[BNW] New rules

[Theo McGuckin <tsm@jlab.org>]

Someone asked about rules changes others had made and specifically
mentioned init. So I wanted to throw this out. My group has never liked
one aspect of the init. and that's the "counting down" business. If
someone gets a 34 init. and everyone else gets single digits then it gets
tedious to sort through. Either the Guide has to jot down everyone's init.
before each round starts or everytime actions come up he has to ask
(again) who has the nth highest init? 

We tried several change, most involving breaking up the round into so many
phases (12, borrowing the hero system) and figuring out when you would
take actions. But it didn't fit too well (the max. number of actions is 5,
but 5 doesn't go into 12 real well, then there's the problem in hero of
everyone going on 12s, except someone with one action, who goes on 6s).

Anyway this is what I came up with:
A round is 5 seconds, and you can have a max. of 5 actions. So divide the
round into 5 one second phases (1st-5th). Everyone roll init. and note
their own init. and number of actions as normal.
Now ANYONE can go in any phase as long as they have actions left. Everyone
declares their actions. If anyone wants to change their action to
interrupt someone else's or if two actions have similar effects then those
people roll opposed init. rolls. 
If someone uses an action to dodge, then that dodge applies for the
remainder of that phase (the whole second).

The main things I like about this:
1. It keeps the number of increments in a round down to a managable and
visualizable level (if someone went at 34, and the next guy went at 21 how
much time passed between).
2. It also gets rid of the whole idea of held actions. I was never clear
in the rules, if someone rolled a 14 for init, but then got shot at 16 and
dodged, does he lose his 14 action? His last action (at "0")? Does he get
to choose? Does everyone go at 0 at once (with their free action for being
alive)?

Anyway, just wanted to toss that out there.

Theo McGuckin - SysAdmin, JLab


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