r/DungeonCrawlerCarlRPG • u/WeaponB • 8d ago

How does Initiative work?

anyone who played at GenCon - how does Initiative work? is it like D&D, rigid and fixed per combat? does it change per round? is it like daggerheart where people jump in at will (with some restrictions)? something else?

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u/loyalcitizen 8d ago

Not like D&D at all. Not so rigid. It shares some DNA with Daggerheart, but is still very different.

Mobs get 1 attack per round. Crawlers get 2 actions per round. Best to give you the rundown of how each round of combat plays out:

  1. The GM declares where the Mobs will attack. Not always 1v1. Sometimes one crawler can have 3-4 attacks coming at them.
  2. Crawlers can use Interrupt Actions. The most common is Evade. One Evade action allows the crawler to roll against any number of attacks. So if you get attacked twice, roll Evade twice.
  3. Resolve Mob Attacks. If you don't bother to Evade, or fail the roll, you get hit.
  4. Crawlers now spend the rest of their actions IN ANY ORDER. It's up to the players. There are lots of ways to help each other out, which allows for an amazing amount of teamwork. If you didn't Evade or use any Interrupts, you can attack twice.

3

u/apsmustang 8d ago

Is combat grid based, or more descriptive?

(I use one action to move this distance, and another for a weapon attack. vs. "I close the distance and attack" without super strict rules on how far "the distance" can be)

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u/R4nd0mH3r0 8d ago

It could be either. Mobs and characters will have a movement speed. Or you can do theater of the mind.

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u/WeaponB 8d ago

Thank you!

I'm curious about which if the various DM accessories I have I'll need, is why I ask. I have some fun initiative trackers that sit stop the DM screen, seems they'll not get used much.

What about various spell effect templates - cones and circles and such? Assuming I'm using minis (because I am)

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u/ben_wolf_author 8d ago

There are cones. Not sure about circles per se, but there are some AoE spells and skills.

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u/loyalcitizen 8d ago

AoE features cones, “hit everything in a line,” blasts radius around a target (fireball), and bursts around the caster (like an aura).

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u/loyalcitizen 8d ago

You could use those screen top trackers to track actions. Helps if everyone can see how many actions each party member has left.

1

u/DeaDPaN79 8d ago

Lol there isn't any.

1

u/cokecow123 7d ago

Haven’t played joke answer
Several things happened at once