Up to this point, the rules mostly simulate “reality” - the reality where people get punched and lose teeth, and where people fail at the most inappropriate moments and suffer and die as a result. In most action movies and TV shows, the Cast has the scriptwriters on their side. The heroes survive against impossible odds or perform incredible feats at just the right moment, especially when it’s dramatically appropriate.

This affects things beyond deeds. Sometimes the cavalry arrives in the nick of time, or a vital clue is discovered just when the characters need it. Then there’s the magical recovery time – up and about the next day. While immortals may have supernatural recovery powers, a cast of ordinary Mortals should, by all rights, suffer numerous casualties every time they come into conflict with the supernatural. Yet, they usually escape with little more than a few bruises. With Drama Points, the Cast can temporarily “short-circuit” reality and perform heroic feats - do the impossible and win the day.

Think of Drama Points as “script aids” - they prevent the heroes from suffering ignominious, meaningless deaths because of bad luck. They do not make the characters unbeatable, however. For one, players get a limited number of Drama Points, so they have to be used with great care or the characters may exhaust their good fortune before the dramatic finale. Also, the bad guys have Drama Points; this allows even a lowly vampire to get in a good shot where it counts, or the head villain to escape certain death.

Characters start the game with 10 to 20 Drama Points. These points are not regained automatically. Drama Points have to be earned. They may be awarded for performing heroic feats. They are also given as “payment” for the times when tragedy or misfortune strikes the Cast through no fault of their own. When bad things happen to good people, the Cast may get some Drama Points as a “karmic payment.” Finally, Drama Points are earned when the players help develop storylines and subplots beyond the basic “kill the monster” scenario. Mortals can really shine here, befriending the more heroic types and helping them bear their burdens.

How can players use Drama Points? Let me count the ways. Five (short count). Used judiciously, they can snatch victory from the fanged jaws of defeat. They include Heroic Feat, I Think I’m Okay, Plot Twist, Righteous Fury, and the ever-popular Back From the Dead. As the GM, you have veto power over the use of Drama Points. Usually, if something bad is slated to happen to the character, using Drama Points won’t help her get out of the situation. The consolation prize, however, is that those situations earn the character extra Drama Points. So, if a character is meant to get blindsided and knocked out by a hidden villain, her player doesn’t get to use Drama Points to escape her fate, but instead gets a Drama Point for her troubles. Okay, she’s not rolling in puppies, but she does have something.

The Drama Point System is not for everybody. Some players just don’t like thinking in terms of Hollywood heroics, and prefer a more realistic approach. Drama Points encourage a certain degree of metagaming, with the players thinking about the rules of the game instead of the actual story their characters are living. While the results are largely positive - the game is meant to simulate the feel of an action film or TV show - the means may not be to everyone’s taste. If you don’t like Drama Points, you can always play the game “straight.” The characters are on their own, to live and die by their talents and the luck of the dice.

Games without Drama Points are grittier and deadlier. The gulf between Champions and Mortals cannot be bridged; it is recommended that all the Cast Members be one or the other - otherwise, the Mortals get totally upstaged.

Injured characters may be incapacitated for long periods of time, and death is much more likely even among the more heroic types. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but players who want to perform the same feats that they see on TV are going to be disappointed. As usual, you and the players should talk things over and settle on something that will satisfy the group (happy players keep coming back, and happy GMs keep running new adventures, after all).

Sometimes, a character really needs to land that punch, disarm the time bomb with ten seconds left on the clock, or shoot the oxygen tank in the shark’s mouth before it swims over for a bite. When the Mortals of the world have to stake a vampire on the first try, invoke the Heroic Feat.

By spending a Drama Point, the character gets a +10 bonus on any one roll or value. This can be an attack or defense roll, or any use of a skill, or even a Fear or Survival Test. The Heroic Feat can also make things hurt more; the +10 bonus can be added to the base damage of a single attack strike in addition to any Success Level bonuses (then armor, damage type, and other modifiers are applied).

A player has to announce her character is using a Drama Point during the Intentions phase of a Turn, or before rolling during non-combat situations.

Also, only one Heroic Feat may be performed in a Turn. It can be used either for attack, defense, or damage, but not for more than one of those in the same Turn.

