Smack-Rush-Ice: System Agnostic Initiative Revision

Universal Combat Initiative System for Turn-based Tabletop Role Playing Games

Just a quick introductory note as to the history and purpose of this system. It is a systematization of basically the way I’ve always run RPGs. Of course the roots are in AD&D, but a lot of refining also came through years of playing Lejendary Adventure.

The AD&D 1st Ed initiative system has been seen as indecipherable by a lot of people. In an effort to boil down the official “by the book” method for easy consumption, there was an outline produced by a DMPrata that supposedly compiled all the rules. Of course, the thing looked like a mess.

I felt this was overblown and really failed to hit the spirit of the rules. Which is that initiative in AD&D was intended to be a simple group initiative. Roll d6. Highest goes first. Like many rules, of course, there are exceptions. And AD&D being “Advanced,” it took the time to try to outline a lot of the exceptions. And that’s where the confusion creeps in. So I begin by rolling back to simplicity and outlining the exceptions.

Initiative begins simply enough with a group d6, highest goes first.


Exception #1 There can be sub-groups as appropriate, even right down to the individual. An NPC necromancer might use one initiative roll, skeleton a separate initiative roll, zombies still another, and acolytes make it a 4th roll for the monsters. Meanwhile each of 4 PCs might be given individual initiative rolls while NPC hirelings/henchmen given a single roll for the entire lot of them.

Exception #2 Common sense applies. Movement, for example, does not go from zero to 120' just because your initiative is up. Rather it happens more or less evenly throughout the round. Two opposing forces beginning 120' apart, each with a 12" movement rate, moving towards each other to do battle will meet in the middle of the ground. They will not be allowed to use melee strikes at the beginning of the round no matter how good the initiative roll is.

Exception #3 Charge attacks, as clearly stated in the rules, defer to weapon length for determination of first strike. Since the charge involves movement, #2 also applies when determining overall order of action.

Exception #4 In case of tie, weapon speed is the tie breaker. There is also an optional rule where on tied initiative, a much faster weapon may get multiple attacks against a much slower weapon.

Exception #5 Multiple attacks are spread throughout the round. 2 attacks automatically go first and last (this is subject to initiative, of course, if your opponent also has 2 attacks). 3 go first, last, and at initiative.

Exception #6 concerns ranged weapons with set "rates of fire" and really combines #2 and #5. Rates of fire are spread evenly throughout the round and can be synced with movement rates. If you have a bow with a rate of fire of 2 shots per round and your opponent is closing in at a rate of 12" from a distance of 120 feet, you're definitely getting a shot off before he engages, no matter what the initiative roll is. As for the 2nd shot? That would be a close call, so that would be determined by the initiative roll.


And you could go on. Other notable exceptions come up with the pummeling/grappling/overbearing rules and also casting time vs a melee weapon.

But what I'd like to suggest is this motif can really apply to any RPG (that doesn't inseparably wed initiative to its other mechanics) and is a pretty damn good way of running things. If you take the perspective that it is ultra simple, just with exception handlers, you can have the best of both worlds. Simplicity and detail.

The next challenge is that technically, AD&D like many RPGs calls for a “pre-declaration” phase, where you must decide upon what action your character is taking BEFORE initiative is rolled. This can be frustrating as the round plays out, the situation changes, and the choice of action you made before seems silly now. For this reason--and the fact that going around the table for pre-declaration seems to double the time it takes to run a round of combat--most DMs simply ignore this phase.

This creates its own problems. For one thing, movement takes place in spurts. Namely, in a round, your character moves at a speed of zero, until it’s your turn, then you seem to suddenly teleport up to 120 feet. Also, if you’re crafty, you can void any chance of having your spell casting spoiled by only casting spells when you LOSE initiative--since your enemies have already used their attacks for the turn, they have no way of stopping you. Even if you aren’t crafty enough to exploit this loophole, it still seems odd that losing initiative should be such an advantage.


Here’s my solution. Not all actions have to be treated identically. I break it down into three categories of actions--Smack, Rush, and Ice.

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 straightforward stuff. Holding refers to holding an action. From this point until the end of round, the character is allowed an interrupting action (GMs can extend this until the character's next initiative if that seems more appropriate).

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. 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 count 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.

And finally, here is my procedure to follow, bringing all the ideas together into the SIR system. Smack. Initiative. Rush. Instead of a long outline detailing which happens when, mine is three simple steps. Each round begins by naming any Smack actions, once they’re committed, roll the initiative dice, then go through the Rush actions. Ice actions, of course, can happen at any time out of turn.

This is a quick example of a single round of combat to illustrate the order of operations involved in this initiative system. I could have made the example simpler by sticking to strict group initiative. Or I could have made it more complex by introducing Weapon speed to break tied initiative. My hope is that by taking the middle road, I've created an example that is simple to follow but complex enough to show the nuances of the system.


EXAMPLE OF COMBAT

Side 1
Noble, Forester, Enchanter (initiative determined separately for each individual)
+12 NPC soldiers (one single initiative roll for entire group)

Side 2
Chieftain, Shaman (initiative determined separately for each individual)
20 orcs, 6 wolves (two initiative rolls, one for each group)

The order of the round follows the SIR formula: Smack-Initiative-Rush. As always, Ice moves can happen at any time out of turn.

1. When the action begins, the orcs unleash the wolves who charge in with the orcs closing in behind them. (SMACK)
2. The Shaman and opposing Enchanter each begin casting. (SMACK)
3. The Chieftain, Forester, and Soldiers all prepare to fire missiles. (SMACK)
4. Seeing the prepared missile weapons, 4 orcs with large shields, two on each, instead provide cover for the Chieftain and Shaman. (ICE)
5. Seeing the charging wolves, the soldiers decide to change their actions to draw melee weapons. (ICE)

Because of the time it takes the wolves to reach the soldiers, the Shaman's quick spell, and the first shot of the Forester's quick (RoF 2) weapon take place. Also the orcs who stayed behind aren't doing anything particularly time-consuming. Since the Forester's arrow could spoil the Shaman's spell, or the Orcs could interrupt the path of the arrow by blocking, this is a good time to roll initiative. d6 is rolled for each of the 8 sub-groups, and the results are as follows: Enchanter (6), Shaman (6), Orcs (4), Wolves (4), Chieftain (3), Forester (3), Noble (2), Soldiers (2).

1. So the Shaman completes his spell before the Forester gets off his shot due to superior initiative. (RUSH)
2. For that matter, the bodyguard orcs get to "hold" their action prior to the Forester's arrow. The other orcs are not yet engaged in melee so initiative for them doesn't matter. (RUSH)
3. The Forester fires his first shot. (RUSH)
4. Orc bodyguard attempts to block the arrow. (ICE)
5. The soldiers charged by the wolves gain first strike on the wolves due to greater weapon reach. (RUSH)
6. The wolves get their attack prior to the Noble and remaining soldiers due to superior initiative. (RUSH)
7. Noble and remaining soldiers attack. (RUSH)
8. At the end of the round, the Enchanter's full-round casting finally takes effect as well as the Chieftain's slow weapon's only shot, and the Forester's second shot. In that order, as determined by initiative roll. (RUSH)

What I hope to have shown is how a turn-based tabletop RPG combat can take on an almost real-time feel while remaining easy to use and providing detailed and interactive sequencing of actions.