Filling in the OD&D Gaps: Another Take on Initiative

As I mentioned in my last post, I've scrapped the OD&D/Chainmail hybrid I was working on, and I'm filling in the OD&D gaps with my own rules.  To be honest, OD&D has most of what's needed for a simple fantasy game of dungeon and wilderness exploration.  The basic framework is there, at least.  What's missing is a basic framework for combat.  I think if I work up systems for initiative, morale, and movement, I'll be pretty much good to go, and anything else can be filled in as problems arise at the table.  I've also been looking at the spell list, going through each one and seeing what clarifications and rulings have been made in later editions.  I'll probably do the same for OD&D's monsters as well, and then I can get to the actual campaign prep. 

A few weeks ago I posted the initiative system I'd cobbled together from OD&D and Chainmail.  If you go and look at it you'll see that it's an unwieldy thing, a shambling monstrosity composed of the Turn Sequence from Chainmail mass combat, the rules for "who strikes first" from the Man-to-Man section, and OD&D's suggestion that Dexterity determine who goes first in combat.  I never got to the point of trying it out, but I can already tell it's not the direction I want to go in.

OD&D only has this to say as far as initiative goes: "Dexterity applies to both manual speed and conjuration. It will indicate the character's missile ability and speed with actions such as firing first, getting off a spell, etc."  I'm trying to use the rules and suggestions from OD&D as closely as possible, so I have to keep that in mind while I consider how I want this to work.  I should note that I very much dislike the rule in the Holmes Basic Set, where everyone acts in strict Dexterity order.

The first thing to consider is that I don't like "phases" in D&D initiative.  I'm not a fan of systems that put combat actions in a specific order: movement, then missile fire, then melee, etc.  They work perfectly well for war-games, but RPGs are much looser, with a far wider variety of actions that a character can take in any round.  If, for whatever reason, my character wants to sit down and start carving a pumpkin in the middle of combat... what phase does that go in?  Or, for a less random example, what about something as simple as drinking a potion?  I find phased systems too restricting.

Connected to that, I'm not a fan of systems where everyone has to declare their actions before the round begins.  There's a lack of immediacy there, and in increased reliance on the DM to coordinate things.  This can lead to a huge increase in the cognitive load on the DM, especially when they have a lot of creatures to control.  I much prefer it when actions take place right after they're declared... but I also dislike systems where characters run all the way across the battlefield while everyone else is standing still.

I also have a preference for systems where initiative is re-rolled at the start of each round.  The system in 3rd edition works fine, but it's a little rote when each round progresses in the same order as the ones before it.  I like the swinginess of the re-roll, which for practical purposes necessitates rolling for the whole group each round, not for individuals.  Individual initiative requires too much die rolling. 

So my requirements for an initiative system are as follows:

• Dexterity is a factor in speed of actions 
•  Initiative is re-rolled every round.
• Actions don't have distinct, predictable phases 
• Actions are not declared before the round begins
• Characters can't run all the way across the room while everyone else is standing still

 In basic terms, what I'm thinking of is something like this:

1. Both sides roll 1d6, winning side goes first, draws act simultaneously
2. Winning side takes its actions.  Anything that would happen immediately (such as melee or missile fire) takes place here.  Anything that would be delayed (such as actions after movement) happen at the end of the round.
3. Losing side takes its actions, some immediate and some delayed as above.
4. All movement happens
5. Winning side's delayed actions are resolved, followed by losing side's delayed actions.

It gets most of what I want.  Yes, it's phased, but the phases are less rigid, and more based on speed of action than type of action.  The split between immediate and delayed actions allows me to have the immediacy of actions happening right away, while not having to deal with the silliness of creatures standing still while others move across the battlefield.  It also lets me have spellcasting be interruptible, which is a must.

The only thing missing is that Dexterity doesn't influence this sequence at all.  The easiest solution is to simply give characters with a high Dex (13+) a +1 bonus on the initiative roll, and those with low Dex (8 or less) a -1 penalty.  Monsters can be assumed to be of average Dexterity, because I don't want to be rolling any new stats for them.  I'm keeping the modifiers low to stay in keeping with the rest of OD&D, and also to make less work for the DM.  All I have to remember is which character's are fast, and which are slow, and it won't come up for the monsters unless the party are fighting NPCs. 

Some other things to note:

• Spellcasting begins in the immediate phase and resolves in the delayed phase
• Attacking after movement can only happen on a charge.  In this case, longer weapons will attack first.
• Melee attacks otherwise all happen in the immediate phase
• If a character can fire multiple missile per round, they are split between the immediate and delayed phase 

I think I'm done!  No doubt the system will be tweaked in play, but to me it seems like something I can run at the table without too much fuss.  I can already see that the movement phase is perhaps a little too vague, but I'm resisting breaking things down into segments. Anyway, here it is in full:

INITIATIVE RULES

THE INITIATIVE ROLL

A die (1d6) is rolled to determine initiative at the beginning of each combat round.  Each side rolls, and the side with the highest score has the initiative and will act first.

 

Dexterity Modifier

Characters with a high Dexterity will react faster, and those with a low Dexterity will react slower.  For these characters, modify their initiative roll as follows.  This modifier applies to the character only.  If the modified initiative score is equal to the score of an opponent, the character and opponent will act simultaneously.

 

Dexterity Score	Missile and Spell Initiative Modifier
3-8	-1
9-12	0
13-18	+1

 

Tied Initiative

If initiative rolls are tied, all actions in each phase occur simultaneously.  It is thus possible for two combatants to kill each other in the same round, for example.

 

COMBAT PHASES

A combat round has three phases, the Immediate Phase, the Middle Phase and the Delayed Phase.

 

Immediate Phase

These are actions that take place immediately in a combat round, such as making a melee attack, firing a missile, or using an item that is already in hand.  Spell-casting begins in this phase.

 

Middle Phase

Few actions will take place in this phase.  This is when movement occurs, and actions that take place during movement (such as an elf's split-move and fire).

 

Delayed Phase

Some actions will take place later in the combat round.  Any action taken after moving will happen in this phase, such as attacks at the end of a charge.  All spell-casting ends in this phase.

 

TURN SEQUENCE

1. Both sides roll 1d6.  Note the initiative score for each side.
1. Characters with high or low Dexterity will modify their own initiative score accordingly.
2. Immediate Phase
1. For the character with the highest initiative score:
1. Decide on an action
2. If the action is immediate, resolve in this phase
3. If the action is not immediate, resolve in the Middle or Delayed Phase
2. Repeat 2a for characters with the next highest score, and continue for each participant in the combat
3. Note that creatures with a tied initiative score act simultaneously
3. Middle Phase:
1. Movement and equivalent actions take place during this phase
2. Any elf or mounted archer performing a split-move and fire shoots in this phase
3. In general, movement all happens at the same time.  Creatures will stop if they come within melee range of an opponent.  Use common sense or compare movement rates if timing is important.
4. Delayed Phase
1. Delayed actions are resolved, from highest initiative score to lowest
2. Note that when charging into a melee, weapons with the higher class will attack first regardless of initiative score
5. Check Morale (see Morale for more details)