EXAMPLE ME UP: Maria is being terrorized by a demon. In a burst of desperate speed, she kicks it in the groin. Maria's player spends a Drama Point, and she gets a +10 to her Dexterity and Kung Fu roll (3 and 1 respectively). Before Maria’s player even rolls the dice, she has a +14 bonus. Not surprisingly, the kick lands, and the demon doubles over with a very surprised expression on its face.

The bullet didn’t hit any vital organs. The character rolled with the impact and the baseball bat didn’t crush her skull. The spear got caught in the knight’s chain mail and no serious damage was done. Somehow, the injuries that should have killed a character or at least put her out of commission are not as bad as she thought they were. Or maybe she got her second wind — a few bandages on her bloody but largely harmless wounds and she is ready to go. Whatever the rationale, I Think I’m Okay allows Champions, Mortals, monsters, and normal humans to get back into action after enduring beatings that would have sent a pro football player to the hospital.

For a mere Drama Point, the character heals half the Life Point damage she has taken up to that point. Round fractions in the character’s favor (23 points of damage becomes 11). The character is still bloody and battered, but she can act normally. I Think I’m Okay can be used only once per Turn, but it can be used several Turns in a row, each use halving whatever damage remains. If the character had suffered enough damage to be incapacitated or unconscious, however, healing does not necessarily awaken her. You as Director decide if the time is right for the character to revive and join the action. Also, if the injuries were life threatening, you may decide that the character has to go to the hospital at some point, although she can wait until the action (or the Episode) is over.

DELUXE EXAMPLE: A sword-wielding vampire runs a hunter through. The wound inflicts 40 points of damage, and the hunter Jeffrey had already been injured for another 36 points previously, so he’s in really bad shape. Not wishing to see the end of the character just yet, the hunter’s player spends a Drama Point. The 76 points of damage are reduced to a “mere” 38 points—not exactly unhurt, but not dying, either. The sword must have missed the hunter's vital organs. Next Turn, the hunter’s player could reduce it even further to 19 points, and a Turn later, to 9 points. This would take three Drama Points, though — a pretty hefty expenditure.

The default rule is that a I Think I’m Okay Drama Point can be spent after injury, but before Consciousness or Survival Tests. That serves to avoid nearly all deaths (unless your players haven’t been able to keep one Drama Point in reserve … and aren’t you the running-them-ragged sort?). For those looking for a bit more grit in their game, have the Consciousness or Survival Test go first, then Drama Point expenditure. In that case, the Drama Point(s) are more likely to be of the Back From the Dead sort.

The killer accidentally dropped a valuable clue at the scene of the crime. A mysterious stranger shows up in the nick of time. The local thrift shop just happened to have a copy of the Pergamum Codex on a back shelf. Heroes often find help and information from the most unlikely places or at precisely the right time. Once per game session, each character can spend a Drama Point and get a “break.” This is not a Get Out of Jail Free Card. If the heroine stupidly walked into a vampires’ lair and she is surrounded by a horde of bloodsuckers, a Plot Twist won’t allow her to escape unscathed. The vampires might decide to keep her alive, however (after beating her soundly to get some cheap thrills), and her friends might somehow realize where she is and come to her rescue. By the same token, sometimes clues are available, but they cannot be found at that time. If you decide that a Plot Twist is not possible, the player gets the Drama Point back.

I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore. Nothing is more deadly than a pissed off hero; even the humblest Mortal can become a fearsome enemy if properly motivated. It takes a lot to drive a character over the edge, but when it happens most fictional heroes become unstoppable engines of destruction.

By spending two Drama Points, the character gets a +5 bonus to all attack actions, including magical attacks, for the duration of the fight. These benefits are cumulative with Heroic Feats, above. Problem is, an appropriate provocation is necessary to invoke the Righteous Fury rule. A player can’t decide her character is pissed about the existence of vampires, or global warming, or even a bad day at work. She needs to be truly provoked - a brutal attack on a loved one, an unexpected betrayal of trust, or crimes so horrible they go beyond the usual mayhem. A hero can also get righteous if all other Cast Members are at half their Life Points or less; sometimes it takes the darkest times to bring out the most in people.

