Page 152 - World of Darkness

If you choose this optional approach in your
Initiative game, inform the players in advance. A charac-
ter with the Fresh Start Merit might get two Ini-
In order to determine who gets to act before whom in
combat, and to resolve combatants’ actions, you use a sys- tiative rolls at the beginning of each turn and his
tem of Initiative. At the beginning of combat, roll a die player can choose the best.
for your character and add his Dexterity and Composure
scores to the result. The total is his standing in the Initia-
tive for the entire fight (from the first turn when the ac- Delaying Actions
tion commences till the last turn when only one side is Your character doesn’t have to act in the order of his
left standing).
The Storyteller rolls and records Initiative for all of Initiative standing in any given turn. He could refrain from
the characters she controls. All of the players’ totals are acting until something happens in his environment.
intermixed in that roster, in order from highest to lowest. Maybe he waits till an opponent shows his face, or wants
to sprint across an open street during a lull in the shoot-
He with highest has the best command of what’s going
on; he acts quickly or doesn’t loose his cool. She with the ing. In this case, your character delays his position in the
Initiative roster, activating it when you choose. His Ini-
lowest Initiative total struggles to keep up with events or
loses precious time trying to decide what to do. tiative rank resets to one that best reflects the time of his
action.
If there is ever a tie between players’ characters and/
Example: If Mitch’s character originally had an
or those controlled by the Storyteller, the combined Dex- Initiative rank of 10, but he holds his action, the Storyteller
terity and Composure scores of the competitors are com-
pared. He with the highest total breaks the tie. If there’s slots him into the sequence at a rank closest to when an
action is taken. If Larry’s character has an Initiative rank of
still a tie — Dexterity + Composure is equal, too — a die
is rolled for each rival, the highest roll winning. If more 6 and Mitch acts immediately after him, the Storyteller slots
Mitch in at 5.
than one character is ever tied in Initiative order, die rolls
are made all round, the highest roller winning. If even die If Mitch had prepared an action and said, “My
rolls tie, continue rolling until a pecking order is estab- character hits Larry’s if he attacks,” then Mitch’s character
lished. goes on 7, right before Larry’s character.
Example: Carson’s character has 3 Dexterity and 2 If two or more characters delay their actions till the
Composure. Carson rolls a 6 for Initiative, for a total of 11. same moment in a turn, resolve their order as if their Ini-
One of the Storyteller’s thugs also gets an Initiative total of tiative totals are tied.
11. Their Dexterity and Composure scores both add to 5, so A delayed action can be held over into the next turn
no winner can be resolved there. A die is rolled for each. for a temporary benefit. The delaying character sacrifices
Both get a 3. Another die is rolled for each, this time with a his action in the first turn (he can do nothing except move
4 for Carson and an 8 for the Storyteller. The thug acts up to his Speed) in order to act any time he chooses in the
before Carson’s character throughout the combat scene. next turn. Afterward, the character’s Initiative ranking
The Fresh Start Merit (see p. 112) allows a character returns to normal.
to gauge a struggle once it’s begun and change his tactics Example: Sanders and Washington are in a fight.
or focus. He can reposition himself in the turn-by-turn Sanders has an Initiative of 12 and Washington has an
roster as a result. Initiative of 8. From turn to turn, Sanders will always act
before Washington. If he wants to, however, Washington
can forfeit his action in turn one. He can do nothing but
move up to his Speed in that turn. In turn two, he can act at
Optional Initiative any point in the Initiative roster that he likes — say, on
The Storyteller may choose to take an al- Initiative 13 to precede Sanders. In turn three, Washington’s
ternative approach to Initiative if she likes. She Initiative ranking returns to 8. If he wants to “get the jump”
may call for Initiative rolls at the beginning of on Sanders again, he has to forfeit an action again.
each turn in a fight, rather than one roll per char- A character might delay an action from one turn to
acter that applies for the whole fight. The stan- the next in order to trigger an attack on a specific oppo-
dard approach focuses on the narrative of a nent. A gunman might wait for a target to cross a street,
battle, minimizing rolls and reaching a conclu- for example, even when the target knows the gunman
sion quickly. Introducing Initiative rolls at the awaits and there’s no element of surprise.
beginning of each turn captures the moment-by-
moment ebb and flow of a fight, but interjects a Surprise
lot of dice rolls and bookkeeping, especially when
A fight doesn’t always start with two or more would-
multiple player- and Storyteller-controlled char-
acters are involved. be combatants standing face to face, with full knowledge
that they’re all about to throw down. Sure, that occurs
when tensions rise through dialogue. A stand-up fight is

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