Initiative issues

[motionmatrix]

Hello fellow Whovians (I'm not sure if anyone but Americans use that word, so excuse me if you don't), I am very happy to find you all.

I am having issues figuring out initiative. I do understand the basic premise, but what I don't understand is how to properly GM a situation where members on both sides of the conflict choose to go on the same phase, e.g., a player runs off to press a button, chased by a sontaran, while the rest of the team shoots at the incoming group of sontarans.

I had a player argue with me over the fact that there was no discernible way to determine which one of the sontarans got to shoot before he did, and which didn't. For sake of simplicity I simply let my players shoot first (this game really is "killer" if you are not very careful, Rarely do you get another "hit point" [semitangent: most weapons are Lethal anyways]) but I really could not find a proper answer in the books, so can anyone give me their thoughts?

As of right now I figure that if the situation arises again, I may have everyone roll Awareness + Coordination as an initiative roll.

[korith]

I would suggest abstracting things a little bit more.

If the players and the Sontarans are shooting at each other, they both roll Coordination + Marksmanship. The higher result lands a hit (or perhaps hits, in the case of automatic weaponry). If the target is incapacitated, then they don't get the chance to return an effective shot. The idea is that in the side with the advantage (be it luck, firepower, sheer numbers, or some combination thereof) will overpower the disadvantaged side.

In the case of a Fantastic result, even if the weapons in question lack the firepower to overwhelm one's opponent, it might at least have the added advantage of taking out their weaponry (shooting the gun from their hand, or even destroying it).

In general "initiative" works first for the more peaceful resolutions (talking/running away/doing stuff/fighting), and then for whoever is best at what they're doing.

[knasser]

Feb 14, 2011 20:54:20 GMT motionmatrix said:

Hello fellow Whovians (I'm not sure if anyone but Americans use that word, so excuse me if you don't), I am very happy to find you all.

I am having issues figuring out initiative. I do understand the basic premise, but what I don't understand is how to properly GM a situation where members on both sides of the conflict choose to go on the same phase, e.g., a player runs off to press a button, chased by a sontaran, while the rest of the team shoots at the incoming group of sontarans.

I had a player argue with me over the fact that there was no discernible way to determine which one of the sontarans got to shoot before he did, and which didn't. For sake of simplicity I simply let my players shoot first (this game really is "killer" if you are not very careful, Rarely do you get another "hit point" [semitangent: most weapons are Lethal anyways]) but I really could not find a proper answer in the books, so can anyone give me their thoughts?

As of right now I figure that if the situation arises again, I may have everyone roll Awareness + Coordination as an initiative roll.

Well when two parties both take the same sort of actions, the next step is to determine things in order of their Attributes. I.e. if one person is using Coordination for their action and another Ingenuity, whichever has the higher attribute goes first.

In the event of a tie, I have always treated events as simultaneous. I.e. if your players are shooting at the Sontarans and the Sontarans are shooting at them and everyone has the same co-ordination, then everyone makes the appropriate rolls and I apply damage afterwards. And then, given the scenario under consideration, everyone rolls up new characters.

Players are best off choosing a Movement action and getting out of there. Shooting matches with Sontarans end badly. Failing that, they can spend a Story Point to go first.

[chickenpaddy]

How I do this is players and NPCs go in order of speed (Coordination). If there is a tie between two or more characters the one with the higher skill or secondary attribute they are attempting to use goes first. If they tie again, then the one with the higher Resolve (mental determination) gets a final push to go first.

Example:

Trent, Tobias, and a hostile alien are having a standoff. Trent and Tobias plan to shoot at the alien and the alien wants to shoot back. Trent has the highest Coordination of 5 so he goes first and takes his shot. The alien survives the attack and prepares to shoot. However, both Tobias and the alien share the same Coordination of 3, so the skill the each plan on using is looked at (Marksman for both). However, they also both share a Marksman of 3. So, finally, their Resolves are looked at. Tobias has 3 while the alien has 2. Tobias then goes next and takes his shot.

In the event both of their resolves had been the same, both would roll a d6 until one got a higher roll than the other.

Hopefully that wasn't too confusing.

[motionmatrix]

Thanks for the answers =)

I feel like all of them are appropriate. I think I want to keep things abstract, but if the players really push for specifics like this, I will probably use chickenpaddy's advice.

Thanks guys =)