As seen on http://www.fudgefactor.org.

Crunch Time: A Complex Initiative System

As much as I've tried to avoid it in my own games, there's always a certain siren call quality to the idea of "crunchiness" ("rules-ness" as opposed to "rules-light") when contemplating the configuration of Fudge. Usually a tendency toward slack on my part leaves me setting such notions aside as too much work, but that hasn't kept me from seeing the value in the idea.

One such contemplation lead to the following initiative system, which owes its origins, at least in part, to the Seventh Sea and Hero System RPGs. Its core notions started in the mind of Rob Donoghue, who was looking to achieve an initiative mechanic which was functionally similar to Seventh Sea's, but retaining a fundamentally Fudgey feel. As is often the case, this set me off down my own path -- which included the thought of making the diversity of your dF rolls matter in some fashion -- and what you are about to read is the result.

The Governing Trait

Most implementations of Fudge will have some sort of initiative determinant. This could be an attribute, like Reflexes or Perception; a skill, like Alertness; or other options, such as "your best combat skill". In a few cases, there might be no initiative determinant, in which case everyone rolls the same, or several determinants for different parts of initiative, such as using Reaction to determine the number of dice rolled (see below), but Speed to determine the in-phase action order (also below). Rather than use the clunky phrase "initiative determinant" in this article, I'm going to use Agility, simply, with the understanding that you can swap it out for anything that suits your fancy.

The Phases

This system assumes that each combat scene is broken up into a series of rounds, which are, in turn, broken into a set of phases.

Each phase is meant to cover a mere moment of time, and is generally only enough time to complete a single, simple action, such as opening a door, moving a short distance down a hallway, or swinging a sword. All the same, if the GM is so inclined, this can be expanded to a longer period of time without introducing any issues.

Each round consists of five phases which are denoted according to the faces of a Fudge die (dF), and bracketed by two special phases, the "double minus" (--) phase, which everyone gets, and the "double plus" (++) phase, which is usually only attainable through modifiers and dice bartering (see below). Otherwise the phases are "plus" (+), "blank", and "minus" (-).

The round proceeds through the phases in descending order of positivity (++, then +, then blank, then -, then --). If more than one person is acting on that phase, it is resolved within that phase in order of Agility. If those are also tied, the GM may make an arbitration or apply an additional rule of her own devising.

Each phase is, effectively, considered a period of simultaneous action.

Declaration and Resolution Options

Slow and Structured: Within a phase, declaration is done, and then resolution is done. Declaration occurs in ascending order of Agility (Poor, then Mediocre, then Fair, etc). Resolution occurs in the reverse order. Thus, the slowest person in a phase says what they are doing first, and resolves the doing of it last; the fastest person says what they are doing last (having heard everyone else), and resolves doing it first. Thus, in this option, fast people get to react to slower people, but slower people don't get to react to faster ones. This option, however, can really cramp some folks' style, and is definitely not for everyone.

Faster but Unstructured: Merge declaration and resolution, with the faster people having the option to "hold their action" until others have executed their actions in the phase. This more closely matches the usual implementation found in RPGs at large, and is probably more palatable.

The Dice

How They're Rolled

Each player rolls a number of dice according to his Agility (see "What You Get", below).

The dice are then arranged according to uniqueness; set duplicates aside, if so desired. The unique set of faces showing indicates the phases on which you act.

Example: You roll 3 dice, getting '+', '+', and '-'. You would then set the extra '+' aside, and act on the '+' phase and the '-' phase, in addition to the '--' phase, which everyone gets.

Duplicate dice of the same facing do not indicate a double action on that phase (unless the GM wants to implement such an optional rule -- tread lightly, though!).

What You Get

The dice you get to roll is directly dependent on your rank in Agility. As Agility shouldn't change except slowly over time, it is well worth noting the dice you roll for initiative somewhere on your character sheet.

Option one involves simply tying the number of dice rolled to Agility, increasing by 1dF per step:

Rolled Results Table
Abysmal	0dF
Terrible	1dF
Poor	2dF
Mediocre	3dF
Fair	4dF
Good	5dF
Great	6dF
Superb	7dF
Legendary	8dF

Another option is to increase the number of dice more slowly, but include a "fixed result" (a die with a frozen facing) every other step:

Rolled+Fixed Results Table
Abysmal	0dF
Terrible	0dF, fixed minus
Poor	1dF
Mediocre	1dF, fixed minus
Fair	2dF
Good	2dF, fixed minus
Great	3dF
Superb	3dF, fixed minus
Legendary	4dF

Other variants are possible as well, of course, and the GM is encouraged to create whatever suits her sensibilities.

