On the subject of Bennies.

It would seem to me, the gaming world is distilled into two camps. Those that like bennies, and those that vehemently oppose their use. I am on the fringe of the latter. Every time I've tried to use them, the players hoard them like a dragon hoards gold. In a Pathfinder game I ran, I tried using Hero Points (a/k/a Bennies in disguise). Even though it allowed for a reroll. Even though it allowed for acquisition of small common items. The players ignored them. Did they think if they collected enough of them, I'd let them bypass a tough encounter? or just skip to the end of the game? I'm still not sure. They certainly weren't considering them as a way to steer the story.
Bennies should not be used to TAKE narrative control of a story. The GM/DM has already laid out the direction of the story. If you're playing in a game, and you don't like the direction the story is going, either quit the game or grow set and talk to the GM/DM about it. If he is unresponsive, run your own game. You might have gathered from reading some of my past posts, that I'm a big believer in players running the games they want, not hijacking the GM/DM's plot. This stems from having too many players look at me and say "I just want to play, being a GM is too much work." ***calming breaths Tem, that is a different rant for a different time***
Back on topic...
All too often, players need to be reminded that the life of an adventurer is a hazardous and sometimes fatal undertaking. Bennies give false hope. They promise a change of bad luck frequently without actually delivering. The player spends a bennie, rerolls, and blows it a second time. Then they whine. Can't stand whining. I've had a PC, sitting on 3 hero points like a hen on eggs, die while attempting to tumble past a Slaad. I pointed out he had the option of using a hero point to reroll, and he looked me, straight faced, and said "Why don't you just let me do it?" If I were a more violent man, I might have gone to prison after the homicide trial. Instead, I let the Slaad kill him on his 3rd attempt.
Bennies, Hero Points, whatever you choose to call them need to be integral to game play. Not added as an after thought. FateCore is on the right track.
I'm not a big fan of letting players try and get out of the bad choices they make, never have been. Way back when (the 80's) during the 1st edition days, if you made a bad choice, your character paid the price. then you rolled up a new character and remembered not to do that again. The PC thought process has devolved since then. There is a pervasive attitude of entitlement among players lately. They want to be awesome. That's great, but in order to be awesome, you must overcome the obstacles placed in your way. The first time, not through the overuse of second chances. That is how great stories a made. Remember folks, appease the dice gods, and your dice will perform for you.
Maybe, if the players would use the bennies for more of their intended uses, I might be inclined not to malign them. However, I've not seen any evidence of that changing anytime soon, so I will not be using bennies in my games, if I were actually running any.
Anyhoo... You guys keep the debate alive. Have fun with that. I'm gonna stand back here in the past and keep the archives, for when the youngsters realize us oldschoolers were right. :-)

Thanks for listening.

It all starts with a half formed thought.

I was getting a bit bored with the Bloodrose campaign, so I started thinking of revisiting old ideas. One such idea involved Tiamat imprisoning Iuz in order to take over his earthly realm...
That was it, that was as far as thought had taken me.
Slightly irritating that.
Leavin' me hanging like it did. I do what I usually do in these circumstances. I start searching for premade adventures to string together into a general campaign arc. I don't really like using the premade stuff, but sometimes they come in handy for stirring up ideas and directions you've never thought of going. Keep in mind I still had no answers to some mildly important questions. Why did Tiamat need Iuz out of the way?  What was her ultimate goal? How did she imprison him? Where?
I wasn't getting anywhere when I finished stringing together the premades, so I tucked it in an  envelope and told myself I'd come back to it later. Recently, I revisited everything I had written down for what I was calling "Tiamat's War".
So, now I'm sitting here with some half formed thoughts, this is when I let the brain of the chain and write down whatever makes the grey matter tingle. What follows is the thought process. At least most of it, I'm leaving out the brief research forays onto Wikipedia.

We start with a powerful entity imprisoned by a different powerful entity. (The original concept)

Demon Queen imprisoned by Great Old One. (yes those Great Old ones...)

Great old one using the resources of her realm to search for the Kingdom Stones, in  order to restore the sorcerer kinds to their rightful lands.

Scylandra (Demon Queen) is daughter of the Sisters of Madness (Baba Yaga and her 2 sisters)

Oooo, I get to use Baba Yaga's hut!

Who knows about the Kingdom Stones?

Hidden Prison (privately funded by a cabal of evil dukes) is a prison for political dissidents.

PCs must get to the prison before the cultists, so they can question a specific prisoner.

Among the prisoners is a God/Demi-God that has forgotten who he is. (I know I've heard of this story somewhere else, but I'll be damned if I can remember where)

Maybe he's just crazy? Maybe he knows where something g is hidden. (the Kingdom Stones)

There you have it, this is all scribbled on a legal pad that I carry around with me. These ideas will continue to percolate for a while, and I'll add to them as inspiration strikes. Eventually, it might work itself into a full fledged campaign.