Core Rules deep dive: Time & sequence

Let's go through this peculiar aspect of the VI·VIII·X core rules. Time is a very "traditional" concept, it is turn-based, so any RPGer will find himself comfortable with it.

What it is not "traditional" is that any effect occurring in a turn will take place at the end it only. Conventionally, every action/event/situation which provokes an effect has to be considered simultaneosly at the end of the turn. This seems odd but given the fact that the sequence and other game mechanics are developed in a certain way, this is the most rationale solution. Realistically this could also have an explanation: if a PC suffers a mortal hit in a turn, is it really possible that in the last seconds of his life (i.e. the time till the end of the turn) is not able to try a last blow or action? This question may raise some concerns or, even worse, a lot of criticms... therefore I will simply state that, even if this is not the best solution, I adopted for several reasons, some of them you will understand now.

The sequence of play is not called initiative but merely sequence... (trivial but easy to understand!) This works in a way that tries to foster players to have a strategy during the single action, not simply hit, hit and hit... Assuming that any action is carried out by all the participants at the end of the turn, the most relevant aspect to leverage is the awareness of what each of them will do. At the end of the turn, regardless your PC is dead or alive, what has done will be applied in terms of effects. On this assumption the most critical aspect to master is the information about the actions of the others characters. 

[Let me add an useful detail for this reasoning: in the VI·VIII·X game, a character attacks but can also defend! Defense is not worked out like in traditional RPGs only by the armor class and, in case, by the character's dexterity... hence when someone attacks your character, you have to decide whether it is better to attack in turn or defend!]

Back on the sequence, then: the information of what is going to do your counterpart is a huge advantage. The sequence works in a way that there is a declaration sequence where the first character is the most disadvantaged and the the last one the most advantaged since he knows in advance all the other characters' declarations. The latter is your turn in the declaration, the more precise idea the player has of what is going to happen in the turn. The declaration sequence is not based on the dexterity but on the equivalent stat (more or less) of the wisdom: the naiver is the character, the earlier will declare since he has not properly "read" the situation.

This makes the game interesting since the players and the GM have to follow the order of the sequence as described here above and only after that the actions are deployed (I suggest to follow the opposite order for the deployment, from the last character in the declaration sequence up to the first one, but this is in any case not relevant). All the consequences will happen at the end of the turn. 

I really believe this way can change the game experience: from a model where the fastest character was the first one to act (which under my view it doesn't make sense as the fastest character could be the less perceptive out of all the subjects) and the strategy is rather linear, driven by the mantra of "slay your opponent down before he can acts" to a way where the strategy for the single turn is a bit more sophisticated since the player should take into consideration all the effects for that turn (or at least those that he knows before acting!).

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