Author Topic: Initiative Question  (Read 4963 times)

Offline Sanctaphrax

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Re: Initiative Question
« Reply #15 on: February 22, 2011, 03:44:38 AM »
I see nothing wrong with that summary.

Offline Drachasor

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Re: Initiative Question
« Reply #16 on: February 22, 2011, 03:53:12 AM »
Perhaps I am viewing this at a strange angle, but let's try the following setup: R# is the beginning of a round.  We have 3 people's original initiative order is A goes before B goes before C.  If everyone stays with their original initiative, combat order would be:

R1 A B C R2 A B C R3 A B C ...

Suppose that C wants to delay his action in round 2, he effectively would lose his turn in round 2, but get to go first in round 3, still maintaining the order

R1 A B C R2 A B    R3 C A B R4 C A B

Suppose in round 5 C wants to interrupt B, then we would have

R5 A C B R6 A C B

I am sure I am missing something basic, but each person gets to go in each round, except when C lost a round holding initiative in round 2 to possibly prevent A from doing something in round 3. 

By RAW, you can't hold until the next exchange.  That was my point.  You can only delay until later in the current exchange.

Offline Sanctaphrax

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Re: Initiative Question
« Reply #17 on: February 22, 2011, 04:01:19 AM »
Correct. However, irrelevant. The RAW isn't that important, as I said earlier.

The above is my opinion and may well not be the same as yours. It is not a personal attack or challenge.
« Last Edit: February 23, 2011, 02:00:08 AM by Sanctaphrax »

Offline Drachasor

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Re: Initiative Question
« Reply #18 on: February 22, 2011, 04:36:55 AM »
Correct. However, irrelevant. The RAW isn't that important, as I said earlier

It's important to understand what the RAW is before you deviate from it.  I was making clear what RAW states so people could understand exchanges aren't like 3rd Edition D&D rounds by default.

Offline Bruce Coulson

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Re: Initiative Question
« Reply #19 on: February 23, 2011, 12:03:21 AM »
FATE is designed to allow a lot of flexibility...which means rules questions.

I generally give people who are preparing to take an action a +2 free tag Aspect appropriate to the situation.  (In the original example, 'Looking for Trouble' might work.)  That lets even slow people a chance, if they plan, to interupt speedsters.  Which isn't strictly realistic; but is more fun.
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Offline UmbraLux

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Re: Initiative Question
« Reply #20 on: February 23, 2011, 12:41:46 AM »
It's important to understand what the RAW is before you deviate from it. 
It's less important in DFRPG than it may be in other games.  Or, perhaps more correctly, one RAW comment makes the rest of the book...fuzzier:  "...intent precedes mechanics." (YS308 under Adjudicating the Rules)

As Bruce mentioned, flexibility is expected.  Not allowing the mechanics to limit options is also codified.  :)
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Offline Drachasor

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Re: Initiative Question
« Reply #21 on: February 23, 2011, 02:23:34 AM »
It's less important in DFRPG than it may be in other games.  Or, perhaps more correctly, one RAW comment makes the rest of the book...fuzzier:  "...intent precedes mechanics." (YS308 under Adjudicating the Rules)

As Bruce mentioned, flexibility is expected.  Not allowing the mechanics to limit options is also codified.  :)

Yes, but it is always important, imho, for players to have a good idea about how reality in a game works.  Hence them understanding the rules (including any house rules or GM interpretations) is important.  It helps them make better decisions for their characters and prevents those horrible moments of conflict when there's a huge disagreement over how game reality works -- one can't entirely eliminate such problems, but one can reduce how often they come up.

The adjudicating the rules bit is, in itself, an important rule.  However, consider the many ways one can handle initiative.  Some of them might allow a slow character to interrupt a faster/supernatural/mythic speed NPC and others might not.  Which one you are using can indeed matter a great deal if a player decides to delay under one understanding of the rules only to feel that he got screwed over because the GM has another.  The "intent matters more than mechanics" doesn't help here if the GM thinks the player intended to do something they feel is impossible.  Problems here are best avoided by the GM having a careful understanding of the rules, being forgiving of player misconceptions, and the group working to make sure everyone has a fairly good consensus on how game reality works, imho.

Offline UmbraLux

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Re: Initiative Question
« Reply #22 on: February 23, 2011, 02:46:42 AM »
The adjudicating the rules bit is, in itself, an important rule.  However, consider the many ways one can handle initiative.  Some of them might allow a slow character to interrupt a faster/supernatural/mythic speed NPC and others might not.  Which one you are using can indeed matter a great deal if a player decides to delay under one understanding of the rules only to feel that he got screwed over because the GM has another.  The "intent matters more than mechanics" doesn't help here if the GM thinks the player intended to do something they feel is impossible.  Problems here are best avoided by the GM having a careful understanding of the rules, being forgiving of player misconceptions, and the group working to make sure everyone has a fairly good consensus on how game reality works, imho.
Agreed.  That's another piece of GM advice in DFRPG - it specifically states the GM is not a dictator.  Over all, I'm reasonably impressed with the quality of GM advice in the book.

One thing I'll add to consensus as an additional goal is consistency.  That may just be me though...bugs me sometimes when my cheese gets moved unexpectedly.   :-[
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