Ties for Initiative
 

This has to have been answered already, but a quick search failed to reveal.

When there is a tie for initiative, do you just re-roll? Or does anything else break the tie?

I'm learning the system with a bunch of one-on-one combats right now and so breaking the tie with adjDX would be easy. But that doesn't work so well for larger combats.

Anyway, thank you for letting me ask the noobiest of noob questions noob there.

Re: Ties for Initiative
 

Off the top of my head, if you are doing large battles, just use the adjDX and have ties cancel each other out until there are no more ties.

If somehow, on God's green earth, you are still tied, re-roll until the dice crack.

Re: Ties for Initiative
 

Yep, that works. But it's a bit tedious. I'd really like to know if there's an official rule, or just different ways players have solved for it. Thanks much for the response though.

Re: Ties for Initiative
 

No, the official rule is to re-roll ties.

The unofficial trick for making that fast is to roll a bunch of dice. For example, each side rolls three dice at once for initiative, and you use them left-to-right, or in pre-agreed order by color, or using a dice-roller program that lists them in order.

example:

Player A rolls 3, 4, 1
Player B rolls 3, 4, 4

So they tied the first two rolls but B won the third, and since they rolled 3 dice at once, it only takes one roll to determine that. The chance of tying 3 rolls in a row is 1 in 216, so it will hardly ever happen.

Re: Ties for Initiative
 

You could flip a coin on the tie, then give the losing player the next tie automatically and just rotate from there.

Re: Ties for Initiative
 

The new rule in Legacy ITL now has ties in adjDX resolved by giving the win to the side that won initiative. Not sure if I love or hate that, but it will save time and wear on the dice. It does make initiative more important, especially in larger battles, because it could have a ripple effect on several of the subsequent turns to act in the same turn. That's the part I'm not sure I like.

Re: Ties for Initiative
 

Thanks Skarg, for the info and the tip.

Jimmy, both your ideas sound like good alternatives. As a noob, I'm gonna stick with official for now, but those methods might appeal to lots of folks.

Steve, we've been talking about ties in the initiative roll, not ties to adjDX. I'll add my 2 cents though that I prefer the new method of breaking adjDX ties because it's not any more random and saves time.

Cheers!

Re: Ties for Initiative
 

You could, but this will be a change to the odds in situations where one side has an advantage giving them a modifier to their initiative roll (e.g. Tactics or Strategist talents).

In situations where there are only two sides and neither side has an advantage and so the odds are 50/50, you could just roll one die to start with. 1-3 player A wins, 4-6 player B wins.


I'm sure I hate it, because it reduces uncertainty, I like rolling off when adjDX is equal, and most importantly, it produces a combat effect that can be fairly large, or nothing, depending on something unrelated (i.e. how many figures have identical adjDX).

Re: Ties for Initiative
 

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.

Re: Ties for Initiative
 

I know Brazen, but it still seemed relevant in an indirect way: How the results of initiative rolls are applied has, suddenly because of the new adjDX rule, become much more critical than ever before.

All good!

Re: Ties for Initiative
 

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.

Re: Ties for Initiative
 

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.

Re: Ties for Initiative
 

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.

Re: Ties for Initiative
 

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

Re: Ties for Initiative
 

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.