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Message no. 1
From: Stefan Struck <struck@******.INFORMATIK.UNI-BONN.DE>
Subject: Initiative: Astral, Decking, Physical
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 1995 11:36:52 +0200
Another point which pops up during play:

Why are astral actions before decking before physical ones?
It leads into some difficult situations:

Example: Mage fighting dual being
The dual being has a physical reaction, the mage has astral reaction.
Mage does his actions first, attacking the dual being.
Now, the mage is that quick that he makes 4 attacks before the dual
being can say 'oops'. Seems o.k. 'cause the meat body is just so damn
slow. But the mage has a reaction of 27+ anyway and the dual being is
able to make counterattacks with its slow meatbody? The same with
matrix initiative (on the rare occasion when you have to mix).
Why not just take them all together. The astral beings are quicker than
the other anyway. And I don't see the point in letting the deckers before
the sams, they have to hack their code, too. The hacking rounds are using
the same time (3-5 seconds) than the physical ones, so what are the deckers
doing during the "physical" time of the round?

Long speech, here is my suggestion: Just one initative for all. Players of
all planes unite! 8)
bye,
Stefan
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e-mail: struck@****.informatik.uni-bonn.de
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Message no. 2
From: Robert Watkins <bob@**.NTU.EDU.AU>
Subject: Re: Initiative: Astral, Decking, Physical
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 1995 20:49:23 +0930
Stefan Struck wrote:
>
> Another point which pops up during play:
>
> Why are astral actions before decking before physical ones?
> It leads into some difficult situations:
>
I always thought it was "in the event of a tie" on an action.

E.G.: dual being fighting an astral mage and a physical sam. All move at
action phase 12, say.

If the dual being attacks the mage, it's an astral action, so resolve which
is faster out of the mage and the critter using normal reaction rules (ie,
who has had least number of actions, followed by the fastest Reaction). If
the dual being attacks the sam, it's a physical action.

> Example: Mage fighting dual being
> The dual being has a physical reaction, the mage has astral reaction.
> Mage does his actions first, attacking the dual being.
> Now, the mage is that quick that he makes 4 attacks before the dual
> being can say 'oops'. Seems o.k. 'cause the meat body is just so damn
> slow. But the mage has a reaction of 27+ anyway and the dual being is
> able to make counterattacks with its slow meatbody? The same with
> matrix initiative (on the rare occasion when you have to mix).
> Why not just take them all together. The astral beings are quicker than
> the other anyway. And I don't see the point in letting the deckers before
> the sams, they have to hack their code, too. The hacking rounds are using
> the same time (3-5 seconds) than the physical ones, so what are the deckers
> doing during the "physical" time of the round?

Decking happens at the speed of thought, as does Astral movement/combat.
Reactions are a lot faster, etc, than the "real world" where we are limited
by the meat on our bones.

--
Robert Watkins bob@**.ntu.edu.au
Real Programmers never work 9 to 5. If any real programmers
are around at 9 am, it's because they were up all night.
*** Finger me for my geek code ***
Message no. 3
From: Mark Steedman <RSMS@******.EEE.RGU.AC.UK>
Subject: Re: Initiative: Astral, Decking, Physical
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 1995 13:02:26 GMT
Stefan Struck writes

> Another point which pops up during play:
>
> Why are astral actions before decking before physical ones?
> It leads into some difficult situations:
>
trimmed down
> Example: Mage fighting dual being
> Mage does his actions first, attacking the dual being.
> Now, the mage is that quick that he makes 4 attacks before the dual
> being can say 'oops'.
> matrix initiative (on the rare occasion when you have to mix).
> Why not just take them all together.
>
> Long speech, here is my suggestion: Just one initative for all. Players of
> all planes unite! 8)
> bye,
> Stefan

I think the rule should be for those with the same initative, or
thats how i always play it.
ie astral in 23, matrix in 23, physical in 23, now astral in 22
e.t.c. This matters lots particularly for the poor dual critters that
often have trouble surviving 1 attack from the mage and are slower,
assuming the mage is silly enough not to simply move 20 m up and fry
from on high.
Also you can make things go faster in the physical than the astral
quite easily. If you are feeling very munchkinous initative averages
well over 40 are possible (no one ever said sensible) while on the
astral getting over 40 without being a really silly grade initiate is
just not on (except those retched bugs, a queen bug still holds both
the physical and astral all time initative score records by a long
way).

Mark
Message no. 4
From: Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@***.NEU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Initiative: Astral, Decking, Physical
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 1995 11:05:14 -0400
>>>>> "Stefan" == Stefan Struck
<struck@******.INFORMATIK.UNI-BONN.DE>
>>>>> writes:

Stefan> Another point which pops up during play:
Stefan> Why are astral actions before decking before physical ones?

To keep things simple when there are lots of things going on. Say you've
simultaneously got a projeting mage locked in a banishing test with an
elemental, a decker fighting black IC, and the rest of the group dealing
with the site's physical security. It's usually less confusing for the
GM to deal with one set of combatants (the astral fight) before moving
to the next (the Matrix fight).

Stefan> It leads into some difficult situations:

Stefan> Example: Mage fighting dual being
Stefan> The dual being has a physical reaction, the mage has astral
Stefan> reaction.

This is about the only exception that I can think of, and if you can
deal with the confusion, do everything in initiative order.

--
Rat <ratinox@***.neu.edu> | Caution: Happy Fun Ball may suddenly
http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/ratinox | accelerate to dangerous speeds.
PGP Public Key: Ask for one today! |

Further Reading

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