Ties for Initiative

[Steve Plambeck]

Originally Posted by Senturian

This idea is sure to make players think.
If the initiative winner decides the other side moves first, it also means the other side goes first for all ADx ties that turn.

Ahhh, but the rule doesn't say that. The winner of initiative has a choice as to which side moves first and which moves second, but the rule about adjDX ties says the side that won initiative always gets to act first in these adjDX ties. And that is the thing that worries me. A PC that never gets to attack first (against a figure of the same adjDX) is a lot more likely to get killed. That's a pretty big shift in things.

[Helborn]

Originally Posted by Steve Plambeck

Ahhh, but the rule doesn't say that. The winner of initiative has a choice as to which side moves first and which moves second, but the rule about adjDX ties says the side that won initiative always gets to act first in these adjDX ties. And that is the thing that worries me. A PC that never gets to attack first (against a figure of the same adjDX) is a lot more likely to get killed. That's a pretty big shift in things.

Why would a PC never get to attack first? The initiative roll is made every Turn. The PC would have to lose every initiative roll every Turn before that would happen - and a PC that unlucky probably is a dead duck anyway.

[Steve Plambeck]

Originally Posted by Helborn

Why would a PC never get to attack first? The initiative roll is made every Turn. The PC would have to lose every initiative roll every Turn before that would happen - and a PC that unlucky probably is a dead duck anyway.

I'm referring to within a turn, after movement, as each player gets their chance to act (going in order by adjDX). Under the old rules, initiative didn't matter at this point in the turn, any adjDX ties were resolved by the tied players making die rolls. Under the new rules, who acts first (attacks, fires, attempts spell, etc.) is predetermined by which of the tied characters is on the side that won the earlier initiative roll. If all the PC's on one side were in adjDX ties, and their side had lost the initiative roll, then none of those PCs would get to act first during that turn. That's how I read the new rule anyway.

[Helborn]

This is where both Tactics and Strategy become much more valuable.

The other option is to roll individual initiative instead of one initiative per side. This might mean a few extra rolls but it will definitely change that "all one side or the other" actions

[Skarg]

The new rule has strategy/tactics/initiative matter more... but only in battles where some foes have exactly the same adjDX. (Which is a weird meta effect, IMO.)

The original rule had no such issue - just roll to see who goes first if/when foes face each other with the same adjDX.