Structured Gameplay Overview
We expect most of the gameplay in Genesys to be
done on a narrative basis, with your GM describing
events and you and your fellow players describing your
characters’ actions and reactions to those events. Combat,
however, requires more structured gameplay rules.
Narrative gameplay does not require the GM or players to keep track of the exact passage of time, and for the most part, this is perfectly acceptable. It’s usually enough to know that actions may take a few minutes, hours, days, or weeks (or any other amount of time). Narrative gameplay is most often used in situations for which the precise order of actions is unimportant.
Conversely, structured gameplay is, at its heart, a rules system that breaks up a character’s actions into what they could reasonably perform in a predetermined amount of time. It also gives each character in a scene the opportunity to perform actions in turn. It’s most often used for playing through combat situations. However, your GM may decide to employ structured gameplay in certain non-combat scenes that they feel would benefit from requiring the players to clearly define their characters’ actions within a rule set.
When using structured gameplay to describe the sequence of events during a firefight, rapier duel, or hectic chase through busy streets, we break the game down into a series of rounds, each of which is further broken down into a series of turns. During a single round, each player character and non-player character gets one turn, during which that character has the opportunity to accomplish tasks and perform various actions.
Rounds can represent roughly a minute or so in time, although we’ve deliberately avoided specifying the elapsed time amount. You should keep in mind that a round lasts long enough for your character to move to a new location and perform an important action. You should also remember that although each round is broken up into turns that happen sequentially in gameplay, narratively the turns are occurring at roughly the same time.
Structured gameplay events (also called encounters), such as combat, follow these steps:
Step 1: Determine Initiative
At the beginning of the first round of combat, all players and the GM need to determine in what order the characters take their turns. Do the soldiers ambush the supply column, or does the hidden sniper get in the first shot? This is referred to as the Initiative order. To determine the Initiative order, each player character and NPC makes a Simple (–) Cool or Vigilance check (for more information on which to use, see the Cool or Vigilance? sidebar on page 95). Once all Initiative checks have been made, the GM notes the results of each check and ranks them in order from the highest number of s to the lowest. If two checks are tied, the check with more a is ranked higher. If a player character and an NPC are still tied, the player character is ranked higher. This is the Initiative order.
Step 2: Assign Initiative Slots
Once the GM has determined the Initiative order, they note which results were generated by player characters and which results were generated by NPCs. The results generated by player characters become player character Initiative slots. The results generated by NPCs become NPC Initiative slots.
Step 3: Participants Take Turns
Beginning at the top of the Initiative order, the players and GM fill each Initiative slot one at a time with a character turn. If the Initiative slot is a player character Initiative slot, then the players agree on one player character to fill the slot from among the player characters who have not acted yet this round. That player character then takes this turn. While taking their turn, we refer to this character as the active character.
If the Initiative slot is an NPC Initiative slot, then the GM chooses one NPC to fill the slot from among the NPCs who have not yet acted this round. That NPC then takes this turn.
Step 4: Round Ends
Once all NPCs and player characters have taken a turn, the round ends. At this point, certain effects that last until the “end of the round” may end. The GM also determines if the ongoing encounter warrants additional rounds or if it has been resolved. If the ongoing events continue, repeat step 3 using the same Initiative order generated in step 1. If the action has been resolved and the encounter is over, proceed to step 5.
Step 5: Encounter Ends
Once the action has been resolved, the GM ends the encounter. At this point, any character abilities that may only be used “once per encounter” are again available, and any abilities that last “until the end of the encounter” expire. Player characters also have a chance to catch their breath and recover from strain (see page 117), and they may take steps to help heal any incapacitated characters.
Narrative gameplay does not require the GM or players to keep track of the exact passage of time, and for the most part, this is perfectly acceptable. It’s usually enough to know that actions may take a few minutes, hours, days, or weeks (or any other amount of time). Narrative gameplay is most often used in situations for which the precise order of actions is unimportant.
Conversely, structured gameplay is, at its heart, a rules system that breaks up a character’s actions into what they could reasonably perform in a predetermined amount of time. It also gives each character in a scene the opportunity to perform actions in turn. It’s most often used for playing through combat situations. However, your GM may decide to employ structured gameplay in certain non-combat scenes that they feel would benefit from requiring the players to clearly define their characters’ actions within a rule set.
When using structured gameplay to describe the sequence of events during a firefight, rapier duel, or hectic chase through busy streets, we break the game down into a series of rounds, each of which is further broken down into a series of turns. During a single round, each player character and non-player character gets one turn, during which that character has the opportunity to accomplish tasks and perform various actions.
Rounds can represent roughly a minute or so in time, although we’ve deliberately avoided specifying the elapsed time amount. You should keep in mind that a round lasts long enough for your character to move to a new location and perform an important action. You should also remember that although each round is broken up into turns that happen sequentially in gameplay, narratively the turns are occurring at roughly the same time.
Structured gameplay events (also called encounters), such as combat, follow these steps:
Step 1: Determine Initiative
At the beginning of the first round of combat, all players and the GM need to determine in what order the characters take their turns. Do the soldiers ambush the supply column, or does the hidden sniper get in the first shot? This is referred to as the Initiative order. To determine the Initiative order, each player character and NPC makes a Simple (–) Cool or Vigilance check (for more information on which to use, see the Cool or Vigilance? sidebar on page 95). Once all Initiative checks have been made, the GM notes the results of each check and ranks them in order from the highest number of s to the lowest. If two checks are tied, the check with more a is ranked higher. If a player character and an NPC are still tied, the player character is ranked higher. This is the Initiative order.
Step 2: Assign Initiative Slots
Once the GM has determined the Initiative order, they note which results were generated by player characters and which results were generated by NPCs. The results generated by player characters become player character Initiative slots. The results generated by NPCs become NPC Initiative slots.
Step 3: Participants Take Turns
Beginning at the top of the Initiative order, the players and GM fill each Initiative slot one at a time with a character turn. If the Initiative slot is a player character Initiative slot, then the players agree on one player character to fill the slot from among the player characters who have not acted yet this round. That player character then takes this turn. While taking their turn, we refer to this character as the active character.
If the Initiative slot is an NPC Initiative slot, then the GM chooses one NPC to fill the slot from among the NPCs who have not yet acted this round. That NPC then takes this turn.
Step 4: Round Ends
Once all NPCs and player characters have taken a turn, the round ends. At this point, certain effects that last until the “end of the round” may end. The GM also determines if the ongoing encounter warrants additional rounds or if it has been resolved. If the ongoing events continue, repeat step 3 using the same Initiative order generated in step 1. If the action has been resolved and the encounter is over, proceed to step 5.
Step 5: Encounter Ends
Once the action has been resolved, the GM ends the encounter. At this point, any character abilities that may only be used “once per encounter” are again available, and any abilities that last “until the end of the encounter” expire. Player characters also have a chance to catch their breath and recover from strain (see page 117), and they may take steps to help heal any incapacitated characters.
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