Sequence is a derived statistic in Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel. In Van Buren and J.E. Sawyer's Fallout RPG it was renamed to Combat Sequence.
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.
Initial Level: 2 * PE
- The Kamikaze trait increases sequence by 5.
- The Earlier Sequence perk increases sequence by 2 per rank.
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