Bartering

Dice bartering is an optional technique whereby a player can "trade in" a plus (+) die in order to upgrade another die by one facing: - becomes blank, blank becomes +, + becomes ++. ++ is the highest phase, and cannot be upgraded; similarly, the -- phase which everyone gets cannot be upgraded.

Usually an upgrade will be "paid" out of the pool of spare plus dice, if any, and if the GM desires, she may restrict players from doing this if they have only one available + die. Dice which have been upgraded to a + facing may not then be traded in, however; once upgraded, they're locked.

Example: You roll a +,+,- on 3dF. You can trade in your extra + to turn your remaining + into ++. You would then have three phases that round: ++, -, and --.

At the GM's option, it may also be possible to allow downgrades (turning a + to a blank, or a blank to a -), since the goal here is to achieve as diverse a result as possible.

Another Example: You roll 4dF for your initiative, and get four + results. Normally, this would mean you can only act on the + phase in addition to the double-minus. Dice bartering, however, allows you to trade in one of your plusses to turn one of the remaining three into a ++ result. Thus, you act on ++, +, and -- phases.

With downgrades, you could trade in a second + to turn the other remaining + into a blank, but if you did that, you'd have no dice left in the + phase, and would act on ++, blank, and --.

In the end, dice bartering won't be used that often unless there's a lot of high Agility going around, and it makes it possible for players to elect to act on the ++ phase if they want to get that extra "drop" on someone.

Working Without Dice

If you're looking for something a little more like Hero's system, you can leave out the dice entirely, and instead go for something with fixed available phases, like so:

Fixed Results Table
Abysmal	--
Terrible	--, -
Poor	--, blank
Mediocre	--, -, blank
Fair	--, -, +
Good	--, blank, +
Great	--, -, blank, +
Superb	--, -, blank, ++
Legendary	--, -, blank, +, ++

Other Optional Rules

The Effects of Surprise

If someone starts a round "surprised", they roll dice as normal, and then, after bartering, they must drop all their results down a level. Minuses become double-minuses, blanks become minuses, plusses become blanks, and double-plusses become plusses.

Since double-minus results can't be modified, those "stay put"; you can never lose your double-minus phase -- everyone always gets a chance to act once per round.

Using Spares

Plusses aren't the only facings that may have spares. Once bartering is done and the phases for the round are locked, you can allow any remaining spare (surplus facings) dice (even blanks and minuses) to be spent for particular maneuvers, or as lightweight Fudge points that provide a +1 to a die roll, or what have you. This is a good way to avoid completely hosing the guy who rolled four blanks.

Play With the Dice

With a mechanic like this in effect, all sorts of character sheet extras could be provided that affect it. Someone might have a Quick Reflexes Gift which always gave them an action on the + phase, or a Two Left Feet Fault which takes away any surplus dice before bartering is done. Mechanics can also be introduced whereby one can affect the initiative dice of an opponent or a teammate positively or negatively.

The Rules in Action

Sadly, this rule set has not gotten a lot of real-world play testing, mainly due to the tastes of my own playgroup. That said, the system should work reasonably quickly once people get familiar with it, and with the proper bits of hardware.

It will probably be most useful to set up an index card, sheet of paper, or a portion of character sheet, with five rows on it labeled by phase. Then, when initiative dice are rolled, you can sort them into their appropriate rows, and move them around as needed when bartering. The double-minus row isn't strictly necessary, of course, since you always act on it, but I recommend keeping it and using it as the row you put bartered plusses on.

Example: You roll 6dF for initiative, and have rolled two plusses, two blanks, and two minuses. Your initiative card would look like this:

++:
+:	[+] [+]
0:	[ ] [ ]
-:	[-] [-]
--:	Check!

As laid out, you'd act on the +, blank, -, and -- phases.

If you wanted to act on the ++ phase to get the drop on an opponent, and traded in one of your + die to upgrade the other, it would then look like this:

++:	[+]
+:
0:	[ ] [ ]
-:	[-] [-]
--:	Check! [+]

As now laid out, you'd act on the ++, blank, -, and -- phases.

While Fudge is often regarded as a rules-light system, this initiative system will allow you to apply some "crunch" to ypur combats, satisfying any desires you or your players may have.