3 varieties of action point cards: a chicken, beetle, and kelpie.

Action point cards can be a little difficult to understand at first. This quick article should help you understand how the cards tie into your character’s action economy in the Folklore System.

What is an action point?

In the Folklore System, player characters get 4 action points per round. Most actions are called “minor actions” or “major actions.” Minor actions are 1 action point each, and major actions are 2 action points each.

Example major actions include:

• Attack.

• Move full movement.

• Use enchanted item.

• Cast a spell.

• Retrieve an item from a container such as a basked on the ground.

• Pick up an object from the floor.

Example minor actions include:

• Move half movement.

• Prepare or stow a weapon.

• Retrieve an object from a table.

• 5 seconds of talking (max 1 per round).

This alone doesn’t explain why we need action point cards, until we consider turn order.

Why do we need action point cards?

Anybody at the table can perform an action during a round of combat at any time, as long as they have the action points for it. Actions are played in the order that they were declared. This is made easier with cards that are unique to each player. The cards themselves do not have any information on them except a unique image used to remember who’s action they represent. The player knows what they want to do, so when their action is called, they can resolve their character’s action.

That’s it! Action point cards are just 4 identical cards given to a player to uniquely identify their character’s actions. You can use our action point cards, or you can use a regular deck of cards. Whichever is best for your table.