Tips and Tricks and 1E Initiative

[Wajeb Deb Kaadeb]

1E Initiative seems to come up a lot, so I thought I'd made some comments from my experience playing 1E.



INITIATIVE IS NOT MANDATORY

First, remember that initiative is not a mandatory part of combat as it is in most other RPGs and in other versions of D6 Star Wars.

You only check for initiative when it is possible that one character's action will effect the actions of another character. For example, if you have a Rebel running for a speederbike, and a stormtrooper firing at the fuel tank on the speederbike, hoping to blow it up, your tendency might be to roll initiative to see if the character gets to the bike before or after the trooper's shot.

But, think logically about this. How long does it take to fire a blaster bolt? A second? Two seconds tops?

And, how long does it take a person to run several meters. That's right. Definitely longer than a second or two.

In this situation, no initiative roll is needed. The GM just needs to look at the situation logically. The stormtrooper will fire first, and no roll at all is needed for the Rebel's run. The Rebel is there, at the speeder, at the end of the segment.

So, the first idea I'm trying to illuminate here is: Not every situation is 1E combat requires an initiative roll.

This helps keep your game quick to play, fast to act, and fun for all.

[Wajeb Deb Kaadeb]

WHAT DO YOU ROLL IF YOU ARE MOVING?

There are no movement tasks in the core 1E game (though there is a -1D penalty for running in a round if you attempt another action).

Let's say that you have a situation where a stormtrooper is firing at a Rebel, and the Rebel is running to make it past a cargo crate, where the crate will provide 100% cover for the Rebel.

In this case, it is important to know if the Rebel can make it past the crates and into full cover before the trooper fires at him. We need an initiative throw.

NOTE: A running character can only change direction by 90 degrees, so keep that in mind when allowing a character to run in the game.

In Segment One, the Stormtrooper will roll his blaster attack. The running Rebel will throw his DEX dice. A character's DEX also serves as his Speed code.

If the trooper wins, then he has the initiative, and his blaster attack happens before the Rebel makes it to the full cover. Check to see if his attack is high enough to hit, and if so, roll damage.

If the Rebel wins, then he runs fast enough to get behind the cover before the trooper can fire. Therefore, there is no Stormtrooper attack. The roll he made becomes an initiative roll only*.

Or, the GM can describe the scene dramatically where the trooper fires a split second too late, as the Rebel darts behind the cover, and the trooper's blot slams into the container just behind the Rebel, sending sparks everywhere.




All sorts of circumstances pop up in roleplaying sessions, and you may have a situation where a trooper is firing at a Rebel, and the Rebel is trying to hot wire a panel to close the blast door. If the Rebel can get the blast door closed, then the trooper no longer has line of sight to make the shot.

The GM needs to handle this as he sees fit. As the game says, not every situation is covered in the rule set. Use logic.

What I would do in this situation is have the Stormtrooper roll normally his attack at the Rebel. And, I'd have the Rebel roll his Computer Programming and Repair Skill (and if that's not improved, the Rebel would roll his Technical attribute).

If the trooper wins this toss, then the trooper is considered first. We check to see if his shot is good enough to hit, and if it is, the trooper rolls damage on the Rebel.

If the Rebel wins, then he closes the blast door just before the trooper squeezes the trigger. The trooper's roll becomes only an initiative roll--not a shot--unless the GM wants to be descriptive in describing the shot slam into the blast door just as the Rebel gets it closed.





Some new players to 1E Initiative get confused when a roll doubles as an initiative throw. As I've shown above, an initiative throw is thrown both for initiative and to represent the character's action. But as when two characters are firing blasters at each other, and the highest roll also hits, then the roll by the other character becomes only an initiative throw. You shouldn't also consider it an attack roll if, before that character can act, is precluded from doing any actions for the rest of the round.

Example: A Rebel and a Stormtrooper are firing at each other.

In Segment One, both roll attack dice. The Rebel rolls highest, and his roll is high enough to hit the Stormtrooper. Therefore, the Stormtrooper never got off his shot--the roll that he made is considered only an initiative roll now. It is no longer an attack roll.

Make sense?

[Wajeb Deb Kaadeb]

ARE DODGES INITIATIVE ROLLS?

