Dev Blog: Initiative is Dead.. and new Virtual Character Sheet

Initiative Is Dead. Long Live Momentum.

A fight is a conversation. The old rules only let one side finish a sentence.

We killed Initiative. Not tweaked it. Killed it. Here is what took its place, and what it means for you at the table.

Momentum

Combat used to open with a roll that locked the order for the whole fight. You went fourth in round one, you went fourth in round nine. Turn order was a line you waited in.

Momentum is a back-and-forth.

When a fight starts, everyone makes a Momentum Roll: a d20 plus a Defense of your choice, Fortitude, Reflex, or Will. Highest goes first, and that side has the opening. Then it passes. Your side acts, the other side acts, back to you, one Turn at a time, until everyone has gone. Each side picks who goes next when it is their turn to act.

What that changes for you: you hit an enemy and it answers while the hit still stings, instead of you and three allies going in a row while the bad guys wait for round two. Your Defense choice on the opening roll is a real decision, so lean on the one you trust. And your side sets its own order every time it acts, so you can build a combo on the fly instead of hoping the dice drop you in the right spot.

Same dice you already own. More of the fight in your hands.

Delay got a promotion

Delay used to be a punishment: skip your Turn, drop to the bottom, hope things improve.

Now it hands the moment to a teammate. Spend it, and an ally who has not gone yet takes their Turn right now. You still take yours later this Round. It went from giving up your turn to setting up your friend's, which is what a coordinated party actually wants.

Rotation, for the tense quiet moments

Not every tense moment is a fight. A standoff. A negotiation one bad word from violence. A heist beat where everyone wants to move at once. You do not want full combat rules for that, but you do want an order.

That is Rotation. Everyone rolls a flat d20, highest goes first, one beat each, and you drop it the second the pressure is off. No Action Points, no Rounds, no clock. A fair line for a moment that needs one.

Your Feats and Abilities are changing

If you have a Feat or Ability that touched Initiative, moved you up the order, dropped an enemy down it, let you act twice, it has been rebuilt for Momentum. Most got better. A few got stranger, in a good way.

We are not burying that here. Every changed Feat and Ability, with the reasoning, is in the full dev blog on the website. Check your sheet against it before your next session.

Tell us how it plays

Momentum is built to be felt at the table. Run a fight with it and come tell us what happened: what worked, what surprised you, what your table did that we never planned for. That is the only playtest that matters.