Modern Initiative Cards

8/13/2019 Modern Initiative Cards

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Requires the use of the d20 Modern Roleplaying Game , published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc..

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Initiative Cards v2.0 (Modern) 2003 The Game Mechanics, Inc. All rights reserved.For information on the designation of Open Game Content and Product Identity in this publication, refer to the Appendix.

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Made in the U.S.A.

Initiative Cards v2.0 (Modern)by Rich Redman and JD Wiker

Editing: Marc Schmalz

Design Review: Marc Schmalz and Stan! Layout and Typesetting: Marc Schmalz

Special thanks to: the opinionated, helpful members of The Game Mechanics' message boards for their feedback.

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Initiative Cards v2.0 (Modern)The Game Mechanics, Inc.

creature falls unconscious, simply turn the cardsideways facing the other direction, with the wordUnconscious visible.

Character CardsUse character cards for player characters, non-player characters, familiars, and monsters that haveclasses and levels.

NAME: Record the characters name here.ALLEG/RACE: Record the characters allegiance

and race here. The former may be useful for classabilities that work o of a character s allegiance;the laer is useful for spells, e ects, and situationsthat take the character s race into consideration.If youre using the character card to represent afamiliar, record the animals species (cat, hawk, rat,weasel, etc.) here.

INIT: Leave this space blank at rst. When combat begins, use it to record the characters initiative roll.

Def: Record the character s base Defense here,including Def for touch aacks (TCH)aacks thatdisregard armorand for aacks when the charac-ter is atfooted (FLT). There is also a box in which

you can mark any temporarychanges to the charactersDef (TMP) that occur duringthe course of the game.

CLS/LVL: Record thecharacters classes and levelshere. If the character has sev-eral classes, you might want

to use abbreviations: Str forStrong, Fst for Fast, or Tghfor Tough, for example.

Delay or Ready: Turn-ing the card so this spaceis showing indicates thecharacter is delaying or hasreadied an action.

STR, DEX, CON, INT,WIS, and CHA: Record thecharacters ability scores andability modi ers here.

FORT, REF, and WILL:

Record the characters Forti-tude, Re ex, and Will savingthrows here.

SPD: Record the characters base movement here.VIS: Record any special vision modes the char-

acter might have, such as low-light vision, darkvi-sion, or blindsight. If the vision mode has a range,make sure you note that, such as Dark 60.

Skills: Record the total skill modi ers (skill rank+ ability modi er + miscellaneous modi ers) here.This area lists only those skills for which the GM

IntroductionKeeping track of initiative in games using thed20 System can get complicated. Every GM has amethod that he or she favors, but which sometimeslacks in versatility or utility. These Initiative Cardsprovide GMs both with an easy way to keep trackof initiative, and a handy reference for all the sortsof information a GM sometimes needs during agame session.

There are two di erent types of Initiative Cards: Character cards which contain information

about the player characters and the occasionalnon-player character. You can use these cardsfor familiars as well.

Monster cards which contain informationabout monsters (though its best to use charac-ter cards for monsters that have class levels).You can use these cards for most animal com-panions as well.

Initiative Cards in PlayBefore beginning play, ll out one Initiative Cardfor each opponent the heroes are likelyto face during the coming session. Ifyou have a current copy of the heroescharacter sheets, ll one out for eachhero; if not ask each player to ll oneout at the start of the game.

When combat begins, ask the playersto roll initiative while you roll initia-

tive for any opponents and non-playercharacters. Set aside any cards forcharacters or creatures who are sur-prised. One by one, go around thetable and ask each player for his orher characters initiative result. Writetheir initiative numbers down in thespace marked INIT on the cards; dothe same for all the initiative rolls youmake. Use a pencil; youll be erasingand rewriting these numbers fairly of-ten. Sort the stack of cards by initiativetotal with the highest on top.

Then simply begin at the top of thestack, moving each card to the bot-tom when that character or creaturehas concluded its turn. If you have characters orcreatures joining combat who have not yet rolledinitiative, ask them to roll for initiative, jot downtheir initiative numbers, and place their cards inthe proper place in the initiative order.

If a character or creature delays, or readies anaction, turn that Initiative Card sideways, withthe Delay/Ready box showing. If a character or

The Character Card


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should regularly make skill checks on the players behalf. (See Chapter Seven: Gamemastering inthe d20 Modern Roleplaying Game) In addition totheir use for recording skills that are not alreadyincluded, the blank skill spaces can be used torecord other score-based information, such as SpellResistance.

Languages: Record the languages the characterknows here. This could come in handy when thecharacters encounter speech or writing in a lan-guage other than English. (You can check which ofthe characters might understand without havingto ask the players which languages each charactersknow.)

