Altair_the_Vexed
2018-08-08, 03:59 PM
Some have complained that d20-based games (D&D 3, 3.5, Pathfinder, etc) suffer from dull combat, because there's little more to do than take your action, wait till your go, then take your action again. More dynamic combat, with mobile fights and tactical options, are supposedly missing from these systems.
I'm not intending to comment on whether that's true or not - I just have a (relatively) simple idea that could add some dynamism to combat in D&D et al: we split the 6 second round into two halves, re-work Full-round actions somewhat, modify how Attacks of Opportunity work, and add in the idea that some actions can - and will - be interrupted.
EDIT: We playtested it, and didn't like it as much as I thought we might - so feel free to skip ahead to a new idea that was born out of this one... (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=23287805&postcount=9) Or carry on to see how the brainstorming went!
I've got the bare bones of the idea here- but what I'm looking for is whether this seems likely to work in practice, what tweaks need to be made, what oddities from supplements I haven't accounted for, and so on.
Here goes:
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Split initiative
Roll initiative as normal. Note the result. You take one action on this initiative. Also note your initiative result -10. You take a second action on this later result.
Either of your actions may be a Standard action, but the other must be a Move action. That is, you can take a Move action on your rolled initiative, and Standard on your Split initiative, or the other way round.
This way, you get the same amount of stuff to do as in regular d20, but your actions are split through the round - meaning they can be interrupted, and don't all happen at once. We now have a mechanical way that stop you from taking all you actions in one, uninterrupted turn.
(I understand from long experience that actions aren't in theory supposed to be happening all at once for each PC - but in practice, that's what tends to happen. You move, you attack: no-one else gets to do anything while you take your 6-second action.)
Full-round actions
Full round actions require a Standard action to start, and a Move action to finish.
Attack of Opportunity
An AoO is only provoked for an action that distracts you from combat - getting something out of your backpack (not out of your pocket), picking a lock, reading a scroll (but not casting a spell). Moving out of a threatened area does not provoke an Attack of Opportunity, but moving through one does.
Interruption
Any action that takes a prolonged period of time to perform - such as moving, casting a spell, etc - may be interrupted by someone acting between you starting it, and your next initiative turn. That is, if another character has a turn between your Rolled initiative and your Split initiative, they may use that turn to disrupt what you are doing.
In this concept, attacking doesn't take a prolonged time to perform - you are looking for a chance to strike, then you strike swiftly.
Example:
Altair the Wizard rolls 20 initiative, Boris the Bandit (and his 2 cronies) roll 15, and Bridget the Barbarian rolls 12.
On 20, Altair decides to cast Colour Spray, using a standard action. His next turn is on 10 (20-10 = 10).
On 15, Boris rushes toward Altair to attack him, while his cronies rush at Bridget. They will reach their targets on 5 (15-10 = 5).
On 12, Bridget interrupts Boris's move by Bull Rushing Boris as he approaches Altair, her ally. (Bridget has Improved Bull Rush, so Boris gets no AoO.) Boris is knocked off course. Bridget can take a Move action on 2 (12 - 10 = 2).
On 10, Altair finishes casting Colour Spray - Boris has been moved out of the cone of effect by Bridget, but he hits the two cronies as they rush up to attack him. They fail their saves and go down like a stack of staves.
On 5, Boris weighs up his options, and legs it - a Move action, provoking no AoO - but...
On 2, Bridget chases after Boris.
On 20, Altair quick draws his dagger (no-one said he was an optimised Wizard), and start to Coup-de-grace the unconscious bandits (full round action, which will take both this Standard action, and his next action on Initiative 10).
On 15, Boris RUNS (4x movement rate: split over the full round action, which will take both this Standard action (2x movement), and his next action on Initiative 5 (the rest of his RUN speed)).
On 12, Bridget ditches her sword (free action to drop it), and draws her bow. As the others are doing full round actions, on 2, Bridget gets her Standard action, and shoots Boris (after he's run 4x his move rate - his full round action).
