Tales and Chronicles
Jewel of the North, formerly know as vincegetorix
I recently started playing Dungeon World, a PbtA game that replicate the elements of D&D in a less mechanical way. In DW, there's no Initiative: combat goes the same way as exploration does. Players act in the order that fiction and narrative require rather than on a fixed place in an pre-determined order. I my latest D&D game, I used the popcorn initiative and players love it and I would like to take the idea a little further. In DW, monsters dont have a ''turn'' in the fiction, their actions happens on a missed action by the players: when the players miss an action, the Gm gets to use the monster/encounter scene to make a Move from this list:
•Use a monster, danger, or location move
•Reveal an unwelcome truth
•Show signs of an approaching threat
•Deal damage (enemy makes an attack)
•Use up their resources
•Turn their move back on them
•Separate them
•give an opportunity that fits a class’ abilities
• give a downside to their class, race, or equipment
•Offer an opportunity, with or without cost
•Put someone in a spot
•Tell them the requirements or consequences and ask
So if a player describe ''My fighter lunge at the hill giant, climb on its belly than try to stab his forehead'' I would ask him to make a Athletic check then an Attack roll, if any of those would fail, I would use the Hill Giant to make one of the mentioned Moves to add complication to the players actions. Then I would put the spot on another player '' The half-giant son of the chieftain notice Jim the spellcaster and throw a volley of huge rocks at him: what do you do?''. No need for Ini.
I would also use the DMG option to give the players ''Success at a cost'': When the players get a result equal or miss by 1 or 2, the players ''succeed'' at their described action, but the Dm gets to make a Move against them. Should they miss by more than 2, their action failed AND the GM get to make a Move.
What do you think? Is it possible to remove Initiative from the game without breaking to much things?
•Use a monster, danger, or location move
•Reveal an unwelcome truth
•Show signs of an approaching threat
•Deal damage (enemy makes an attack)
•Use up their resources
•Turn their move back on them
•Separate them
•give an opportunity that fits a class’ abilities
• give a downside to their class, race, or equipment
•Offer an opportunity, with or without cost
•Put someone in a spot
•Tell them the requirements or consequences and ask
So if a player describe ''My fighter lunge at the hill giant, climb on its belly than try to stab his forehead'' I would ask him to make a Athletic check then an Attack roll, if any of those would fail, I would use the Hill Giant to make one of the mentioned Moves to add complication to the players actions. Then I would put the spot on another player '' The half-giant son of the chieftain notice Jim the spellcaster and throw a volley of huge rocks at him: what do you do?''. No need for Ini.
I would also use the DMG option to give the players ''Success at a cost'': When the players get a result equal or miss by 1 or 2, the players ''succeed'' at their described action, but the Dm gets to make a Move against them. Should they miss by more than 2, their action failed AND the GM get to make a Move.
What do you think? Is it possible to remove Initiative from the game without breaking to much things?