the Jester
Legend
The force field scene is easy: the force field activates or deactivates for a round on its initiative, and Qui-Gonn and Obi-Wan went before and after it, respectively.
Initiative and Timing
- Thread starter pukunui
- Start date
pukunui
Legend
My issue with doing it that was is that it lends itself to metagaming. The guy playing Qui-Gon is going to see the force field closing behind Darth Maul before his character even moves, and he may thus decide not to bother chasing after him. Whereas if everything was truly simultaneous, his character most likely would have already been moving down the hall in pursuit when the force field activated.
I like the idea of having everyone declare their actions at the start and then roll, but I don't know if my players would go for it.
I like the idea of having everyone declare their actions at the start and then roll, but I don't know if my players would go for it.
Be prepared for a shift in the feel of combat if you do this. AD&D initiative is a lot more freewheeling and dependent on DM interpretation. For instance, if Qui-Gon declares he's going to attack Darth Maul with his lightsaber, and Darth Maul beats Qui-Gon's initiative and disarms him, can Qui-Gon attack barehanded instead? If not, would the result be different if the player had merely declared his intention to attack without specifying a weapon? If so, how vague are players allowed to be when declaring their intentions?
I'm not saying you shouldn't do it, just that it requires more trust between player and DM, and a willingness to play faster and looser with the rules. It's a substantial change, and if all you want to do is simulate a single movie scene, you're probably better off just cobbling together a one-off system for that particular scene.
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pukunui
Legend
Right. I cut my teeth with AD&D, so maybe there's a nostalgia factor there for me ... but I'll admit that I don't know if all of my players would trust me to run a more abstract combat in a fair way.
For the record, though, I'm not actually trying to replicate specific scenes from the Star Wars movies. I just was looking for ways to capture that same feeling and maybe use some of the same hazards and locales and whatnot. So my PCs won't be fighting Darth Maul in the Theed Palace reactor room or anything like that.
For the record, though, I'm not actually trying to replicate specific scenes from the Star Wars movies. I just was looking for ways to capture that same feeling and maybe use some of the same hazards and locales and whatnot. So my PCs won't be fighting Darth Maul in the Theed Palace reactor room or anything like that.
It doesn't translate into other systems, but the One Roll Engine (ORE) of Wild Talents (as well as Godlike, Reign, and a few others) has has everyone declare at the start of the round, then everyone makes one roll (of multiple ten-sided dice) to resolve their actions, and then actions are handled based on what the game calls the "width" of the roll (the number of matching dice).
Herremann the Wise
First Post
Just throwing an idea out there: tell me if it's no good.
Movement may be performed in two ways:
- On a character's turn in initiative
- In reaction to another combatant moving (with the reaction being triggered at the end of the other combatant's movement). This movement costs a move action which therefore may not be used for the rest of that round.
In your example above, both the force field and Qui-Gon have reactions that are triggered by Maul's movement. Whoever's initiative is better (Qui-Gon or the Force Field) gets to react before the other.
As such, battlefield movement becomes a lot more fluid, with combatant's positions being more true to "a reality" rather than the typically staggered nature of things. I made up a new initiative system and have adapted part of it (what's above) that would seem to help you out. In practice, what you might need to do to more easily keep track of things is hand everyone a movement card. If they move out of turn in reaction to other movement then they give up the card early otherwise it is given up on their turn (or perhaps even after it if they don't spend their movement on their turn).
You can then have feats or abilities that allow character's to react to other things aside from other combatant's movement (such as being attacked, or a disturbance in the force or whatever). I'm sure there will be a few corner-case issues but in theory, I think it might work nicely for you.
Best Regards
Herremann the Wise
Movement may be performed in two ways:
- On a character's turn in initiative
- In reaction to another combatant moving (with the reaction being triggered at the end of the other combatant's movement). This movement costs a move action which therefore may not be used for the rest of that round.
In your example above, both the force field and Qui-Gon have reactions that are triggered by Maul's movement. Whoever's initiative is better (Qui-Gon or the Force Field) gets to react before the other.
As such, battlefield movement becomes a lot more fluid, with combatant's positions being more true to "a reality" rather than the typically staggered nature of things. I made up a new initiative system and have adapted part of it (what's above) that would seem to help you out. In practice, what you might need to do to more easily keep track of things is hand everyone a movement card. If they move out of turn in reaction to other movement then they give up the card early otherwise it is given up on their turn (or perhaps even after it if they don't spend their movement on their turn).
You can then have feats or abilities that allow character's to react to other things aside from other combatant's movement (such as being attacked, or a disturbance in the force or whatever). I'm sure there will be a few corner-case issues but in theory, I think it might work nicely for you.
Best Regards
Herremann the Wise
pukunui
Legend
That sounds interesting. There is already a subset of actions in the game called "reactions", and there are some abilities that let you move as a reaction to something else. Your idea could fit in nicely ... it's sort of a "pre-emptive movement" thing. It might render some of those pre-existing abilities moot though.
I'm not sure about the "movement card" thing either. My guys have enough things to keep track of at the table. I don't think they'd like another one.
I'm not sure about the "movement card" thing either. My guys have enough things to keep track of at the table. I don't think they'd like another one.
