Hello, first time with this system, trying to learn the rules to DM via the quickstart, then buy the pdf if successful. was hoping for some clarification on initiative and combat-
1) is there any sort of initiative? Or is it simply players have a turn, then the enemy?
2) do enemies make attacks? If so how do you work out their skills?
Thanks for all your help!!
There’s no initiative. The spotlight passes around the table as dictated by the fiction and the desires of the players. Enemies don’t make “attacks”, per se. Consequences, which could be attacks but could be anything, result from PC rolls or the GM pushing them on the PCs in the case of PC inaction or overwhelming odds in favour of their opponents.
This guide was written for dungeon world, so the rules’s specifics are different, but the flow of the combat should be the same. I found it immensely helpful when first getting the idea of the “fiction first” school of combat, especially coming from a d20 background.
dl.dropboxusercontent.com – dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3269630/dwdotcom/eon-guide/Dungeon%20World%20Guide%20pdf%20version%201.2.pdf
Thomas Berton ahhh I see! And I suppose enemy attacks could be put upon the group, asking them.to make an action roll to “defend” and then consequences are getting hit
Richard McNutt ahh thank you! I will have a look! This looks like it’s going to be a big help. Thanks again!
Ryan Pentney Yeah, you can say “The guy lunges towards you with his sword drawn” and then the player says “I try to move around him, avoiding his attack” (and let him roll prowl) or “I parry” and let him roll skirmish. You can also simply inflict harm. “The officier draws and fires at you, take level 3 harm ‘Gunshot wound in the chest’!” then the player can do a resist roll (and/or use armor). Depending on how deadly your game should be and how your table likes it, use one or the other more often
Manuel Huber ahh I get it! Thank you very much!
Ryan Pentney actually, there are no attack rolls as in D&D….
The player declares what he wants to accomplish and what action he is using, e.g. killing the guard with a blade by using skirmish. Or sneaking up from behind and knocking him unconscious with prowl.
Then the dice decide whether the guard is dead/unconscious and if a consequence occurs, like the player getting wounded.
The beauty of it: you don’t need any stats for NSCs. A general idea is enough, so you can decide how risky the action is.
And if an enemy is supposed to be especially badass, yes, you can simply declare a consequence up front (which the player can resist).
Richard McNutt just finished reading it, it was super helpful, deff. Covered a lot of issues I was having coming from d20 systems. Thanks again so much!
No worries. Glad it helped!
Don’t forget that you, as a GM, shouldn’t be telling the player what they have to roll. The fiction should be described first and then from that, a roll is suggested. If a player is being attacked, you don’t tell them to roll Finesse to attempt to dodge, you ask them what they want to do. If they want to dodge, fine. But they might want to parry, feint, disarm, throw an alchemical, absorb it with armour, flashback to setting up a sniper, have a teammate protect them, or even just get stabbed.
Basically, the hard work is down to the player; they have to decide how they want to react. All you have to do is tell them mechanically how to do that.
The rest of the advice above is already great and it looks like you’ve taken it on board, so have fun. 🙂