Initiative Systems in BRP

[hix]

Strike Rank, DEX Rank, Rolled Initiative, Static Initiative, Impulse. What do you guys use? I've done static in CoC, RQ 3e-style Strike Ranks, and Rolled Initiative. I like Strike Ranks with systems that have guns, because it gives them an in-built advantage over a melee attacker, as it should be. In my current campaign, we are using Strike Ranks without the SIZ modifier, because it's mostly ranged combat. Any houserule systems for turn order that you like?

[Kloster]

Mostly using SR, RQ3 style.

[soltakss]

RQ3 SR, but with 12 SR per round and 3 SRs between actions.

[Kloster]

We've tried it on a SF game. It's nice for a fast paced action game.

Edited August 9, 2020 by Kloster

[sylvermoonkitten]

depends on group  and pacing,  generally , kinda like superworld high dex goes first, and number of actions  in a melee round is based on dex :18 goes on 18 and 8, dex 17 on 17 and 7 etc.

a perception roll a player can alter intention, phses -3, so a ranger with dex 18,  that sees another  player in trouble, can change intent and shoot at that players enemy on phase 15, 

Since the BRP games have less hit points, melee goes faster, and is deadlier

[olskool]

I've been using the Mythras ACTION system with everyone getting three ACTIONS. I like how every one takes an ACTION and then you reset.  I have every ACTION represent 2 seconds and every round represent 6 seconds.  10 rounds is then 1 minute.

  I also allow a PC to move  8m (run),  6m (trot),  4m (walk), or 2m (crawl) in addition to a more basic ACTION (like an attack).  Movement penalties do apply.    

  

[Lloyd Dupont]

4 hours ago, soltakss said:

RQ3 SR, but with 12 SR per round and 3 SRs between actions.

After trying various system.. I am looking forward to the simplicity of 1 action at DEX/INT (+D6) rank for my next GMing....
But.. mmm...this system makes me think again about initiative... it might be simple, yet allow some variable attack speed, without it being too much of an OP advantage...

Might give it a go and change.. by now my players are used to change!  

Edited August 9, 2020 by Lloyd Dupont

[Atgxtg]

I prefer Strike Ranks. One of the things I like about SRs is that they incorporate movement and the speed of the action into the sequence, so someone with a readies missile weapon, or quick spell can act before an opponent can cross a 10 m  to get to them. Most of the other methods don't do that.

[DreadDomain]

12 hours ago, hix said:

Strike Rank, DEX Rank, Rolled Initiative, Static Initiative, Impulse. What do you guys use? I've done static in CoC, RQ 3e-style Strike Ranks, and Rolled Initiative. I like Strike Ranks with systems that have guns, because it gives them an in-built advantage over a melee attacker, as it should be. In my current campaign, we are using Strike Ranks without the SIZ modifier, because it's mostly ranged combat. Any houserule systems for turn order that you like?

I like RQ3 style Strike Ranks. We have also played them "unrestrained" as per BRP p.199 where characters were not limited to 1 attack and 1 defense per round.

[Lordabdul]

On 8/9/2020 at 11:25 AM, hix said:

What do you guys use?

Several of those, depending on the game. For example, in CoC I go with RAW that it's mostly DEX ranking. In RQG I go with Strike Ranks. I don't play much else in terms of BRP games but if I played Mythras or whatever, I would use that.

What's "Static Initiative" by the way?

[hix]

20 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

What's "Static Initiative" by the way?

I meant the CoC DEX ranking.

[Lordabdul]

17 minutes ago, hix said:

I meant the CoC DEX ranking.

So then what's DEX Rank?   (you listed both, so that's why I was a bit confused)

[hix]

26 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

So then what's DEX Rank?   (you listed both, so that's why I was a bit confused)

The "counting down" method based on your DEX + 10 used in the BGB. Like @sylvermoonkitten described above.

[NickMiddleton]

DEX rank plus Reflex die (bonus die from INT+CON on same table as Damage bonus). I also occasionally do more fiddly things with a Crisis / Combat Awareness / Sense type skill: everyone has it, you get experience in it from professions / occupations that exposed you to live combat / crisis situations - so veterans generally react quicker than civilians with no combat / crisis exposure. Also used for morale and trauma type effects.

Used to love RQ SR but overt the decades my tastes have turned away from the intricate to the more straightforward.

[Mugen]

A long time ago, I did something similar to the initiative system from the Advanced Combat system of Revolution D100, in which your initiative is both your turn order and a number of "action points".

When your turn comes and you take an action, you need to spend some of your initiative points to be able to do it, and this new initiative count tells when you'll be able to act again. Say for instance your starting initiative is 13 and you do an attack, which costs 5 Initiative. Your new Initiative is now 8, and might act again at initiative rank 8.

When Initiative count reaches 0, a new round starts and everybody gets its whole initiative back.

RD100 calls those Initiative Points "Strike Ranks", and sets their value equal to the average of STR and DEX. IIRC, my version used DEX and INT.

Edited August 17, 2020 by Mugen

[RosenMcStern]

It is now renamed "Readiness" for additional clarity. "The combatant with the highest Readiness is the one who acts" and "You lose some Readiness when you perform an action or reaction" are rather intuitive concepts.

