{"id":6764,"date":"2016-09-16T07:00:13","date_gmt":"2016-09-16T12:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/?p=6764"},"modified":"2016-09-07T11:05:36","modified_gmt":"2016-09-07T16:05:36","slug":"the-gm-awakens-taking-back-the-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/the-gm-awakens-taking-back-the-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"The GM Awakens – Taking Back the Initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This series follows the trials, tribulations, successes, and failures of a fairly inexperienced GM who has recently picked up the hobby after a long time away. It aims to assist new GMs by examining what worked, didn’t work, and what failed miserably as he spins up new campaigns, modules, encounters, and adventures for his friends and family.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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So in my previous two articles I discussed different things that you can do to get younger players enjoying your favorite RPG, and we looked at some things that I did wrong as I have tried to get some younger new players into FFG’s Star Wars RPG lines. They are friends of my oldest, my son Sean, who is 13. They are all huge Star Wars fans, but they’ve never played an RPG before. Some of my other tips and tricks can easily serve any age of new player but this next one might actually be rather specific to younger players. This article continues this discussion with an odd look at initiative.<\/span><\/p>\n

Taking Turns<\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n

Another miss on my part while on-boarding these teenage newbies was with a simple game mechanic nearly all RPG’s have…initiative. How complicated could that be? It’s just the order in which PC’s and NPC’s act. Well, with a room full of young teenage boys, it got complicated beyond my wildest dreams.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Edge of the Empire system from FFG uses a variable initiative order, in that the PCs aren’t ordered by their initiative roll, but rather any PC in the party may act when a “PC Slot” is ready. Each time a PC is up in initiative order, the team discusses who should go next or, a player with an idea takes the slot and takes his\/her actions. I played with the rules as written (RAW) and let the boys choose who went first, second, etc. Well, the table quickly devolved into friendly, but highly competitive character comparisons: \u201cOooh I want to go first! I have the best gun!\u201d \u201cNo you don’t, my gun does 7 damage, I should go first!\u201d \u201cOooh no my guy has a grenade?\u201d No one could agree or work together, so stalemates and debates stalled the game at each encounter. The boys constantly argued and overthought who should take each initiative slot, and these boys are all best friends.\u00a0 It was the closest thing that caused arguments at the table, and after analysis it was all stemming from trying to figure out who goes next.<\/span><\/p>\n

The variable initiative system in FFG’s Star Wars system is one of my favorite aspects of the system as it encourages and almost demands teamwork and team synergy. I love how much teamwork my group has as they work out their methods to take on each encounter. The boys, however, because of their natural competitive and excited nature, couldn’t get to that point. They just worried about skill ranks, talents, and who did the most damage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other systems have specific initiative orders based on their initiative roll or score. This can also cause issues if one player is always first or always last due to their specific attributes that determine the initiative roll. It can cause competitive issues at the table in youngsters like at my table.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, try taking a different tact when it comes to initiative in your first game session with younger players:<\/span><\/p>\n