X-Com: Gray Dawn Initiative: Stance & Actions
Intiative: Stance & Actions
During a combat round, one's stance determines what combat actions are available to them, the effect of whatever cover they may have taken, and their ability to monitor the battlefield. When the character's initiative comes up, the player makes a suppression check (if needed) and declares the intended stance. Failure of the suppression check will often force a specified stance, and therefore should be made before the player can choose their stance and number of actions. A combatant may declare that they are devoting their entire round to covering fire. If they do, they are assumed to adopt the stance they took on the previous round and can immediately apply suppression points to targets (who will then need to make suppression checks on their initiative. Any combatant performing covering fire still rolls initiative, and when their turn comes, they can attempt to change their stance or even move, but they can take no other actions because they are focused on putting shots downrange.
When rolling initiative, you can opt for a "lightning strike," as detailed in FNFF. This gives a +3 to initiative at the cost of an additional -3 penalty to every action taken during the round.
Drawing a pistol or un-slinging a rifle would count as an action. Like movement, you can draw and fire on the same initiative for a -3 (see below), or you can draw a weapon and wait for your next action (5 initiative points later) to fire at no penalty. If you draw and fire on the move, the penalties are cumulative (-6). Any subsequent firing actions do not suffer the -3 draw & fire penalty (just as with multiple actions when firing on the run as described below in the movement section).
A moving stance indicates that the combatant is moving during the round, or is still in the open and was moving on a previous round. The moving stance implies that the combatant is sprinting, dodging and trying their damnedest not to get shot. A moving target gets defensive benefits from their movement, and penalties for firing on the run. If the combatant is behind cover but still has suppression points, a suppression check is required to leave the safety of cover. If this check is failed, another check can be made to see if they can still take active cover. If the combatant is in the open and is required to make a suppression roll on their initiative, a failure means they automatically take a moving stance with some restrictions; they must make a beeline toward cover, and their offensive actions are extremely limited; they can only perform covering fire or other offensive actions that would be available to someone taking full cover.
Active cover means the combatant is behind cover, and is actively engaging in battle. He is peeking out, keep an eye on his enemies or looking for an opportunity to take a shot. If the combatant chooses an active cover stance, he must make a suppression roll if he has taken any fire since his last action. If the suppression roll succeeds, he may take any combat action he chooses. If it fails, the combatant is relegated to taking full cover.
Full cover means that the combatant is hiding as best as his cover allows, exposing no part of himself to enemy fire. He is not peeking out, so his cover will block his line of sight. This means he may lose track of where his enemies are if they move, but he will not be susceptible to any direct fire (except for covering fire that manages to penetrate the cover). The only offensive combat actions available to him are covering fire and anything that doesn't require he expose himself, like throwing a grenade. This is the default stance for a combatant that has failed a suppression check. Combatants taking full cover cannot be targeted directly; they can only be fired at with covering fire.
Bracing means that you are sacrificing movement for accuracy. Either while standing in the open or hidden behind cover, you are carefully aiming at a target. Bracing reduces the range penalty by one category: medium becomes close, long becomes medium, extreme becomes long. While bracing, shots up to double extreme range (4 times listed range) can be attempted. While in a bracing stance, you sacrifice your ability to dodge and take cover. Defense rolls made while in a bracing stance do not get to add the dodge/cover skill. Cover will still protect portions of a bracing character's body, however. If the combatant chooses a bracing stance, he must make a suppression penalties are doubled (which means that it is exceedingly difficult to attempt things like firing with a scoped weapon while taking fire!). If the suppression roll succeeds, the combatant may take any combat action he chooses. If it fails, he must move for cover if in the open, or take full cover if already behind cover. Bracing can drastically improve long-range accuracy, but can be very dangerous in the wrong circumstances. Taking carefully aimed shots (such as aiming for the head) will require taking a bracing stance, otherwise the combatant is assumed to be firing at whatever body locations present themselves, and any hits will be subject to hit location rolls.
A critical failure of a suppression roll (a roll of 0 or less after suppression penalties are applied) may mean the combatant's morale breaks, and he loses his action entirely, or worse. Placing an overwhelming amount of covering fire on a single target can easily take them completely out of action.
When your initiative comes up, in addition to stance, now is the time to decide how many actions you are going to take. If you choose to take multiple actions, they will be rushed. Accuracy will suffer, causing a -3 penalty to each action for every additional action beyond the first. Multiple actions also do not all take place at the same time, but on later initiative numbers. Every subsequent action takes place 5 initiative points later. Multiple actions will generally have to be very similar (i.e., taking multiple firing actions or throwing a flurry of punches).
If you roll a 15 for initiative, your first action takes place on 15. If you choose to take multiple actions, they would follow on 10, 5 and 0. You could take a maximum of 4 actions (at a staggering -9 to each!). If you only rolled a 14, you could only take a maximum of 3 actions. That fourth one would fire off at initiative -1. You would simply run out of time. If you roll less than a 10, you can only take 2 actions, less than a 4 allows for only one. If you critically fail your initiative roll badly enough that you roll a negative number, you miss your turn; maybe you had a fit of narcolepsy in the middle of a firefight, or you fell on your face and had to spend the round getting back up.
You can opt to delay any action for a later initiative, but your next action can take effect no sooner than 5 points later.