Rolling a Dodge is not an initiative roll. If a stormtrooper is firing at a Rebel, and all that Rebel is doing is Dodging, then there is no reason to roll initiative. Dodges must be rolled before attacks. So, you simply roll the Rebel's Dodge, then roll the Stormtrooper's attack.

If a character is Dodging and doing another action in a round, then the other action is used for checking initiative.

Therefore, if a character is firing back at the trooper and trying to Dodge the trooper's shot, you'll want to roll the trooper's blaster vs the Rebel's blaster attack in order to see who fires first.

The Rebel will always roll his Dodge before the trooper's attack. And, the blaster shots will be handled normally--by rolling them and taking the highest result first.





SEVERAL ACTIONS IN ONE SEGMENT

Although typically, a character only does one action in a segment, he can pull off several actions in one segment if they are of a specific type.

For example, a character could Dodge, draw his weapon, run, and fire his weapon, all in one segment. Drawing his weapon this segment means the character's actions are penalized by -1D. Running this segement also means the character's actions are penalized -1D. Dodging and firing the blaster are two actions, so they will possibly be penalized another -1D due to the muliptle action penalty (depending on which is thrown first, the Dodge or the attack).

So, if the character wants to roll them in this order:

Dodge, draw, run, fire

Then the Dodge will be rolled at -2D because of the draw and the run.

Then, the attack will be rolled a -3D because of the draw, run, and taking another action (the Dodge).

[Wajeb Deb Kaadeb]

DOESN'T THE HIGHEST ROLL ALWAYS HIT FIRST?

No, not always. A character can win initiative but sill miss his target, only to be hit by that very same enemy.

Consider....

[Wajeb Deb Kaadeb]

THE DODGE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE DECLARED

A player does not have to declare Dodge as an action for his character in the Declaration Segment. The GM does not have to does not have to declare Dodges for any NPC in the Declaration Segment.

A Dodge can be called for at any time the player or GM desires.

A Dodge must be rolled before the attack or attacks it was meant to defend against.

A Dodge remains in effect the entire segment, but at the start of the next Segment, the Dodge must be rolled again.

A Dodge remains in effect against all of that same type of attack from multiple foes. This, a dodging Rebel rolling a single Dodge will use that Dodge result to defend against three different stormtroopers firing at the Rebel that segment.

A Dodge is considered an action for the purposes of counting multiple action penalties, but the Dodge can also be attempted in the same segement as another action that is being attempted.





GM ROLLS BEHIND A SCREEN

If a GM rolls a stormtrooper's attack behind a screen (I do this), and the player has no idea of the result, then logic tells us that a player can roll a Dodge after the trooper has rolled. The player has no idea of the result, so let him roll his Dodge, if he wants.





HAN SOLO AND GREEDO

In the revised Special Edition encounter, where Greedo fires first and misses Han from the short distance across the table, this is played out using a Dodge, under the First Edition rules.

Out of combat rounds (what the game calls "scenes"), Han has sneaked his blaster out of its holster, and he now holds it level at Greedo under the table. We go into combat when the GM says that Greedo is firing at Han.

As part of the Declaration segment, Han says that he will fire back!



Segment One: Han rolls his Blaster skill and gets an amazing number of "1's" showing up on the dice. Knowing that Greedo has a chance to hit him first, the player says, "And, Han will Dodge."

The GM rolls Greedo's attack which, surprise, surprise, beats Han's low roll by exactly 1 point.

Greedo's attack happens first, but his attack roll is not high enough to beat Han's Dodge.

Han's attack roll is high enough to hit. Han rolls damage, this time rolling very high, giving Greedo a Mortal Wound.

[Wajeb Deb Kaadeb]

THE DODGE AND THE PENALTY

Consider that a Rebel declares two blaster shots. The first will happen in Segment One, while the second happens in Segment Two.

As Segment One plays out, the character also decides to Dodge in that segment.

The player has a choice. He has to decide where he wants to take the penalty.



VERSION 1

Rebel rolls Dodge at full dice.

Blaster rolled at -2D (because the character is now taking three actions).

And, in segment two, Blaster is rolled at -2D.





VERSION 2

Blaster rolled at -1D (because two actions declared).

Dodge rolled at -2D (because now, three actions).

