Design Philosophy - Initiative

Initiative (or any other term for turn order) in combat exists in some form or another in almost every role-playing game. The majority of popular rule systems call for a die roll contest between characters or groups of characters to determine this order. In Venture!, this contest is skipped entirely - play flows around the table, starting with the players / player characters and ending with the game master and her non-player characters (with the only exception being when the non-player characters ambush or get the drop on the player characters and start the turn).

Why implement a potentially unpopular system like this?

1. The Narrative Benefit of Initiative Checks (or its Lack)

First of all, let us say that having an initiative check with the game's rules isn't an inherently bad thing. If you are looking at an RPG as a means of telling a story, however, it should benefit the narrative at the table. Many games do incorporate important details of the setting into their initiative rules - superhero or cyberpunk-themed games come to mind, where having a superhuman reaction time ensures that a character acts first or even multiple times in comparison to slower characters. A similar benefit is gained in implementing action speed rules - letting lighter weapons or simpler attacks occur earlier or faster than bigger weapons and slower actions. This can add a fun tactical element, but it also sets a tone for the grittiness and feel of combat in the game world.

If the initiative rules aren't helping to set the scene in your game universe, is there anything to be gained by using them? 

2. Keeping the Action Flowing

Experienced role-players are probably familiar with one of the potential problems with a typical initiative system: the lull in action that it can cause. The game master will be working with the player characters, building anticipation for a fight to come, everyone is getting their weapons ready for the upcoming fight, challenges are issued, the enemies charge.. and then the game master halts the story to call for an initiative roll. Where are my dice? What is my modifier? Can I do one thing before we go into combat? OK, what did everyone roll? Let me write these down - you two both got an 18, who has a higher Agility? Alright, we're all set - Alice, you're up.

With focused players, this can be a minor speed bump, just taking a few moments to resolve. If everyone at the table is distracted or tired, this can take at least a few minutes, and can kill the anticipation that's been building up. Its like pausing a movie right before the climactic fight scene to grab snacks and take a bathroom break, it doesn't ruin the experience, but it does kill some of the momentum.

There is an additional lull if any of the players at the table aren't aware of their place in the turn order. Suddenly caught unaware, they can flounder, trying to decide on a course of action. Again, this adds a few moments more to the combat. While this doesn't sound like much on paper, trying to maintain that initial rush before the fight grows harder with every second wasted. By going around the table, each player knows exactly who they will be acting after and how many characters will act before theirs, all without having to consult (or have the game master maintain) a list of the initiative order.

3. Maintaining the Game's Tone

Venture! is trying to emulate pulp novels and film serials. The player characters typically go first, making them proactive, charging into a fight with the first blow. Ideally, this should immediately gain them momentum in the fight and make the players feel like the daring heroes they should be emulating in the game setting. In a few moments, they'll have dealt with several faceless minions of their adversaries, and be ready to face down the remainder.

After these initial blows, things become a back-and-forth once the non-player characters strike back. The player characters take out a few mooks, and dive away from the return fire. As the lieutenants and mastermind of their foes become exposed, things flow like a duel - these greater foes exchanging strikes at one or more player characters until one manages to connect.  This is a deliberate attempt to make the action at the game table progress as the cuts in a filmed action scene would: the heroes strike a blow, evade a counterattack, strike another blow, get engaged in a desperate struggle with their equal, and ultimately, dispatch their adversary.

4. Ambushes are Dangerous!

One additional benefit to this system was discovered during playtesting: ambushes by non-player characters become frightening and dangerous. The players become accustomed to acting first, so if their enemies get the drop on them, it puts them in an unexpected, perilous situation (just like their characters). Most ambushes will turn into a desperate struggle quickly. The worst will end with the player characters capture, which helps feed the story.

Agree? Disagree? Have a question? Leave a comment below!

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Venture! Thrilling Adventures in the World of AEthrem and its associated characters are the property of Weird Science Games, LLC, Copyright 2015.

West End Games, OpenD6, and The D6 system are trademarks and properties of Purgatory Publishing Inc.

