I love the Rally Step, but I have some questions regarding its timing. So far, my only experience with the Rally Step is from A Day Late. The intro adventure in the Tome of Adventure doesn't incorporate set Rally Steps, which I find odd, as it is a new RPG concept introduced in the same book!
Anyway, the rally Step is used twice in A Day Late . Both times, the authors did a great job of stating exactly what triggers the Rally Step. But... I don't think the timing is as obvious as it appears on the surface.
My first question is: when, exactly, does the GM perform the Rally Step--as soon as the player that triggered it completes his turn, or at the end of the round? If you do it right after the player that triggered it, other players that haven't acted yet this round "could" lose their turn. I say "could" because my second question is: once the Rally Step is done, does the GM start a new round, or does he pick up where he left off in initiative order?
I think it is best to finish off the current turn and then do the Rally Step before the next turn, especially in cases where you have to roll initiative for new arrivals. Most importantly, finishing the turn means no one gets skipped. But I also think the Rally Step loses some dramatic impact if you finish out the turn in which the Rally Step was triggered.
For example, let's say that the dwarf player is first to act this round and kills the beastman leader, which triggers the Rally Step. The description of the Rally Step states "Any remaining beastmen withdraw slightly... disengaging from any PCs."
Do I run the Rally Step as soon as the dwarf player is done? If I do, then players 2 and 3 get no action this round. Or, do I finish the turn and let the remaining players get their hack at the remaining beastmen before the Rally?
Also, do the remaining beastmen get to disengage for free, out of turn, because the text states so? (Even though that defies the normal rules, I don't have a problem with that if it's for dramatic effect and the players don't interpret it otherwise.) What if the beastmen already acted--do they still get to withdraw immediately? Or should I intrepret the beastmens' withdrawal as "what they want to do on their turn, assuming they haven't already gone this round and are still alive by the time they get to act?"
Sorry if that seems nitpicky, but the outcomes could be vastly different depending on whether the GM does the Rally Step immediately when triggered or after the triggering round.
So, if this happened at ynnen's table, WWYD (What would ynnen do?)
Thanks!
Steve