Sooner or later, everybody dies. In Char Loft, it happens with uncanny regularity, but elsewhere, it's still likely; but death is seldom the end in this old coffee house. A character who dies may, by spending Drama Points, make a triumphant return. No return from the grave is without complications, however, and not even Drama Points can erase the problems that result from cheating the Grim Reaper.

The sooner the character is back from the dead, the more Drama Points it costs. Coming back after a full year costs one Drama Point (that means the player is going to need someone else to play until then). Returning for the next adventure costs five Drama Points. Bypassing death in the same Episode as one’s demise costs 10 Drama Points. At your option, a Cast Member with insufficient Drama Points can pay in installments - all Drama Points she has now, and any Drama Points she gets in later Episodes, until the debt is paid. Spending the points is not enough; you and the player need to work out the details behind the resurrection. Some possible explanations follow:

MIRACLE AT THE ER: The hospital managed to get that heart pumping after some electroshocks, heart massage, and pure force of will. The healer pushed their skills to the limits, and their magic pulled the character back across Death's doorstep. The character might have seen visions of the future or the past, spoken to dead friends and relatives, or undergone some type of Profound Mystical Experience during the brief time she was dead. If they've been put out of commission for a while (should've saved more Drama Points), they might be in a coma and unresponsive, just waiting for a convenient time to awaken…

GHOST WITH THE MOST: The character is dead and buried, but her soul lives on, and she’s not going anywhere. Or the character may rise as some type of undead creature. This transformation may result in gaining new Qualities to reflect their changed state – which must be paid for with unspent or earned experience points – and the new form may bear its own consequences (a sudden craving for flesh, for example…)

GREATER POWER: Perhaps some greater power decides that the character has not fulfilled her destiny yet. The reason for the return could be unknown to the character for a while, and thus unexplainable to her friends. The downside is the greater power’s motivation. Perhaps the Boss decides to intervene and offer a deal in exchange for granting you a new lease on life. Depending on what’s expected from the resurrectee, it might be better to have stayed dead than to owe the Boss your life…

RESURRECTION: For the right price, you may be able to pay to bring someone back from the dead. The difficulty of this generally depends on the world - in most cases, this sort of magic comes at a serious cost, both personal and otherwise, and usually you will owe whoever or whatever brought you back a favor… and most necromancers and resurrection men tend to remember what's owed them at the most awkward times.

Note that deaths that occur within the territory of the Char Loft (and particularly the Fight Loft) tend to follow special circumstances - namely, those killed are usually resurrected in fifteen minutes or less. This costs no Drama Points, as this is part and parcel of the deal. This will not protect you in anyone else's world!

So a character has 10-20 shiny Drama Points, and is ready to do the impossible. How many should be spent in an Episode? What happens if the player runs out? While the answers will vary from one gaming group to the next, here are some rules of thumb for both you and the players.

If the player spends all her Drama Points, she may not have them when her character really needs them. And if she tries to hoard them greedily, her character may get her butt kicked on a regular basis (which may force the player to spend Drama Points to nurse her back to health). It’s a balancing act. Ideally, players should spend no more (and hopefully less) Drama Points than they earn in the game session. That way they have a nice stash saved up for the Final Showdown or some other dramatic moment.

During the typical Episode, players should probably not spend more than five Drama Points apiece - assume a maximum of two points on each of two fights, and one point for some non-combat use. But that’s in a “fair” fight. If a group of four Mortals tries to take a couple of experienced Monsters, they are in trouble, and may end up spending Drama Points like crazy just to survive. In those cases, it’s better to use one Drama Point for a Plot Twist to stop the fight. If you want to keep up the pressure and constantly put the characters in dangerous situations, then players may end up spending 10 Drama Points per session. In that case, you are going to have to make good those expenses by giving out more Drama Points than normal.

Players should not use Drama Points frivolously - save them for a fight with the Big Bad or the main villain of the Episode. By using tactics and letting the tougher combatants go in front while the Mortals maneuver around the fringes, vamps and other low-ranking villains can be defeated without much in the way of Drama Point expenditures.

