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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 6793567" data-attributes="member: 177">I'm using a variant initiative for my Ashen Stars game.Ashen Stars standard initiative goes this way - if you're talking about a conflict between two people, the one who states they are taking an action goes first, and you alternate.When you have a more complicated combat, you rank those involved in order of the number of points they have in the skill pool they intend to be using (like Scuffling or Shooting).&nbsp; In case of a tie, the one with the actual highest score (from which the pool derives) goes first.&nbsp; If they are still tied, PCs go before NPCs, and those who joined the scene later go after those who were there earlier.&nbsp; Since people tend to spend points from their pools in a fight, placement in the initiative order can change as the fight goes on.&nbsp; So, basically, in Ashen Stars, it isn't random, or weighted random, but &quot;whoever has the most oomph goes first&quot;.But, my group has voted to do something else.&nbsp; We will be using <a href="http://www.drivethrucards.com/product/146133/Turn-Tracker-Cards" target="_blank">Turn Tracker Cards</a> to support the following system:Whoever states they're acting first in a conflict, acts first.&nbsp; At the end of your action, you get to choose who acts next, including all the PCs and the enemies who have not yet gone as possible choices.&nbsp; You must choose someone who has not gone yet this turn.&nbsp; Once everyone has gone, everyone refreshes, and the person who went last in the previous round chooses the first in the next round.&nbsp; They may choose themselves.Note that this means that if the PCs choose themselves first, and then hand off to the antagonists, then the antagonists can choose to go twice in a row, without the PCs being allowed to mitigate the enemy's actions in between.&nbsp; That can be painful, especially if the antagonist is the sort to focus fire.&nbsp; So, there is some strategic decision making involved.&nbsp; This system encourages &quot;Bump, set, spike&quot; kind of action, as the PCs can choose to have some characters set up situations early in the round for a later teammate to take advantage of later in the round.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 6793567, member: 177"] I'm using a variant initiative for my Ashen Stars game. Ashen Stars standard initiative goes this way - if you're talking about a conflict between two people, the one who states they are taking an action goes first, and you alternate. When you have a more complicated combat, you rank those involved in order of the number of points they have in the skill pool they intend to be using (like Scuffling or Shooting). In case of a tie, the one with the actual highest score (from which the pool derives) goes first. If they are still tied, PCs go before NPCs, and those who joined the scene later go after those who were there earlier. Since people tend to spend points from their pools in a fight, placement in the initiative order can change as the fight goes on. So, basically, in Ashen Stars, it isn't random, or weighted random, but "whoever has the most oomph goes first". But, my group has voted to do something else. We will be using [url=http://www.drivethrucards.com/product/146133/Turn-Tracker-Cards]Turn Tracker Cards[/url] to support the following system: Whoever states they're acting first in a conflict, acts first. At the end of your action, you get to choose who acts next, including all the PCs and the enemies who have not yet gone as possible choices. You must choose someone who has not gone yet this turn. Once everyone has gone, everyone refreshes, and the person who went last in the previous round chooses the first in the next round. They may choose themselves. Note that this means that if the PCs choose themselves first, and then hand off to the antagonists, then the antagonists can choose to go twice in a row, without the PCs being allowed to mitigate the enemy's actions in between. That can be painful, especially if the antagonist is the sort to focus fire. So, there is some strategic decision making involved. This system encourages "Bump, set, spike" kind of action, as the PCs can choose to have some characters set up situations early in the round for a later teammate to take advantage of later in the round. [/QUOTE]

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