Sequence

Sequence is a derived statistic in Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics. The Fallout: The Roleplaying Game sequence is renamed Initiative.

Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics
Base Level: 2 * PE

When a character starts combat, be it the player character or not, they receive a free "surprise turn" and can immediately attack a target. If the target survives this attack, they get a turn to defend itself. After the defender reacts, all other participants receive a turn based upon their sequence statistic. Characters with higher sequence act earlier than those with lower sequence, though everyone has a turn before anyone goes again.

Because everyone must have a turn before a character can have another, the main benefits to having a high sequence are:
 * If the player started combat (the surprise turn), a sufficiently high sequence will allow the player to have two turns in a row (by being first to go during the first normal turn).
 * Otherwise, the player will be able to influence combat much earlier. A player with very low sequence might never get a turn before dying. Conversely, a player with very high sequence (and a good weapon) might be able to swing the tide of battle before the enemies have much of a chance to do anything.

In either case, after the first turn, the direct advantages of having a high sequence (or direct disadvantages of a low sequence) disappear, since actions will be done round-robin. Though, if a player had a particularly good (or bad) first turn, those indirect effects will continue to be felt.


 * The Kamikaze trait increases sequence by 5.
 * The Earlier Sequence perk increases sequence by 2 per rank.

Fallout: The Roleplaying Game
Base Level: Agility + Perception

Initiative determines the turn order a character can act in combat compared to their enemies and their party members. Imitative is a largely static number, but it can be changed by perks such as Intense Training increasing either Agility or Perception. Besides perks, being encumbered by 50lbs reduces initiative by 1, with each additional 50lbs increasing the penalty by an additional 1.

Variable Initiative rule
A variable rule provided in the GM Toolkit, the GM may decide to use this rule for a more traditional type of initiative. At the start of a combat encounter, the GM asks each character to toll Combat Dice equal to their base Initiative value (AGI + PER), and note down the totals rolled. Example initiative: the Sole Survivor has 8 Agility and 6 Perception so therefore has 14 dice to roll for initiative. The GM must also roll for all NPCs in the scene.

If one side or the other has a significant advantage, such as an ambush, then they may add an additional +1 to each of their results for each Effect they roll.

The player who rolls the highest total takes the first turn, followed by the next-highest, and so on until every character has taken their turn. Then, a new round begins repeating that order. When the results are in and the order has been determined, a player can choose to have a lower total than they rolled. If done so, the lower total remains the case for the duration of the combat scene.

If a player character and an NPC have the same total, then the player character always goes first. If two player characters, they may act in whichever order they choose amongst themselves. If two NPCs have the same total, the GM decides.