The Cure for Eternal Combat
Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2012 2:34 am
Hi All,
One of things I have always strived for is the creation of a system that allows for perpetual initiative. Static initiative*, as seen in most RPGs, always frustrates me as it means either you are rolling dice every combat turn or you're stuck acting at the same time each turn. Worse still none of these types of systems include any reference to what has occurred the round before hand i.e. you could act last one turn, then first the next. My wish has always been to create a system where initiative takes into account previous round, as well as reflect the actual time needed to achieve an action.
I think I might have struck on it… and it’s as simple as a circle.
Let’s take the initiative mechanics I was proposing for DC 3e. In that everyone would act on their Initiative score added to a roll of 2D6. This would give a number between say 4 and 18 (or up to 20 for some creatures, etc.). Under this system a normal human would act every 5 ‘phases’ after first acting (i.e. If I had an initiative of 5 and rolled 8 on my dice, I would go on phase 13, 8 and 3 in that combat round). Obviously the last 2 phases would be lost and then initiative would be rerolled, and the count down would start again.
With a circle or a clock, those last two phases need not be lost as you simple move 5 phases on from 2 on the circle to next act on a 17 (on the basis that the circle is made up from 20 ‘slices’. You would add a ‘maintenance’ phase after passing from 1 to 20 (for damage and book keeping, etc). Further with the clock you could easily maintain different ‘reaction times’ (i.e. the number of phases between actions) for creatures or due to injury (i.e. a minor wound would make your reaction time one phase longer, etc.)
So what do you think? Any down side to the approach, other than having to have a initiative circle prop?
Marcus
* I’ll define Static initiative as any system where you act on one phase/turn/step regardless of what round of combat it is (i.e. the original DC), or where a new initiative is created each turn, but this independent of what has occurred before (D&D does this, as does Savage Worlds).
One of things I have always strived for is the creation of a system that allows for perpetual initiative. Static initiative*, as seen in most RPGs, always frustrates me as it means either you are rolling dice every combat turn or you're stuck acting at the same time each turn. Worse still none of these types of systems include any reference to what has occurred the round before hand i.e. you could act last one turn, then first the next. My wish has always been to create a system where initiative takes into account previous round, as well as reflect the actual time needed to achieve an action.
I think I might have struck on it… and it’s as simple as a circle.
Let’s take the initiative mechanics I was proposing for DC 3e. In that everyone would act on their Initiative score added to a roll of 2D6. This would give a number between say 4 and 18 (or up to 20 for some creatures, etc.). Under this system a normal human would act every 5 ‘phases’ after first acting (i.e. If I had an initiative of 5 and rolled 8 on my dice, I would go on phase 13, 8 and 3 in that combat round). Obviously the last 2 phases would be lost and then initiative would be rerolled, and the count down would start again.
With a circle or a clock, those last two phases need not be lost as you simple move 5 phases on from 2 on the circle to next act on a 17 (on the basis that the circle is made up from 20 ‘slices’. You would add a ‘maintenance’ phase after passing from 1 to 20 (for damage and book keeping, etc). Further with the clock you could easily maintain different ‘reaction times’ (i.e. the number of phases between actions) for creatures or due to injury (i.e. a minor wound would make your reaction time one phase longer, etc.)
So what do you think? Any down side to the approach, other than having to have a initiative circle prop?
Marcus
* I’ll define Static initiative as any system where you act on one phase/turn/step regardless of what round of combat it is (i.e. the original DC), or where a new initiative is created each turn, but this independent of what has occurred before (D&D does this, as does Savage Worlds).