diff --git a/action_counter.go b/action_counter.go
index 567cb2c..0ed6709 100644
--- a/action_counter.go
+++ b/action_counter.go
@@ -36,8 +36,8 @@ func init() {
 				Key:             "counter_step",
 				Name:            "Counter Step",
 				Optional:        true,
-				SupportTemplate: false,
-				Type:            plugins.ActionDocumentationFieldTypeInt64,
+				SupportTemplate: true,
+				Type:            plugins.ActionDocumentationFieldTypeString,
 			},
 			{
 				Default:         "",
@@ -132,8 +132,16 @@ func (a ActorCounter) Execute(c *irc.Client, m *irc.Message, r *plugins.Rule, ev
 	}
 
 	var counterStep int64 = 1
-	if s := attrs.MustInt64("counter_step", ptrIntZero); s != 0 {
-		counterStep = s
+	if s := attrs.MustString("counter_step", ptrStringEmpty); s != "" {
+		parseStep, err := formatMessage(s, m, r, eventData)
+		if err != nil {
+			return false, errors.Wrap(err, "execute counter step template")
+		}
+
+		counterStep, err = strconv.ParseInt(parseStep, 10, 64)
+		if err != nil {
+			return false, errors.Wrap(err, "parse counter step")
+		}
 	}
 
 	return false, errors.Wrap(
diff --git a/plugins/fieldcollection.go b/plugins/fieldcollection.go
index 023ab32..e7488fb 100644
--- a/plugins/fieldcollection.go
+++ b/plugins/fieldcollection.go
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ func (f *FieldCollection) String(name string) (string, error) {
 		return iv.String(), nil
 	}
 
-	return "", ErrValueMismatch
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%v", v), nil
 }
 
 // StringSlice tries to read key name as []string
diff --git a/plugins/fieldcollection_test.go b/plugins/fieldcollection_test.go
index 6331cd1..05b872a 100644
--- a/plugins/fieldcollection_test.go
+++ b/plugins/fieldcollection_test.go
@@ -78,3 +78,16 @@ func TestFieldCollectionNilDataGet(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func TestFieldCollectionIntToString(t *testing.T) {
+	var val int = 123
+	fc := FieldCollectionFromData(map[string]interface{}{"test": val})
+
+	if !fc.CanString("test") {
+		t.Fatalf("cannot convert %T to string", val)
+	}
+
+	if v := fc.MustString("test", nil); v != "123" {
+		t.Errorf("unexpected value: 123 != %s", v)
+	}
+}