Special/Notes: Use this space to record anytemporary e ects on the character,such as spells or the special aacksof monsters, and to keep track ofthe duration of such e ects.

Unconscious: Turning the cardso this space is showing indicatesthat the character is unconscious.

Monster CardsUse monster cards for monstersthat dont have classes and levels.You can use one card to representmultiple monsters of the sametype (one card to stand for threeogres, for example), or you canuse individual cards for individu-

al monsters.NAME: Record the monstersname here. You can use one cardto represent a number of identicalmonsters, or use separate cardsfor each according to your ownpreferences.

ALLEG: Record the monsters allegiance here.Knowing the monsters alignment could be impor-tant for spells that key o of a characters alle-giance.

INIT: Leave this space blank at rst. When combat begins, use it to record the characters initiative

roll.Delay or Ready: Turning the card so this space isshowing indicates the character is delaying or hasreadied an action.

DEF: Record the monsters base defense here,including Def for touch aacks (TCH)aacksthat disregard armorand for aacks when thecharacter is atfooted (FLT). There is also a box inwhich you can mark any temporary changes to themonsters Def (TMP) that occur during the courseof the game.

INIT: Record the monsters initiative modi erhere.

FORT, REF, and WILL: Record the monstersFortitude, Re ex, and Will saving throws here.

SPD: Record the monsters base movement here.If the monster has other movement modes, recordthose as well, with a brief notation such as Fly50/Swim 40.

VIS: Record any special vision modes the char-acter might have, such as low-light vision, darkvi-sion, or blindsight. If the vision mode has a range,make sure you note that, such as Dark 60.

GRAP: Record the monsters grapple bonus here.Skills: Record skills and total skill modi ers

(skill rank + ability modi er + miscellaneousmodi ers) here. Unlike CharacterCards, no speci c skills are listedin this area. In addition to theiruse for recording skills, thesespaces can be used to record otherscore-based information, such asSpell Resistance.

Aacks: Record the monstersaacks here. Spaces are includedfor Aack (#) (the method of at-tack, such as Bite, 2 Claws, orSword), Bonus (the aack modi-

er), Type (the type of damage,P for piercing, B for blud-geoning, and S for slashing),and Damage (the damage caused

by the aack).HP: Use this space to keep trackof the monsters hit points.

Special/Notes: Use this space torecord any temporary e ects onthe monster, such as spells or thespecial aacks of other monsters,

and to keep track of the duration of such e ects.Unconscious: Turning the card so this space is

showing indicates the character is unconscious.

Example of PlayA combat begins in Richs gamethe characters

encounter a group of ve low-level ordinary thugs.Rich tells the players to roll initiative for theircharacters, while he rolls for the thugs. Since Richhas prepared his Initiative Cards for the thugs inadvance, all he has to do is pull out the cards, checkthe initiative modi ers, and roll 1d20 for them. Forconvenience, Rich is using a single initiative roll forall ve thugs; this also lets him to track them using

just one card. The thugs get a total of 14.The players tell Rich what they rolled for initia-

tive: Wendy, playing Samantha, gets a 9; Joanna, 2

The Monster Card


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playing Kelly, gets a 23; Je , playing Joey, gets a 24;and JD, playing Sugar, gets a 13. As the players tellRich their initiatives, he puts them in place, so the

nal initiative order looks like this: Joey (24), Kelly(23), the thugs (14), Sugar (13), and Samantha (9).

Joey doesnt want to charge into the midst ofthe enemy, so he delays. Rich turns Joeys card 90degrees to the right, leaving the Delay or Readyindicator showing. He then moves Joeys card tothe back.

Next up is Kelly who aacks with her bow, butmisses; Rich moves her card to the back of thestack. Then come the thugs, who shoot at Sugar.The thugs aacks only have to beat Sugars at-footed Defense, since Sugar hasnt acted yet.

Next, Sugar aacks a thug, and deals 12 points ofdamage. Rich records this on the thugs card, underHit Points. Then Samantha acts, shooting a thug.

Now Je decides that Joey will act, and so Richmoves Joeys card back up to the front. He runsto where two thugs are standing, and uses hisunarmed aack to in ict a stunning 6 points ofnonlethal damage.

3

StO 1/TO1

Thug131314

14

12

15

13

10

8

+4

+1

+0

+3

40

Unarmed +4 M/N 1d6+2Knife +4 M 1d4+2 (19-20)

14 14 14 14 14 2

BrawlPersonal Firearms Pr.Simple Weapons Pr.

Drive Intimidate Swim+5 +3 +3

Colt M1911 +2 R 2d6


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Documents

Modern Initiative Cards