Remember to scale the enemies to the abilities of the characters. If none of the Cast Members have a Combat Maneuver with a bonus higher than nine, for example, putting them up against a bunch of critters with Combat Scores of 16 (which means the best Cast Member needs a seven or higher on a D10 just to avoid getting hit and an eight or higher to hit the monster) is asking for trouble. That forces the Cast to spend a bunch of Drama Points to win the day. So, as a rule of thumb - maximum expenditure of five Drama Points per game session or Episode (depending on how long the Episode is), with an average of two or three points. If all the players are spending more than that amount on a regular basis, you may need to turn down the heat a bit. If only one player is overspending, then it’s probably their problem and not the game’s.

Once a player spends her Drama Points, they are gone for good. To get more, she is going to have to work for them. Fortunately, they can be obtained in a number of ways.

Characters can use experience points to buy Drama Points. Champions and Monsters can buy them at the rate of two experience points for each Drama Point. Mortals get a discount: they can get one Drama Point for every experience point they spend. This is the most mechanical way to gain more Drama Points, and can result in characters that improve very slowly. Some TV characters never become more skilled over the seasons, so this is okay.

Sometimes, it's as much about the dialogue as it is about fighting the forces of evil. Coming up with cool, witty lines is not easy. Let’s face it, TV shows have a team of talented (and highly compensated) screenwriters working for them, and you and your players don’t. Players who put in the effort to come up with a funny and memorable line should be awarded with a Drama Point, once per game session. Both you and the players have to agree that the line is worthy of the reward. Oh, and nobody should get points for parroting lines from a TV show, unless they are used in a particularly creative manner.

Stomping on vampires does not constitute a Heroic Act — it’s part of the usual job description for the Cast. To earn Drama Points, a character needs to perform acts of self-sacrifice for the good of others. The sacrifice should be significant — serious risk of death or injury or some personal loss. This type of act should get one or two Drama Points, depending on how serious the sacrifice was.

Sometimes, the plot may require that something bad happen to the Cast Members. Someone sneaks up behind the character and clobbers her; the escape car refuses to start; a freak accident allows a villain to escape; the spanking new and very sweet boyfriend turns out to be a brain-sucking demon (no way!). This shouldn’t happen often, or the players are going to feel railroaded. When it does, you should “pay” for the privilege by giving the affected characters one to three Drama Points. When this rule is invoked, the players cannot use Drama Points to undo the results—if the villain is meant to get away this time, she has to get away. Ditto if this is their turn to end up as hostages. The more unfair the situation is, the more Drama Points they get, up to three Drama Points for situations where the characters are totally getting hosed by life.

This is the tragic version of When Bad Things Happen to Good People. When a subplot involving a character and their Drawbacks (things like Addiction, Love, and Emotional Problems) results in a tragedy, they should be awarded one to three Drama Points every game session where the subplot comes into play. Losing a loved one (usually through death or abandonment), ending a relationship, fighting to overcome drug abuse - if the subplot could be made into a Movie of the Week starring that Sally gal from All in the Family, it is Drama Point worthy. The players really need to get into character, though. “My character goes to a bar and gets plastered. Oh, woe is me” just ain’t gonna cut it. Roleplay the stages of grief, the lies addicts tell to themselves as well as to their friends and the crisis moments when things come to a head.

Sometimes, an emotional crisis directly affects the character. This happens almost exclusively to Champions: when their psyches are struck and their self-confidence wavers, they are in serious trouble. When tragedy strikes the character (usually when a subplot reaches its boiling point), she suffers a -2 penalty to all her actions. Even worse, the character cannot use Drama Points for Heroic Feats, Plot Twists or Righteous Fury. This sad state of affairs lasts until the character snaps out of it, usually through the efforts of a Mortal (see Support Your Local Hero, next). These times of grief get the character involved two Drama Points, or three if the crisis lasts for an entire Episode.

This option is only open to Mortals. As part of cinematic gaming, Mortals can help support their more powerful companions by simply being friends, maintaining the hero's balance and even her sanity. Without the friends who know about their problems and support them in times of crisis, Hunters can loose their marbles really quickly. Mortals that roleplay helping other characters through The Agony That Is Life (see above) should get two Drama Points. Giving advice is part of it; the other is to realize there is a problem, learn what is going on, and do something about it.