---
Clearly this needs some work - probably we need to qualify which actions provoke, which actions are interruptable, etc. That's why I'm asking for brainstorming!
Any other comments gratefully received.
I'm not intending to comment on whether that's true or not - I just have a (relatively) simple idea that could add some dynamism to combat in D&D et al: we split the 6 second round into two halves, re-work Full-round actions somewhat, modify how Attacks of Opportunity work, and add in the idea that some actions can - and will - be interrupted.
EDIT: We playtested it, and didn't like it as much as I thought we might - so feel free to skip ahead to a new idea that was born out of this one... (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=23287805&postcount=9) Or carry on to see how the brainstorming went!
I've got the bare bones of the idea here- but what I'm looking for is whether this seems likely to work in practice, what tweaks need to be made, what oddities from supplements I haven't accounted for, and so on.
Here goes:
---
Split initiative
Roll initiative as normal. Note the result. You take one action on this initiative. Also note your initiative result -10. You take a second action on this later result.
Either of your actions may be a Standard action, but the other must be a Move action. That is, you can take a Move action on your rolled initiative, and Standard on your Split initiative, or the other way round.
This way, you get the same amount of stuff to do as in regular d20, but your actions are split through the round - meaning they can be interrupted, and don't all happen at once. We now have a mechanical way that stop you from taking all you actions in one, uninterrupted turn.
(I understand from long experience that actions aren't in theory supposed to be happening all at once for each PC - but in practice, that's what tends to happen. You move, you attack: no-one else gets to do anything while you take your 6-second action.)
Full-round actions
Full round actions require a Standard action to start, and a Move action to finish.
Attack of Opportunity
An AoO is only provoked for an action that distracts you from combat - getting something out of your backpack (not out of your pocket), picking a lock, reading a scroll (but not casting a spell). Moving out of a threatened area does not provoke an Attack of Opportunity, but moving through one does.
Interruption
Any action that takes a prolonged period of time to perform - such as moving, casting a spell, etc - may be interrupted by someone acting between you starting it, and your next initiative turn. That is, if another character has a turn between your Rolled initiative and your Split initiative, they may use that turn to disrupt what you are doing.
In this concept, attacking doesn't take a prolonged time to perform - you are looking for a chance to strike, then you strike swiftly.
Example:
Altair the Wizard rolls 20 initiative, Boris the Bandit (and his 2 cronies) roll 15, and Bridget the Barbarian rolls 12.
On 20, Altair decides to cast Colour Spray, using a standard action. His next turn is on 10 (20-10 = 10).
On 15, Boris rushes toward Altair to attack him, while his cronies rush at Bridget. They will reach their targets on 5 (15-10 = 5).
On 12, Bridget interrupts Boris's move by Bull Rushing Boris as he approaches Altair, her ally. (Bridget has Improved Bull Rush, so Boris gets no AoO.) Boris is knocked off course. Bridget can take a Move action on 2 (12 - 10 = 2).
On 10, Altair finishes casting Colour Spray - Boris has been moved out of the cone of effect by Bridget, but he hits the two cronies as they rush up to attack him. They fail their saves and go down like a stack of staves.
On 5, Boris weighs up his options, and legs it - a Move action, provoking no AoO - but...
On 2, Bridget chases after Boris.
On 20, Altair quick draws his dagger (no-one said he was an optimised Wizard), and start to Coup-de-grace the unconscious bandits (full round action, which will take both this Standard action, and his next action on Initiative 10).
On 15, Boris RUNS (4x movement rate: split over the full round action, which will take both this Standard action (2x movement), and his next action on Initiative 5 (the rest of his RUN speed)).
On 12, Bridget ditches her sword (free action to drop it), and draws her bow. As the others are doing full round actions, on 2, Bridget gets her Standard action, and shoots Boris (after he's run 4x his move rate - his full round action).
---
Clearly this needs some work - probably we need to qualify which actions provoke, which actions are interruptable, etc. That's why I'm asking for brainstorming!
Any other comments gratefully received.