Save My Campaign

1974... Initiative and the Combat Sequence

Findings

One thing I have quickly found reading OD&D, that you might not realize with a retroclone, is that there was no clear initiative system and combat sequence in the 3 books.

So this is one of those things that, without any other reference, you would need to come up with on your own.

If you were in 1974 with just these 3 books, I think you just need to go with the most intuitive thing. I believe I would be avoiding something similar to chess or monopoly because it would simplify what the game is truly capable of. (Funny because I have historically used simple side based initiative). I believe the most obvious answer to the combat sequence would be simultaneous combat.

Instead of rolling initiative, everyone would just declare what their intentions are each round. The DM would then review these actions and determine the natural order in which they would play out. I do believe there would come a time where there is conflict and an order of operations would be necessary. This could be solved by a roll of d6 (modified by high/low dex). You should roll d6 for each combatant for which the order of operation matters. You would not need to roll it for everyone.

I think over time, it would naturally become obvious that certain actions are taken first. As in, you could not melee attack someone before moving up to a range that enables you to melee attack them.

That brings me to my next thought... Magic seems to be instantaneous in OD&D. My understanding of spells and vancian magic is that you spend time loading them into your brain. Just enough to be able to say the magic words that fires them. As I interpret it in OD&D, it would seem as though magic should be one of the fastest things that could be accomplished in a turn. It's possible the spell itself might take time to reach the target, but overall the actual casting of the spell would be damn near instantaneous. I am going to play it as that were the case. Although, if your interested in my proposed sequence you can easily adjust it to taste.

New Sequence

Below is my initial concept of the combat sequence:

All rounds start with referee declaring intentions and players declaring their intentions after.

Combat is "simultaneous" in nature. The referee is the final arbiter of what happens and should take everything into consideration. However, I expect most combat will fall into the following sequence:

  1. Stationary Actions (Loaded Crossbows > Spells > Missiles > Melee)
    1. Anyone who is unsurprised, with a loaded crossbow, may fire.
    2. Anyone who wants to cast a spell where they stand, may do so.
    3. Anyone who wants to fire missiles where they stand, may do so.
      • If someone wants to "dive" out of the way, like jumping into a trench, may attempt to do so here. Winner determined by initiative roll 1D6+DEX Bonus versus each other.
    4. Anyone who wants to melee attack where they stand, may do so.
  2. Movement
  3. Split-Move Fire and other Actions that can be resolved after a short movement
  4. Movement
    • If someone is charging into a braced spear-like weapon, then the person bracing can make their attack before #5.
  5. Actions (All types would be simultaneous unless there is a good reason not to be.)
  6. Postponed Actions

Except Stationary Actions, everything in a section should resolve together. Meaning if two people are attacking each other with swords in #5. Just let them both resolve. It would move a LOT faster than everyone rolling initiative.

To handle the "Haste" spell, I will allow characters to follow this sequence before anyone else. Anyone with the "Slow" spell will go after everyone else.

This did make me think a bit about split-move and fire. What is the benefit? I believe it enables people to dodge in and out of cover. It also means in a theoretical 1v1. If a man wants to move then fire, and an elf split move. The elf fires first.