Initiative (New Action: Rush)

[Psimancer]

Call me an old fogy, but I miss rolling initiative each round, like you did in earlier editions of the game. Well, actually, to tell the truth, it’s not so much the rolling, as it is the dynamic nature of combat that I miss. But I’ve talked to my players, and some of them really HATE the dice rolling aspect and how it might potentially slow down combat…

So in light of all that, I spent some time brainstorming how to make initiative more dynamic, without the added burden of additional dice rolls. What I came up with was the Rush action…

I’ve yet to trial this in combat; I thought I would get some feedback first…

Rush (Free Action)

A Rush is a Free Action that must be declared at the beginning of your action, which results in a -2 modifier to all your attack rolls, both this round and next round. The benefit of taking this action is that you can re-roll your initiative for this combat, coming into effect next round (at the new initiative score). If your new initiative score is worse than your current value, your initiative does not change.

Example: Hacatio is currently acting last on initiative 5. At the start of his action he declares a ‘rush’. All attacks this round, and next, are at -2. On his initiative re-roll he obtains a total of 22 and acts first next round - effectively giving him two actions in a row.

 

[Corlon]

sounds interesting, and since everyone can use it, there are a few penalties...it seems to hold well together.

I guess it'd have to be playtested although it doens't seem to need it, it seems to hold together pretty well.

 

[Liquidsabre]

Instead of having a random roll that might actually lower the character's initiative I'd just give the character a flat +4 to their current initiaitve. So enemies that go just before the character, taking the -2 penalty, they'd be able to 'rush' ahead of them and act. Looks pretty darn cool.

 

[Vrecknidj]

So, this got me thinking. What happens, exactly, when someone's initiative place moves closer to 20? I was imagining a bunch of people fighting some spiders or orcs or something, and everyone acting kinda simultaneously, and kinda not. What would it mean to say that someone acted earlier in a subsequent round?

The first thing I came up with was that there's something in that individual's reflexes that allows him to anticipate others' actions and makes it more likely that he'll get the jump on them, even if he was beaten to the first punch.

So, maybe we could add in something like this. You can increase your current initiative result by any number, up to your current reflex save modifier, and take a similar penalty to all attacks this round. So, if you have a +7 Ref save, you could, if you wanted, move from an initiative of, say, 15, to 22. You'd have a -7 attack penalty for the round, but you could move up if you really wanted to.

Another option is to tie it to BAB or maybe even to a Spot check (though this last one might be harder to justify).

Just some ideas . . . .

Dave

 

[Li Shenron]

Well the idea can be good, but it's definitely not going to work unless you specify what happens to the ones who DON'T attack!

Otherwise, with just -2 to attack rolls, spellcasters are going to "rush" every round to increase their initiative at no penalty. Same for characters who didn't attack for some other reason...

What about at least adding a -2 to armor class until the next round? That would at least be a potential penalty for everyone.

 

[Quip]

What if rush was a move equivalent action instead? The cost is a bit steep, but it would effect all characters equally.