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As we've covered in other articles 2e will be much more similar to the video games, one big area where we can see this is the base systems for Combat.
Namely; a lot of the calculations are results of existing calculations from the Pokemon Video Games, like accuracy checks, damage rolls etc. Modified to suit our needs.
In today's article, part 1 of the Combat System saga, we'll be covering how our Pokemon Legends Arceus inspired initiative will work!
2e features a "Speed-based Initiative System", which means that the turn order, as well as the amount of turns, is based on your relative Speed stat.
As you may know; in Pokemon Legends Arceus sometimes Pokemon can have multiple turns due to either having a high speed stat, or using "faster" moves (like using a move in Agile Stance), The same holds true for 2e.
Instead of rolling for initiative your Base Action Value is calculated based on your Speed stat, and your Action Value is set to the Base Action Value.
Creatures then act in ascending Action Value order, meaning the creature with the lowest Action Value acts first.
Whenever your turn begins, everyone's Action Value (including your own) gets deducted based on your current Action Value effectively setting you to 0, and reducing all other initiatives by the same amount.
After you end your turn; you get re-inserted into the tracker at your Base Action Value, and have to wait till your next turn.
Next to this; there is also "The Round", the round has a Base Action Value of 100, meaning after every 100 Action Value; a new round begins. However, a new round starting doesn't mean initiative gets reset! Initiative is fluid, so if you went first round 1 it may mean you are last round 2 or 3!
Your Base Action Value gets calculated based on your Speed stat as well as some other values like the average level of all combatants in the encounter. The result is an initiative system where you act based on the relative speed between creatures!
This means that in a boss fight you no longer will have to give your bosses extra turns, as their relative power should already provide them with the proper amount of activations per round over your peers!
Lets walk you through a round or two of Combat as an example, the Action Values will be shown pre-turn start reductions, and the turns marked in bold are the pokemon that just ended their turn and got added back to initiative at their Base Action Value
For this combat we'll be using the following mons with their respective Base Action Value (Base AV):
Voltorb Base AV: 38
Scorbunny Base AV: 50
Bulbasaur Base AV: 67
Geodude Base AV: 100
So as Voltorb’s turn starts everyone’s initiative gets reduced by 38; Voltorb’s remaining Action Value, after Voltorb ends their turn they get added back into initiative at their Base AV of 38, and the turn order would look like this:
We can see that Voltorb still gets to go again before the Geodude; due to its high speed.
I won’t explain every turn but let me just show you a few turns in a row now:
We can now see that the Bulbasaur won’t be able to act again this round as their initiative is lower than that of the Round’s.
As you can see Round 2 won’t look the same for everyone as Round 1 did; before the order was Voltorb -> Scorbunny -> Bulbasaur -> Geodude, however now Bulbasaur & Scorbunny have swapped places; this is due to Scorbunny’s higher speed stat allowing it to go twice round 1; but it doesn’t quite have enough speed to then still outspeed Bulbasaur in the next round.
The dynamic flow of the combat allows for interesting scenarios where the turn order is ever changing. Lets see a few more turns:
We can see here that if Bulbasaur had been ever so slightly faster, it’d have been able to go again in Round 2; but since it’ll start Round 3 with an Action Value of 1; it’s guaranteed to go twice in Round 3!
And for the final example; we can see here that Scorbunny perfectly ties it up with both Geodude and the Round; at this point the Base AVs are compared and the creature with the lowest Base AV gets to go first; allowing Scorbunny to barely sneak out a 2nd activation during round 2.