3) Success, Failure, and Fumble Points: If the action succeeds, the Fumble Die is spent as usual. However, if the action fails even by spending the Fumble Point, the Fumble Point is not spent.
(4) Limits on Fumble Points: A character can only have one Fumble Point at a time.

Fantasy AGE Fumble Points

(1) Earning Fumble Points: Whenever a player rolls a 6 or less on an ability test and fails, they earn a Fumble Point.
(2) Spending Fumble Points: Spending a Fumble Point allows the player to re-roll all three dice on a single ability test, using the better result. Fumble Points can be used on ability tests, spellcasting tests, and attack rolls.
(3) Success, Failure, and Fumble Points: If the action succeeds, the Fumble Die is spent as usual. However, if the action fails even by spending the Fumble Point, the Fumble Point is not spent.
(4) Limits on Fumble Points: A character can only have one Fumble Point at a time.