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*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Best Initiative System?
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<blockquote data-quote="Crazy Jerome" data-source="post: 5949564" data-attributes="member: 54877"><p>As long as we are throwing out variants, another system that I've fooled around with but never tested is some form of "initiative/action gambling." </p><p> </p><p>Lanefan's comment about multiple arrow shots in a round reminded me. In such a system, you need for different things to take different amounts of time in the action economy, however else it may work. Then your declaration phase is not what you are doing, but how much you are attempting. In something similar to what Lanefan listed, you wouldn't state a declaration at all. You'd pick up the appropriate number of d6s, and how many you roll becomes your declaration. The more dice you roll, the more you get to act. But also, the more dice you roll, the bigger penalty to the actions. </p><p> </p><p>This kind of system would work best if the penalty scales rapidly for each die, and if the penalty gets great enough, you are forced to delay those actions as "in progress" this round, and not even get to roll next round while you complete the actions.</p><p> </p><p>The most obvious way is to count rolls up, so that a 1 on a d6 is the absolute fastest, you act on each pip, but you get a penalty to initiaitve for each die you use (making 2 now the best roll), and subsequent actions are added to previous ones. So if you roll 3 dice, you'll potentialy act three times, starting no earlier than spot 4. If you roll 2, 3, and 5, act first at 5 (2+3), then again at 8 (5+3) and then the last time at 13(8+5). Cap that with a total that ends the round, and you have a "blackjack" system of initiative that encourages people to try 2 or 3 things per round, but occasionally risk more or shoot for one thing fast. It would also work better in a system where a single, decisive action can sometimes be important, but not always. </p><p> </p><p>Alternately, make a person using multiple dice start with the highest roll, then add the subsequent actions. More powerful moves, spells, etc. may take multiple actions to complete, but still be possible in a single round--if you gamble and win. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Crazy Jerome, post: 5949564, member: 54877"] As long as we are throwing out variants, another system that I've fooled around with but never tested is some form of "initiative/action gambling." Lanefan's comment about multiple arrow shots in a round reminded me. In such a system, you need for different things to take different amounts of time in the action economy, however else it may work. Then your declaration phase is not what you are doing, but how much you are attempting. In something similar to what Lanefan listed, you wouldn't state a declaration at all. You'd pick up the appropriate number of d6s, and how many you roll becomes your declaration. The more dice you roll, the more you get to act. But also, the more dice you roll, the bigger penalty to the actions. This kind of system would work best if the penalty scales rapidly for each die, and if the penalty gets great enough, you are forced to delay those actions as "in progress" this round, and not even get to roll next round while you complete the actions. The most obvious way is to count rolls up, so that a 1 on a d6 is the absolute fastest, you act on each pip, but you get a penalty to initiaitve for each die you use (making 2 now the best roll), and subsequent actions are added to previous ones. So if you roll 3 dice, you'll potentialy act three times, starting no earlier than spot 4. If you roll 2, 3, and 5, act first at 5 (2+3), then again at 8 (5+3) and then the last time at 13(8+5). Cap that with a total that ends the round, and you have a "blackjack" system of initiative that encourages people to try 2 or 3 things per round, but occasionally risk more or shoot for one thing fast. It would also work better in a system where a single, decisive action can sometimes be important, but not always. Alternately, make a person using multiple dice start with the highest roll, then add the subsequent actions. More powerful moves, spells, etc. may take multiple actions to complete, but still be possible in a single round--if you gamble and win. ;) [/QUOTE]
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Best Initiative System?
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