And, in segment two, Blaster is rolled at -2D.







Let's look at this again, but with a more simple example. Rebel declares one Blaster attack.

Version 1

Dodge rolled at full dice.

Blaster rolled at -1D.



Version 2

Blaster rolled full dice.

Dodge rolled at -1D.




WHY IS THIS? The Dodge doesn't have to be declared, and the Dodge only effects those actions that come behind it during the combat round. If you throw Dodge first, no matter how many declared actions you have, then you throw your Dodge without penalty.

If you throw your Dodge after you've thrown for other actions, then you fit the extra penalty to the Dodge as you throw it.

[Wajeb Deb Kaadeb]

ORDER OF THROWING INITIATIVE?

Most of the time, it doesn't matter who throws for initiative first. The GM will call for the throw in the most logical or most dramatic pattern.

But, what if you have a situation where a player wants to do this....

[Wajeb Deb Kaadeb]

INITIATIVE GROUPS

If you have a lot of PCs and NPCs in a combat encounter, then what you don't want to do is have everyone roll initiative and then play the encounter out in that order--as you do in most RPGs.

In the 1E D6 game, what you'll want to do is figure out which character can effect another, and group them together.

Have all the characters who are not effected by another play out first or last--whatever is the most dramatic.

Then, subdivide the rest into groups, and play out each group separately.





Example: There are 5 NPCs. A1 through A5. And there are three stormtroopers, S1-S3.

A1 fires at S1.

A2 fires at S1

A3 fires at S2

A4 fires at S1

A5 runs for the ship.



S1 firest at A1

S2 fires at A3

S3 goes down on one knee, pulls his comlink, and calls for reinforcements



This would be a big mess if you just have everybody roll initiative and then go through the order. Instead, what you want to do is divide into groups.

First, let the characters not effected by anybody else complete their actions. A5 runs to the ship, and makes it. S3 calls in for reinforcements.

Next, deal with the first group. That's A1, A2, and A4, all firing at S1.

Have the three Rebels roll initiative, then have the Stormtrooper roll. Play out the segment normally. Then, play out the rest of the combat round, if needed with this group.

Then, move on to the second group. That's A3 and S2 firing at each other. Have each roll, and play out the rest of the semgment and combat round with just these two characters.

And, you're done.



IT'S A LOT EASIER to cut the combat up into groups like this, dealing with, at most 3 rebels against 1 stormtrooper, instead of dealing with all 8 characters all firing at each other at different times.

[Wajeb Deb Kaadeb]

KEEPING TRACK OF DODGES

Many people new to the 1E System struggle with Dodges. This is occurs because Dodges do not have to be declared, but on the first round, it may seem confusing with the way 1E initiative is done.

A simple way to keep track of Dodges is this: Assume every PC will Dodge on the first round if that character is being fired upon.

If the PC doesn't Dodge, then that's OK. If the player announces his Dodge in his Declaration statement, then don't count that as part of his declaration of actions. Instead, just consider it a friendly heads up about what the character is intending to do (Dodge), but don't hold him to it if he changes his mind (about the Dodge only).



In a real game, I use a GM screen set up between me and the players. I will roll NPC attacks first, behind the screen, where the players cannot see the dice.

Then, I will assume each player character is Dodging if shot. I'll say, "Roll your Dodge." The player is free to tell me that his character is not Dodging. Sometimes, the player--especially if his character has a high skill code--will want to roll his skill first (which will serve as his initiative), and if the player doesn't like his own roll, he can immediately roll his Dodge then.

At no time does the player know what I've rolled for the attack. He makes his decision in the dark without influence from the total of the NPC attack.



If a player character does Dodge (they usually do), then I will record it on a piece of scratch paper that I have behind the screen. Sometimes, it's a post-it note. I do this because it's amazing how fast those Dodge numbers are forgotten after they are thrown.

Once the player is done rolling, I can easily see who has initiative (the player cannot), and I will describe the scene in the most dramatic way possible--attempting to draw the players into the world of Star Wars, making them live through the space opera ultra high action scene.

I find that, handling the Dodge this way on the first round, leads to a productive and fun game.

[Bren]

Thanks Wajeb Deb Kaadeb, your last post outlines a useful way of handling the mechanics re: initiative and dodge.