tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post4853616313230680548..comments2024-03-28T21:12:06.818-07:00Comments on B/X BLACKRAZOR: Holmes and OLD School InitiativeJBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-26052344052153663882012-04-06T11:12:02.396-07:002012-04-06T11:12:02.396-07:00That's a reasonable rule. If a monster makes a...That's a reasonable rule. If a monster makes a successful attack in the same round that it is killed, you just assume it got a hit in right before it was killed during the round. <br /><br />Or, using Holmes, you could just compare Dexterities in a round when someone dies, or takes another action that matters.Zenopus Archiveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14069501995927451558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-3917820425350929082012-04-06T08:04:12.411-07:002012-04-06T08:04:12.411-07:00Yeah, I think too much player choice (deciding who...Yeah, I think too much player choice (deciding who goes next) would just grind things down... I think the novelty of players agonising over who goes next as they try and decode some sort of meta-tactic would wear thin rather quickly... <br /><br />TBH it seems strange to me that a game that celibates its abstraction should care about the representational details of initiative too much anyway... Why not everyone rolls their hit & damage dice at the same time... in mechanic terms it all happens simultaneously, then after the die have been cast the DM interprets the results... HPs already represent a kind of attritional hodgepodge of tactics, luck, fatigue, thrust, parry, magic... so why not some measure of initiative too?0levelinhumanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15659556425952783455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-70495615118312822342012-04-05T19:37:49.972-07:002012-04-05T19:37:49.972-07:00Doesn't that just reduce to group initiative w...Doesn't that just reduce to group initiative with more die rolls? Because it sounds from your description like everyone needs to roll to see who gets to go first, and then the person that wins will chose one of their team mates, and so on until all of one side has gone, and then the next side will go similarly. Note that I have zero experience with the actual game so I may totally just be not getting it.Necropraxishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12716340801054739658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-9829074427589630542012-04-05T19:31:36.103-07:002012-04-05T19:31:36.103-07:00The new Marvel superhero game has a crazy smart id...The new Marvel superhero game has a crazy smart idea. First guy goes first... and then picks who goes next, on down the line. This makes for some interesting tactics, because if the bad guys go last in the round, they may pick themselves and go first the next round. Basically snake draft style. The method also allows players to set each other up and do teamwork stuff.mikkelibobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07425334399726380165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-52649714625409408622012-04-05T19:25:58.202-07:002012-04-05T19:25:58.202-07:00In Dragon #52, Holmes reviewed the new Moldvay Bas...In Dragon #52, Holmes reviewed the new Moldvay Basic Set and wrote:<br />"The new rules introduce surprise and initiative die rolls into the combat situation. I had merely had the creature with the highest dexterity strike first. The initiative roll makes combat a good deal more chancy, and I'm not sure I like it. I will not object to it on the basis of its being less "realistic," however!".Zenopus Archiveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14069501995927451558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-86751222539596530922012-04-05T19:20:39.828-07:002012-04-05T19:20:39.828-07:00Unless I missed it, those two links that Brendan p...Unless I missed it, those two links that Brendan posted above don't mention the "OD&D FAQ" from Strategic Review #2 (Summer 1975), which is where the d6 initiative (with Dex modifier) system was explained.<br /><br />See here: <a href="http://knightsnknaves.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=odndbythebook&action=display&thread=207" rel="nofollow">OD&D FAQ</a><br /><br />"Combat Example:<br /><br />10 ORCS surprise a lone Hero wandering lost in the dungeons, but the die check reveals they are 30’ distant at the time of surprise, so they use their iniative to close to melee distance. Initiative is now checked. The Hero scores a 3, plus 1 for his high dexterity, so it is counted 4. The Orcs score 6, and even a minus 1 for their lack of dexterity (optional) still allows them first attack."Zenopus Archiveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14069501995927451558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-22371627304623396482012-04-05T16:52:19.559-07:002012-04-05T16:52:19.559-07:00I like rolling initiative. It's exciting!I like rolling initiative. It's exciting!Lumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09490249051095856396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-11885792812980502052012-04-05T16:12:28.626-07:002012-04-05T16:12:28.626-07:00I almost commented on your previous post to mentio...I almost commented on your previous post to mention this, but it looks like you found it on your own.<br /><br />It looks like the idea for "initiative" as opposed to first strike based on weapon length came from Chainmail's rule for which side moves first. It's a die roll resembling group initiative, but with the group with the highest roll choosing to go first or last. It doesn't represent anything "in game", it's just a way to pick which players go first without giving anyone an unfair advantage.<br /><br />That's fine for a minis wargame with no referee, but for OD&D, why not just let the players move first and resolve actions selected in order of weapon length? No fuss, no muss.Talysmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02162328521343832412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-76007678448948188062012-04-05T14:20:36.391-07:002012-04-05T14:20:36.391-07:00Wow...more proof of the unoriginality of my though...Wow...more proof of the unoriginality of my thoughts.<br /><br />Since I've never played a game of 'straight' OD&D or Holmes, it has just never come up for me before. It's only when I start deconstructing the design of my own edition (necessitating a return to the source material) that I encounter this stuff.<br /><br />Jeez!JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08532311924539491087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-81065125348922618412012-04-05T14:08:39.967-07:002012-04-05T14:08:39.967-07:00You might be interested in these links:
http://ww...You might be interested in these links:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.philotomy.com/#initiative" rel="nofollow">http://www.philotomy.com/#initiative</a><br /><br /><a href="http://odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=menmagic&action=display&thread=371" rel="nofollow">http://odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=menmagic&action=display&thread=371</a>Necropraxishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12716340801054739658noreply@blogger.com