Got a house rule you want to share or something from the books you're not quite sure about then discuss it here.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:59, Wed 21 Jan 2009.

Does anyone else find the idea of Initiative abit pointless? It just seems to me that the Gm can easily (and realistically) dictate who attacks first, even if it is abit vague.

Example: X, Y, Z and P have all headed to the top of the street. At the other end are the villainous rouges who stole their money bags. The group charge in and attack (All PC's attack first, regardless of whether ranged, magical or melee), then all NPC's.

I guess its all about how its handled/described by the GM.

Sure it might be easier to say, "You guys go, now my guys go".

But, especially in WFRP, it is a game driven by distinction. For some characters, their whole thing might be how they move first, before the lumbering juggernauts or the uber-magus with his awesome spells and liscence to be cool.

Of course, it makes it even more spectacular when you have that Dark Elf saunter in and move quicker than even the Initiative-whore can move.

Just all depends how you flavor it.

True, though more often than not characters that are taken out first are the ones who can survive a few hits and still rape your party seven ways from sunday.

That and I'm a lazy Gm when it comes to combat.

I think initiative is very important.  Getting the first hit in might not make that big of a deal, but the second and third one should have someone seriously hurt with any luck or down and out.  My PC's avoid metal armour for the most part to avoid the -10 penalty as several times baddies go just ahead of them have gotten too close to killing them.

I do like the DH system for initiative better (d10 plus AG bonus) as it makes the rolls much closer.

And you get a lot more opportunities for the perfect split tie in DH!

Combat is my preferred way of making the game have an edge of desperation. I would encourage any GM to take advantage of grappling in combat. One of the most memorable experiences of mine is having a PC scrap and scrape through the muck of an alley with a Scaven on his back gnawing on his shoulder. Blood and spit and split initiatives, all around.

How do people handle combat on Rpol? I've found that it can destroy a game as everyone tends to spend forever posting two lines saying pretty much the same thing. There are only so many ways of saying "I attack and then enter a parrying stance".

I ask for multiple actions.  eg. I all out attack every round until I get hit for more than 3 damage, fully defensive if under 4 wounds.

I then post a few rounds until something interesting happens, like someone drops, a wicked hit is scored etc.

PC's don't get to roll their own unless it is a small group to keep the action fast and furious, oh, and they need to tell my when to spend FP (eg. if failing a parry, on a fury that misses the second roll etc.)

Keeping it moving is what it is all about.

Longest combat ever was a game of DH where they were into round 20 or something like that.  I posted a couple rounds in the am, sometimes one in the afternoon, a couple at night, and it took 4 or 5 days to finish.

Not sure about RPOL, but I encourage a more descriptive statement, and I usually reciprocate in my own descriptions. If I have a group I can trust, then I let them come up with their own accounts.

I was kind of curious about trying a different style here at RPOL, like, making the character's put all their actions in PMs and then describing the account as one big mess.

Another easy way is to throw curveballs during combat. Like having innocent bystanders in the wing, or a timelimit, or taking one character and putting him in a conflict of interest of his targets.

But, I haven't had much experience with cats on RPOL. Does their tend to be a lot of "I swing my sword at him"?

Oh, and to clarify, actions posted, then one big summary.

Really depends on the player but there is a lot of I swing....that needs to be translated and I give the benefit of the doubt.  A "swing" by a character with a shield would most likely be an aimed +10 attack as they get a free parry with the shield.  I "shoot" would most likely be aimed unless there is a need to move and shoot or other action.

I've been quite lucky with my group in that they normally describe their combat actions anyway. A useful combat format I use is as follows:

PC's attack:
PC's Wound roll (if hit):
PC's Parry:
PC's Fortune point (if any used):

I've found it worked quite well so far. The only thing I've noticed that isn't fantastic is that most players will act completely rational and calm in combat, but that's just me nitpicking.

I recently had my group fight in a bar, full weapons and all that crossed with a  barroom brawl. The amount of confusion the PC's had was brilliant, as I had various patrons and others crash into each other and missed attacks nearly always hit someone (friend or foe). Ended up with most PC's getting about one attack for their current foe, before being knocked about into a new combat.

Does anyone use the expanded character module in their games? I've been reading it recently and it has some good material but some of it seems irrelevant. I had some players in a recent game who wanted to use the extra rules associated with star signs but we didn't use any of the others in regards to character generation such as background etc.

I've never used the module but I do use "Sigmar's Heirs" for a little bit more diversity (region specific PC's).

I've had a look at the star signs one (briefly, mind) and it seems abit unfair. Personally, I like it with the starsigns having no physical effect but can sway the players with fancy-nancy talk.

Does anyone know a good site for Dooming and such, as I'm interested in developing the PC background more.

The ECM has a d1000 chart for doomings but as for sites I couldn't say. Seeing as you mentioned star signs there is a section in the WFRP Companion that deals with the personalities of people born under different signs.

I've just spent the past couple of days creating a character using the ECM and it is the most fun I've had doing it and possibly one of the best I have ever created. Well recommended for people who have difficulty in character creation as there are so many ideas there.

Pardon my ignorance, but my brain is too addled by hops to put together what ECM stands for? Apart from Electronic Counter Measures...

Expanded Character Module. Possibly on a website called winds of chaos. Fearsome would be the one to ask on this one.

Gottya, thanks for the heads up Furry! My curiousity is piqued!