Design Philosophy - Advantages and Disadvantages

Welcome to our first post on design philosophy, where we'll be talking about the choices made in creating the rules and setting for Venture! Unlike Fridays in AEthrem, these posts will appear irregularly, as topics present themselves and time permits.

In this post, we'll be discussing Advantages and Disadvantages. These are a staple character option in many systems (although some will use alternate terms for them, such as Benefits and Afflictions, Boons and Hindrances, Traits, Qualities, and so on), giving options to advantage and disadvantage characters in small ways. Advantages and Disadvantages are well-established and widely-accepted within tabletop RPGs, and are included within the OpenD6 rules on which Venture! is based. So, why are we talking about these today?

Venture! does not include Advantages and Disadvantages within its core rules.

Now, please give us a chance to explain this before firing up your torches or running for the nearest pitchfork. We love advantages and disadvantages. They are one of the most reliable options to tweak your player character to be just the way you want it to be, on top of encouraging roleplaying of characters at the table - since many disadvantages introduce character faults or limitations to be portrayed at the table (such as with Devotion or Prejudice in OpenD6), or story elements (such as Employed or Infamy).

However, we feel that Advantages and Disadvantages best serve the game as an optional rule. While many games now include these within their core rules, if you look back about twenty years or so (around the height of the D6 system) you will see that it was very common to include Advantages and Disadvantages within a rules supplement or compendium as one of several options that players and game masters could choose to include in their games. We believe this has several benefits:

1) Ease of access.

Although Advantages and Disadvantages may be a good and useful part of the rules, they are still additional things to be aware of within the game system. The game master must take time to be aware of their effect in the game system, and the players must be aware of the function of those they've chosen and when they apply in the game. This also calls on the issue of system mastery, where an experienced player (or just one that is better at optimizing characters) would know to make a character with Advantage X, making their character superior at Skill or action Y than any other character that neglected to do so. For a new player, it can be disheartening to be outdone by another player character due to a simple lack of familiarity with the rules.

2) Speeding up character creation.

This is tied to ease of access somewhat. In our experience, character creation for a player new to any system goes fairly easily and quickly, except for two standard steps: selecting Advantages and Disadvantages and purchasing equipment. Why is this? Because in both of these steps, the player needs to look through a large list of options, weigh them, and select only a few that are appropriate for their character. If the player wants to make the "best" character they can, they will want to spend quite some time in these steps. This slows things down in even the most comprehensive systems, but in OpenD6, with its otherwise rapid character creation, it can be similar to hitting a brick wall.

3) Avoiding default use.

By including Advantages and Disadvantages in the core rules, you are assuming default use. If the game master doesn't want to use these rules (such as for the above reasons), they will have to point this out to their players, and this may involve revising already-completed characters in cases where a player creates their character without the GM's involvement. ("But it says here: 'select Advantages and Disadvantages'.") This isn't a huge concern, but if these are provided as an optional rule, the players typically feel more positive about their lack of inclusion.

4) Organization and page count. 

This is primarily a concern just on our end of things. If we wanted to include Advantages and Disadvantages, we could either include all of those we want to include in Venture! or just the most common or representative ones, providing others in a supplemental book. Including everything uses up a big chunk of the core rulebook's precious page count (would those 20 pages be better served with setting details?), while splitting them between the core rules and a supplement can complicate referencing rules for these at the table ("What book was that in, again?") and still use up page count (although much less).

So, we will most likely be including Advantages and Disadvantages in Venture! at some point, contained within an optional rules supplement. This simplifies things for both us and for new players, and frees up space within the book for more setting details, which are really the draw of the game (as the majority of its rules system is freely and publicly available online). There were pros and cons to consider when coming to this ultimate decision, but we feel that it best served the style of game we wanted to create to proceed in this way.

Agree? Disagree? Have a question? Leave a comment below!

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Venture! Thrilling Adventures in the World of AEthrem and its associated characters are the property of Weird Science Games, LLC, Copyright 2015.

West End Games, OpenD6, and The D6 system are trademarks and properties of Purgatory Publishing Inc.