Rulings Not Rules #4 - Delayed Actions

Has this ever happened to you? You turn to a player and say, "It's your turn, what are you doing?" In return you get perhaps an uncertain look, maybe even a sheepish smile, and a request, "Can I delay my action?"

Listen folks, I don't if this happens to you a lot, and I don't know if it bothers you, but I have a low key hatred of delayed actions. Now, don't get me wrong, there are times and places where it makes sense. Ambushes are essentially all about delaying your action until the mark is in place, and I am fine with that, but when combat is rolling delayed actions bother me in a way I find difficult to articulate. Maybe it's the fact that combat in most RPGs is based on rounds that are around 10 seconds long (though obviously there is variation in both directions). Or maybe it's the indecision that seems to come with the request, when, in fact, the character and player both should be in action mode. 

Regardless as to why I dislike them I suspect that it will never be a problem that goes away. As such it's a problem I need to solve for myself for games I run. Specifically I mean for Dungeon Crawl Classics (and related games) which I tend to be running more often these days, and in DCC there is no specific rule for (or against) delaying actions. 

Rulings not rules, right?

So, then, how do I run delayed actions? 

1) Specify the action.

You can't just delay your turn without a plan, combat just is too fast and as we all know initiative is just a means for us to adjudicate things are are really happening basically simultaneously. So the first thing I need is a specific action. What is the thing that will happen? An attack, a move, a spell ... it must be specific with a target and...

2) What is the trigger for the delayed action?

I don't allow a delay without a clear trigger. Maybe you are delaying an attack on the big bad until the cleric blesses you. Or you are delaying a charge until the thief opens the door. Or delaying a fireball until the end of the round so the other players can get out of the blast area. 

3) (optional) A cost for the delay.

I have only just started thinking about this but I am leaning toward pushing the delaying character's initiative on future rounds to the step where they act with the delayed action. If you roll a new initiative every round you might penalize that character a die step if you wished. Alternately you could do nothing. Characters who delay tend to have higher initiative values and if they are quick to react in that combat maybe that's just fine. 

That's all. It's nothing complex but it prevents waffling, and it ensures that the action can move forward quickly. Combat is fun but it shouldn't take up the entire session and keeping it moving quickly is one of my biggest goals as a judge. 

Nuts & Bolts #167 - Multiple Action Dice (DCC& MCC)

 

Let's talk about multiple action dice, or multiple actions per turn. 

I've played a lot of games that dealt with this in many different ways. In games were its more common characters might act across multiple initiative passes, where each character acts once, then you roll through initiative a second time, and then a 3rd or even 4th until all characters have used all their actions. This can work well for those games where all characters have at least 2 actions as it spreads the in game action around the table more evenly, but might not work as well when some characters only have a single action and others have 2 or 3 or more. 

For DCC and MCC this could work well at higher levels once characters get second action dice. This would allow a cleric or wizard to buff a fighter and have that benefit be gained in the same round regardless of this initiative. It would also prevent a bad initiative roll for the bad guys to just result in an utter beatdown. There are other alternatives though...

Which is where a second option comes in. I use this for creatures in DCC and MCC as it works well at to spread a single creature or a group of creatures actions around those of the characters. In this case it comes up less often for players (though it can, especially lucky MCC mutants), and more often for monsters and other creatures. I'm of the mind that a good combat in these games should have at least 1 monster action for every 2 PC actions. That ratio has some flexibility but 6 players vs a monster with a single action is likely to be a very boring combat. In these such cases I roll an initiative die for each action die the monster has. So a creature with 3 actions will roll 3 initiatives and get an action at each point rather than 3 on a single initiative value. This does require slightly more bookkeeping, but it also ensures (usually) that the monster goes throughout a combat instead of multiple actions back to back. This makes the combat more dynamic, and can allow the creature to direct its attacks in such a way that clever players can react and potentially avoid getting repeatedly beat down. With groups I use a unique initiative for each member of the NPC/monster group in the same way. 

You might be thinking, that seems like a lot to keep track of at the table, and its true. If I were playing in person more often I doubt I would do so, but since I do most of my gaming online I can easily keep a roster of PCs and NPCs in an Excel (or other spreadsheet) file and then sort on their initiative values for an easy way to run through combats. 

It works for me, and I feel like it keeps the players on their toes a little more during combat. 

Rulings Not Rules #3 - Craft Everything!

 

I don't know if this is a "me thing" or an "old school" thing, or what but I notice that not everybody seems to look at every strange resource and every defeated creature, as a source for potential new gear. To me there is an almost instinctive process of evaluating materials in RPGs for future use in upgraded gear. New weapons, new armor, or new tools. 

Example from this past weekend's game:

My cleric of the mountain lord finds a vein of strange glowing rock deep within a cave. Looking at my gear I see that I have the right tools to extract a hunk of it and tell the Judge that I want to do so with the aim to be able to carve a new hammer head from the strange rock. If nothing else I figure its an opportunity for my character to upgrade his primary weapon and holy symbol to be a cool glow in the dark fashion accessory. 

Does this glowy rock have other strange properties? Will I end up with a one of a kind magic item for my efforts? I don't know, probably won't know for a few more sessions. For the moment though I can imagine it'll be something awesome until proven otherwise.

As a player that is my mentality: look at what the adventures give me, and find ways to use the materials and tools in new and creative ways. It's like a mini-game for me. When I run games I am very receptive to the same behavior from others. I see some players engage with the game at this level, building new items, or upgrading existing gear, and I think it makes for a better experience for all at the table.

As I also tend to play and run a lot of post-apocalyptic RPGs this both comes in very handy and feels very true to the genre. That said I see no reason why this cannot work in fantasy RPGs, or even some kinds of sci-fi. Advanced materials, rare minerals, and the like all fill this niche. Heck, much of the aesthetic of Dark Sun comes from the settings infamous scarcity of metal and the resulting propensity for weapons made of natural materials such as bone, chitin, and shell. 

These kinds of gear also allow players to exercise a level of aesthetic control over their characters that may not normally come up in games. Crafting all your gear from the chitinous hide of a certain species of giant insect will not only give your character a unique look but it will telegraph to the NPCs that the character is (presumably) skilled at dispatching said creature. Armor made from destroyed robots, a macuahuitl lined with teeth from slain dinosaurs, or a bow carved from the rib of a vanquished dragon! Keep your eyes out for opportunities to make your gear as cool and unique as you deserve then work with your GM to make it happen!

Still, I am curious if this is something fairly normal or something unique to certain kinds of gamers.