11-02-2015, 01:17 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-02-2015, 02:30 AM by Lunamancer.)
In trying to put my simple approach to initiative to paper to give an explicit procedure to follow akin to the messy outlines of combat I alluded to in the premise of my previous post, I came up with the Smack-Rush-Ice system. These are three categories of action.
Smack - Shoot, move, activate, continue/keep, are announced BEFORE initiative is rolled. In many cases, they don't require initiative rolls because what can be accomplished and how much time it takes is usually well defined. Shooting weapons have a specific rate of fire, characters have specific movement rates, activating something--item or spell--takes a prescribed amount of time. And continuing/keeping-up is just the continuation of a multi-round action, which, obviously, takes some specified amount of time. In cases where it is logical to bring initiative into play, it's also logical that at the time you begin the action, you don't know who is going first, such as two gunslingers drawing on each other, or two people moving towards the same item, each trying to grab it quick. Only after you're committed to the action does it make sense to determine precise order.
Rush - Resolve, use, strike, hold are announced on the character's turn as determined by initiative. Resolve refers to continuous actions put in place earlier. This could be the completion of an activation begun on the Smack phase. Or it could be breaking a continuing hold from a prior round. Using refers to any miscellaneous use of an object such as slamming a door shut in the middle of a fight. Striking covers your straight forward attacks or even less straight forward stuff. Holding refers to holding an action. From this point until the end of round (optionally until the character's next initiative if that seems more appropriate), the character is allowed an interrupting action.
Ice - Interrupt, change, evade. These actions are generally declared out of turn and in response to any other action or event that takes place. Interrupting, as indicated above, is a held action that the character may use now to try to stop something else that is happening. As mentioned in my previous post, I also support the use of some kind of "action point" system that allows interrupt actions. To literally interrupt, as in an attempt to somehow negate another's action, there ought to be some sort of speed check. Otherwise it's just a quick reaction. Changing refers to the fact that at any time a character can change their action. If at the start of the round, before initiative, you declared your character is moving across the room, but later that round an enemy pulled a lever opening up a pit blocking your path, it might be time to do something different. Depending upon how much time had been lost/invested in the action you are changing, you may or may not get to take your new action in the same round. Finally, evading, refers to any natural defense types of rolls. "Saving Throws" certainly. GURPS and other RPGs give an explicit number of active defenses per turn. In LA, if you chose to parry (you essentially "held" your attack), obviously that comes in response to someone else's attack. Of course in LA if you have sufficiently high Speed and Minstrelsy, you are allowed a parry even if you lost initiative and therefore never had the opportunity to "hold" your attack. Also diving to avoid attack, although far more likely to be successful when you have won initiative (essentially "held" your action) is still possible even if you lose.
There can be occasions where one type of action floats into a different category. Common sense will iron a lot of that out. Suppose you have your bow nocked and ready, rather than just getting as many shots off as possible starting immediately at the beginning of the round, this can could as holding an action to later give you a potential interrupt attack. A "charge attack" actually falls into the Smack phase since it involves movement, at the end of which initiative is determined as per special case by weapon length rather than dice roll.
Smack - Shoot, move, activate, continue/keep, are announced BEFORE initiative is rolled. In many cases, they don't require initiative rolls because what can be accomplished and how much time it takes is usually well defined. Shooting weapons have a specific rate of fire, characters have specific movement rates, activating something--item or spell--takes a prescribed amount of time. And continuing/keeping-up is just the continuation of a multi-round action, which, obviously, takes some specified amount of time. In cases where it is logical to bring initiative into play, it's also logical that at the time you begin the action, you don't know who is going first, such as two gunslingers drawing on each other, or two people moving towards the same item, each trying to grab it quick. Only after you're committed to the action does it make sense to determine precise order.
Rush - Resolve, use, strike, hold are announced on the character's turn as determined by initiative. Resolve refers to continuous actions put in place earlier. This could be the completion of an activation begun on the Smack phase. Or it could be breaking a continuing hold from a prior round. Using refers to any miscellaneous use of an object such as slamming a door shut in the middle of a fight. Striking covers your straight forward attacks or even less straight forward stuff. Holding refers to holding an action. From this point until the end of round (optionally until the character's next initiative if that seems more appropriate), the character is allowed an interrupting action.
Ice - Interrupt, change, evade. These actions are generally declared out of turn and in response to any other action or event that takes place. Interrupting, as indicated above, is a held action that the character may use now to try to stop something else that is happening. As mentioned in my previous post, I also support the use of some kind of "action point" system that allows interrupt actions. To literally interrupt, as in an attempt to somehow negate another's action, there ought to be some sort of speed check. Otherwise it's just a quick reaction. Changing refers to the fact that at any time a character can change their action. If at the start of the round, before initiative, you declared your character is moving across the room, but later that round an enemy pulled a lever opening up a pit blocking your path, it might be time to do something different. Depending upon how much time had been lost/invested in the action you are changing, you may or may not get to take your new action in the same round. Finally, evading, refers to any natural defense types of rolls. "Saving Throws" certainly. GURPS and other RPGs give an explicit number of active defenses per turn. In LA, if you chose to parry (you essentially "held" your attack), obviously that comes in response to someone else's attack. Of course in LA if you have sufficiently high Speed and Minstrelsy, you are allowed a parry even if you lost initiative and therefore never had the opportunity to "hold" your attack. Also diving to avoid attack, although far more likely to be successful when you have won initiative (essentially "held" your action) is still possible even if you lose.
There can be occasions where one type of action floats into a different category. Common sense will iron a lot of that out. Suppose you have your bow nocked and ready, rather than just getting as many shots off as possible starting immediately at the beginning of the round, this can could as holding an action to later give you a potential interrupt attack. A "charge attack" actually falls into the Smack phase since it involves movement, at the end of which initiative is determined as per special case by weapon length rather than dice roll.