ROUNDS AND INITIATIVE [FORBIDDEN LANDS]

ROUNDS AND INITIATIVE

When a conflict begins, the first step is to determine who has the initiative. Do this before anyone rolls dice for an action.

DRAWING THE INITIATIVE

Grab ten cards, numbered 1 through 10. All the players taking part in the conflict, either voluntarily or involuntarily, each draw a card and the GM draws one card for every NPC. This is called drawing the initiative. The number on the card determines the order in which you act in the conflict.

Number 1 acts first, number 2 acts second, and so forth until everyone has acted. Place your initiative card by your character sheet, so everyone can see in which order you all act. The GM puts her initiative cards in front of her.

When all the participants in the combat have acted once, the round is over, and a new round begins. The round order remains the same throughout the whole conflict – drawing the initiative is only done once, at the start of the first round.

SURPRISE

If you perform an attack that the GM deems surprising, you may draw two initiative cards, and choose which one of the two you want. The card you do not choose is put back in the deck which is shuffled again before the others (either players or GM) draw their cards.

TALENTS

Some talents also allow you to affect your initiative. Read more in Chapter 4.

ROUNDS AND TURNS

In the game, a round can represent any period from ten seconds up to a minute, depending on circumstances and the skills used.

Another term used to keep track of time in the game is the TURN. A turn is about 15 minutes long, and it is used primarily when exploring adventure sites (see Chapter 8 in the Gamemaster's Guide).

CHANGING THE INITIATIVE

You never draw a new initiative card during a fight, but you can exchange your initiative card – and thus your initiative for the round – with another player character. This can be done at the start of the fight or at the start of the round, but never during a round. You and the other player character must be able to speak to each other to exchange initiatives. You can exchange initiative cards with an enemy through the FEINT action (see Close Combat).

EXAMPLE

« On their way from the old ruined castle, a few cheap gems and old books being all they have to show for it, Nirmena the half-elf and Tyrgar the dwarf are spotted by three orcs at the edge of the forest. They grin and get ready for a fight. All five draw an initiative card each. Nirmena draws 6, Tyrgar 4, and the orcs 2, 3 and 9. The initiative order is Orc 1, Orc 2, Tyrgar, Nirmena, Orc 3. »

NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS

In typical conflicts, the GM draws one initiative card per NPC. If there are a lot of NPCs and the number of combatants is above ten, the GM will split the NPCs into groups. All the NPCs with identical stats will form a single group, and the GM will draw one initiative card per group instead of one per individual. All the NPCs in a group act at the same time in the turn order. In what order they act individually within the group is up to the GM.

MONSTERS

The kind of horrible creatures that are commonly called monsters don't act as regular enemies in combat. Monsters draw initiative normally, but then follow their own rules. Read more in Chapter 5 of the Gamemaster's Guide.