Half Minotaur Farmer

I'm currently running my initial draft for Tampalasan, a tropical fantasy adventure game that has strong influence of Filipino and Southeast Asian concepts, but still has stereotypical fantasy elements. Planning to launch a playable version of it on Session Zero Online, this coming Jan 30 2021 . One of the things I've pondered for a while is its initiative system, which I want to focus more on strategy and less on tactics. Combat options will still be there, but it shouldn't be the main focus of the game, and it shouldn't alienate those who do not delve deep into combat mechanics. I've covered before how an initiative system dictates the type of game your playing , and I still believe that.  Here are some aspects from initiative systems I took inspiration from, and what aspects I don't like about them.  1. Group initiative , where roll against your Speed/Dex stat to go first before the enemies. Used in Into the Odd, Bastionland, and a few other games. Simple and...

Something I have thought of a few months ago, but I keep forgetting to write about. If you want to add a small layer of variance in your d20 initiative system, but still want the predictability of a tracked initiative list, you might be interested in this. - - -   It's another initiative-related post, so have a google image search again. When rolling initiative, create two sets of initiative track for combat, one for odd-numbered rounds and another for even-numbered rounds. For the odd-numbered rounds of combat, add Dexterity modifier to the initiative roll to determine the result. For the even-numbered rounds of combat, add Intelligence modifier to the roll. Note that each combatant still rolls one initiative roll, they just have a different ability modifier for the two tracks of initiative. Any additional modifiers from other sources (features, feats, spells, etc) still apply to all rounds. Why do this?  1. A chance for Int-based characters to act fast, af...

Rolling for initiative is such an iconic part of RPG. Almost every RPG has one, or at least a version of it to know who's acting first in the situation or encounter. With the various initiative systems out there, I think... A quick google search tells you what I'm talking about. Be kind to yourself and do it.  1)...we should scrap it and let fiction decide whose turn is it.  Unlike turn-based video games, we don't need an indicator when a risky encounter is about to happen. The fact that we use a "roll for initiative when we encounter something" system in our games like a Pokemon trainer who just encountered a wild pokemon puts people into the notion that combat has to happen. At the very least, the other side is hostile or not on the same side as the players, so our actions has to become turn-like to facilitate the exchange of blows or actions. But most of the time, the group knows who should really act first due to how the situation played out. Someti...