[UA] Unsuck

[holycrow at mindspring.com]

Okay, the initiative system currently used in UA sucks.  (I can say that, since it's my sucky design.)  I'd like to fix it, but at the same time I want to keep things as simple as possible.

Currently GMCs go on their Speed, either as a success or as a fail.  This saves the GM a LOT of die rolling, but it's also pretty bogus that all GMCs are either absurdly, reliably fast or absurdly, predictably slow.

So here's my thought for a fix.  (This thought came to me within the last 10 minutes, so it's pretty raw.)  Every character -- PC or GMC alike -- can either roll for initiative as usual OR -- or! -- they can act on HALF their Speed score as if they'd rolled it.  Thus, your guy with Speed 80 can roll for it and possibly get better or worse, or he can go on a 40.  Doesn't matter if he's PC or GMC.  My guess is that most PCs will roll because, hey, they're PCs and they always think they'll do better than average.  GMs, on the other hand, also have the option, so they can control the pace of the combat.  If it's a 1-on-1, they can roll to draw it out and increase the drama.  If it' 3 PCs vs 8 goons, the goons can all act on half their Speed.  Ta da.

Comments are welcome.

-G.

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