Each character starts with a pool of Action Points. Action Points have 5 main uses. You can only spend one AP per turn, aside from the rules for Cheating Death and Final Stands.
Modify a Roll: You may spend an AP to gain +1d6 retroactively to a d20 roll, though before the results are declared.
Complicate a Failure: You may spend an AP to turn a failed check into a success-with-complication. Purely for ease of posting, you must tell me you intend to do so before I give you the result (if you succeed on the check, the AP isn't spent).
Simplify a Complex Action: You may spend an AP to enable a complex action to be completed in one round—nothing cheesy, but things like "I grab an alchemist fire, run to the door, throw the flask and slam the door shut" that are hampered by the game's action system.
Cheat Death: Whenever a blow would otherwise kill you, you can spend half your normal maximum in Action Points to instead stabilize at negatives equal to your Con -1—basically, on the brink of death but alive.
Final Stand: Whenever knocked unconscious but not killed (or already unconscious from damage), you can spend however many APs you have left to remain conscious and fully functional for up to double that number in rounds, after which point you die no matter what ("wounds beyond anyone's ability to heal", barring a heal spell or similar). Alternatively, you can spend 1 AP at any time to become conscious but unable to take any actions beyond speaking, which doesn't come with the "inevitable death" clause.
