DwD Studios

Order Download

In this official supplement to the BareBones Fantasy role-playing game, you'll find a beautiful deck of 54 high quality cards. They are designed to be used as a replacement for using dice when determining initiative. We at DwD Studios have been playing BareBones for a lot longer than most of you, and we find that dice get tossed around a gaming table quite a bit. So much in fact that by the time it comes to your initiative turn, sometimes you forget which die represents your turn order! Well that problem is no more.

Sure, you could just grab a deck of normal poker cards, and that might work just fine. But to really get into the mood, consider using this inexpensive alternitive. The deck contains five each of the numbers 1 through 10. Deal a number of cards to each player equal to his INIT score. Let the player choose which card he wants to use (normally the highest) and give you back the rest. The cards which are below 5 have a red color schemes while those above 5 have green color schemes. This helps the GM know, at a glance, who gets to act before his minor NPCs and unimportant minion creatures get to act. Each player can toss you his card as his initiative order comes up. No more missing quiet/distracted player's turns. No more losing the INIT die in the pile of resistance checks a player makes.

In addition to these numbered cards are included two additional types of cards. You can choose to use these (or not) optional rules to spice up combats:

Two of the cards in this deck have the word SKIP on them. Face it - a character with an INIT score of 1 really isn't much of a combatant. He's likely more comfortable mending wagon wheels or... I don't know... making candles. Players who get a SKIP result don't get to act that turn. Combat paralysis. Fear. Frenzy. Reloading or recovering arrows. Reeling in pain. You get the idea. Fortunately for those of you more accustomed to combat (with an INIT score above 1), you're not likely to choose this card when you're dealt it along with one or two others. Being SKIPPED sucks when you're the one dealt it, but it's a high-five moment when it's the big bad guy who suddenly gets SKIPPED!

Two of the cards have the word WILD on them. When a player gets this card he gets to choose when he acts during the turn. Even if he wants to go before those who got a 10. Even interrupting another player (enemy or otherwise). He's more or less in control of the situation. Of course, those of you with characters accustomed to combat (INIT scores 2 or more) will find themselves WILD more often than the untrained and untalented, but everyone has a chance to be WILD once in a while!