Tick-based initiative systems -what are your experiences?

[Crothian]

THe one in Scion works well. No problems with it yet once people got over it being different.

 

[Angrydad]

Spooooooon!!!!!

Dang. Ninja'ed. I saw the thread title and immediately thought, "You can't fight evil with a macaroni duck".

 

[Ariosto]

Don't get hung up on a level of detail you're gonna feel obliged to apply every time someone looks at someone sideways ... if you want to keep the focus on a role-playing game.

 

[Bishop Odo]

I have been out of gaming for a few years, but what is a Tick initiative system? Is that like Hero systems with action speeds or like Star Fleet battles and movement phases?

 

[Crothian]

In the White Wolf games everyone rolls the die poo,l for wits awareness and the number of success is when a person acts. Different actions have different speeds so if someone does an action of spped 4, they will go again after 4 ticks have gone by.

It is one of those things that sounds a lot more complicated then it plays. Once we saw it in action people had a much better understanding then from reading WW's description.

 

[Hella_Tellah]

One of my favorite RPGs, Victoriana, uses a tick-based system of sorts. Players roll initiative each round and take a single action on their turn. Players can take a number of actions equal to their Dexterity (1 is weak, 5 is quite good), but all actions take a -4 penalty per additional action being taken after the first. That means players have to announce all of the actions they plan on taking on their initiative. The first action occurs on their initiative count, and subsequent actions take place four ticks later. Ticks start high and count down, and no actions can be taken after tick 1. So players can take a lot of actions, but with the limiting factors of lower rolls, a cap at their Dexterity score, and no more than they can get off within their initiative roll.

Like most tick-based systems, it sounds more complicated in writing than it is in play. It's about the only complicated thing in the whole game, and my players had a lot of fun with it.

 

[maddman75]

I've used the ticks in 2e Exalted and it works wonderfully, if you use a battle wheel.

To do this, you put a wheel with a number of divisions on it, kind of like a clock. Everyone rolls initiative to determine their starting position. When you take an action, you move forward however many ticks your action takes. Then the GM just goes around the clock.

Example

Two Solar Exalted are facing off against an Abyssal. Everyone rolls initiative. Solar1 puts his counter at 3 o'clock, since he goes on 3. Solar 2 rolled poorly, and puts his on tick 6. The Abyssal puts his counter on tick 4.

Now combat goes around. The GM starts at 12 and goes around until he gets to someone's counter. Solar1 goes and does his Awesome Sword Attack. The attack is resolved, and it has a speed of 4 ticks, so he moves his counter up to 7 o'clock. Next is the Abyssal, who does his Strike of Doom. This is also 4 ticks, so he puts his counter at 8 o'clock.

Combat goes like this around the clock. It provides a nice easy way to see who is going to go next.

 

[pawsplay]

It works well in Runequest (BRP) and Feng Shui. It was a flop in AD&D. It generally works better than you might think, but there are drawbacks.

 

[Crothian]

It works well in Runequest (BRP) and Feng Shui. It was a flop in AD&D. It generally works better than you might think, but there are drawbacks.

Like what?

 

[glass]

I have been out of gaming for a few years, but what is a Tick initiative system? Is that like Hero systems with action speeds or like Star Fleet battles and movement phases?

A system where your number of actions is determined by how long those actions take and not by an artificial round structure. At least, that is what I meant by it in the OP.

In the White Wolf games everyone rolls the die poo,l for wits awareness and the number of success is when a person acts.

How does the system translate the high-good number of successes into a low-good tick of your first action?

It works well in Runequest (BRP) and Feng Shui. It was a flop in AD&D.

When was there a tick based system for AD&D?

It generally works better than you might think, but there are drawbacks.

As Crothian said, like what? Drawbacks I night not have seen was a large part of the motivation for starting this thread?