Handling Initiative

How To Play

How Does Initiative Work

Initiative By Round

Character Design

Crusaders, unlike many modern TTRPGs, is played 100% in initiative. We recommend starting players off with a scene intro narrated by the DM, and then allowing them to place their pieces on the board or map and immediately rolling initiative.

On their turn, your players will each have an Action, Bonus Action, Communication, Free Action, Movement, Communication Reaction, and Reaction to describe what they are doing as the scene progresses. Players may choose to use any or all of these options on their turns; if you notice that your players are hesitating to make use of the full set of options available, you can remind them (e.g. “Alright, so you’ve used your Movement to reach the stranger and your Action to attack them with your quarterstaff. You still have a Bonus Action, Communication, and a Free Action; is that all for your turn?”).

How Initiative Works

Each player rolls their initiative (1d20 plus their initiative modifier, which is generally determined by their Dexterity modifier). This will create the order in which the players will proceed with their turns. Once the last player or monster has completed their turn, that is the end of the round and 6 seconds (in combat) or 1 minute (outside of combat) has passed in game time.

Make sure you create your battle maps to coordinate well with playing on a scene-by-scene basis (e.g., avoid using a huge map with your planned encounter all the way at one end, in case your players put their pieces at the other end and then require 20 rounds to even reach your encounter). In some cases, you may consider telling the players something like: “Your characters then keep walking for an hour, until…”, and then continuing to the next scene — this is known as a time-skip.

Some DMs will consider having players roll a d20 every hour to see if an encounter happens. This is perfectly fine to do in a Crusaders game; just be sure to remind players about eating rations once every 8 hours, or twice a day. This will allow you to use the exhaustion mechanics built into the system if they do not prepare for long journeys.

The keys to harmonious gameplay during travel in Crusaders are clear communication and consistent DM planning. To avoid player arguments, make sure to let them know that a nearby town is about 3 days’ journey away before they leave the city to set out for that town. If they hit encounters and detours, it’s not unreasonable for that trip to turn into a 5-day journey… but if you told them it would be a 1-day trip and you end up going 15 days with no towns in sight, the players may be justified in complaining.

Initiative by Round

In Crusaders, the ideal way to play is to reroll initiative at the end of each round. This will allow players with initiative advantages to feel like their investment paid off, and make both combat and roleplay feel more genuine and less robotic.

With that said: on a manual roll system (e.g. non-virtual, or virtual but non-macro-based), this isn't that easy. In such a case, you might have just the players reroll their initiative at the end of the round, so you're not wasting time rerolling for 30 individual Kobolds.

When handling initiative, it's important to remind players that they have things available to them like skill checks as a free action, or communication with other characters, to make sure that their character gets the proper amount of roleplay. Over time, you will need to remind them less, as players adapt to the Crusaders system. Of course, sometimes a character might gather information and simply not want to share it with anyone else, and that's perfectly fine.

Finally: Collaborative Storytelling!

Crusaders plays like a board game, in which players are put on a map and given a scenario to deal with. They can use skill checks, combat, roleplay, or any combination of those factors to resolve the conflict, but be sure to allow them to have agency in their decisions for the best story. 

Tip: don't feel obligated to over-punish NAT 1 rolls on skill checks, or over-reward NAT 20's. Another tip is to have monsters utilize skill checks and communication, which gives them more personality than just walking bundles of hit points. 

Here's a example of one round in a Crusaders game --

Player 1: I do a Perception check on the room [Free Action].

DM: You see 3 strangers about 30-45 feet away, and a tree to your right.

Player 1: I approach them [Movement] and ask them why they are here [Communication]. 

DM: They turn towards you.

Player 1: I use my Action to Insight check [Action]; do I see anything suspicious about these men?

DM: You see their faces. One man has a scar across his eye, one is noticeably taller than the other two, and the last one is actually a woman.

Player 1: Okay, that's the end of my turn. 

DM [Female NPC's Turn]: "Please sir, we haven't eaten in weeks; we're starving!" [Communication] She approaches Player 1 [Movement] and sticks her hand out as she attempts a Sleight of Hand check [Free Action] to grab an object... but she fails. Player 2, you're up.

Player 2: I follow Player 1's character [Movement]. I use my Action to cast Bless on Players 1, 2, 3, and 4 [Action]. Then, I make a Nature check [Free Action], to see if I can tell how long these men have been walking. I nod at the men, but let them speak first [Communication]. And... that's it for my turn.

DM: You notice they have been walking for days - but their boots are still freshly polished, which would tell you that they are coming from a nearby town. Player 3?

Player 3: I signal to Player 4 to follow [Communication] as I approach with caution [Movement]. I use my Bonus Action to use my Track & Kill feature on the man to the left [Bonus Action], in case he runs. Then I use my Action to do a Perception Check to look for an ambush [Action]. 

DM: Out of the corner of your eye, you notice 3 bandits jump out from the bushes!

Player 3: I knew that was coming. End turn!

Player 4: I run 30 feet [Movement] and use my Action to Attack the bandit [Action, part 1]. 

(the attack hits)

DM: The bandit is still alive. Anything else?

Player 4: As part of the same Action, I cast Extra Attack and attack him again [Action, part 2]

DM: He's still alive -- this one's a tough guy!

Player 4: I yell "Ambush!" to the others [Communication]. End turn!

DM [The two male NPCs' turns]: The two men pull their swords [Free Action] and mutter "sorry about this" with shame in their eyes, as they move towards you and make the Attack action [Action]. 

(DM resolves the result of the NPCs' attacks)

DM: And that's the end of their turn, and the end of the round (scene).

(New Round begins; all players and NPCs reroll initiative) 

If you prefer to use scene instead of round that is optional.

New Round Begins Reroll Initiative.

Monsters' turns can be as simple or intricate as you want them to be. Sometimes you may want to use them to develop a story, or - like in the example - they could be ambushing the characters to prompt a combat encounter. Note that if Player 3 had not noticed the ambush, then the bandits would have gotten a surprise round on the party -- surprise rounds are done right after the round ends, but before rerolling initiative.