[dieselpunk]

The low to high Dex rank with statement of intent then actions from high to low. Sometimes I throw the random roll in there if I want to get a bit more chaos.  If I'm not with a combat oriented group then just Dex rank works too. I'm about the simple.

[hix]

On 9/19/2020 at 5:58 PM, dieselpunk said:

the simple

Gotta say that simple is a loaded term. For me, Strike Ranks or Impulses or Readiness combines Attack per Round, player speed, weapon type, and the type of action performed all into one numerical system. As a gm, it's simple as hell cause all I have to do is count, and using it is simple because there is no glossary of terms you have to use to describe what you are doing, you just go on 6. Using Dex order or a die roll forces me to either make up a bunch of stuff to make things flow smoothly, or accept absurd things like an axe-wielder beating a hobo with a shotgun to the attack.

"Simple" for me is minimization of "dissociated mechanics" and dice abstraction. Referencing a table for me is simple, other people think a short math equation is more simple, or dice pool games are more simple cause you just add +1 or +3 or something.

[smiorgan]

I've used several of them.

Currently, for my Stormbringer game I'm trying to use the original Stormbringer system, which is subtly different from the one in Elric!

[Chaot]

Hate Strike Ranks. I use careful aim from Elric! I adjust it because I don't want to deal with the math. For every Dex/Int rank you delay you get a +10% bonus. If you want to rush an action you get a -5% per Dex/Int rank level. It works great without dealing with a secondary stat.

Dex Ranks for life, baby!

Edited September 28, 2020 by Chaot

[Atgxtg]

21 hours ago, Chaot said:

Hate Strike Ranks. I use careful aim from Elric! I adjust it because I don't want to deal with the math. For every Dex/Int rank you delay you get a +10% bonus.

Dou you place an  there an upper limit on that?  Otherwise novice archers  with a high DEX 5% bow skill could delay their shots for 10-15 DEX ranks and shoot at over 100%, all the time. In Elric! the +10% per 5 ranks gave you a practical limit of +20-30% but with +10% per rank it could really add up. Just the sample Archer from the core book (DEX 13, Hunting Bow 60%) could delay for a dozen DEX ranks and attack at 180%!

IMO capping the aim bonus at half again or twice skill would make sense

 

[weasel fierce]

Increasingly, I just narrate out initiative based on what makes reasonable sense. Archers shoot before the guy who is running who is faster than... 

My preferred take on an Init mechanic is Harn where its a skill that is trained like anything else. Initiative being based strictly on physical characters and not experience is silly beans, if you are trying for a more realistic experience in my opinion.

You could just use a declaration step and the skill % of your action is also your initiative, though that omits the mental aspects of it.

Edited October 22, 2020 by weasel fierce

[DreadDomain]

23 minutes ago, weasel fierce said:

Increasingly, I just narrate out initiative based on what makes reasonable sense. Archers shoot before the guy who is running who is faster than... 

That's a reason why I like RQ3 approach. It resolves situations where a Fighter is running towards and Archer (or running for cover) while the archer is trying to knock an arrow and shoot him. Who will get their first chance? 

23 minutes ago, weasel fierce said:

My preferred take on an Init mechanic is Harn where its a skill that is trained like anything else. Initiative being based strictly on physical characters and not experience is silly beans, if you are trying for a more realistic experience in my opinion.

You could just use a declaration step and the skill % of your action is also your initiative, though that omits the mental aspects of it.

An option would be to declare intent in ascending order of INT and then act in descending order of %. That way more perceptive/intelligence/intuitive characters get to adjust their intent based on what the others are doing, even if they are not the fastest. 

[Atgxtg]

2 minutes ago, DreadDomain said:

That's a reason why I like RQ3 approach. It resolves situations where a Fighter is running towards and Archer (or running for cover) while the archer is trying to knock an arrow and shoot him. Who will get their first chance? 

Me too. Of course this approach would work with DEX ranks too, if actions had some sort of DEX rank delay. Like say, it took 5 DEX ranks to relaod, and a character could move X meters per DEX rank. 

2 minutes ago, DreadDomain said:

An option would be to declare intent in ascending order of INT and then act in descending order of %. That way more perceptive/intelligence/intuitive characters get to adjust their intent based on what the others are doing, even if they are not the fastest. 

Not a bad idea., although it could get complicated as you'd need to track multiple skills. 

[DreadDomain]

7 minutes ago, Atgxtg said:

Me too. Of course this approach would work with DEX ranks too, if actions had some sort of DEX rank delay. Like say, it took 5 DEX ranks to relaod, and a character could move X meters per DEX rank. 

True. And to be fair, even if move is not as well define/integrated in RQG, it also covers that situation.

Quote

Not a bad idea., although it could get complicated as you'd need to track multiple skills. 

I wasn't thinking about multiple actions in a round where it does get a bit trickier. Also, what if my action is not really attached to a skill? Does my DEX 14 beat your skill 72%? That's probably where an initiative skill like in Harn becomes handy.

Still prefer RQ3...

Edited October 22, 2020 by DreadDomain