The issue that I see with the simple "initiative roll" solution is that the conflict isn't simply a matter of character vs. character, who gets to shoot first. It's much more a matter of conflicting internal goals for each character, but dependent on the actions of each of the other characters. Each character has the conflicting goals of "hold two or three guys at bay with one bullet" vs. "don't get shot myself" -- a contest of wills, really.

With a simple initiative resolution, the winner gets to shoot one of the other characters first, but the other two in this situation will get to shoot at the winner immediately afterward if they want -- that's why this is a stalemate situation, which is what makes it so interesting. Ceasar Slaad's Spycraft solution gets at the heart of the matter. Each bead of sweat rolling down a character's forehead is a point lost in the test of wills.

My solution of choice would be a HeroQuest extended contest where actual weapon skills are cast in the role of "coolness under fire" and reputation among the other characters, and other emotional or personality traits can affect the contest. What I would rule is that the first character to lose the contest is the first character to flinch, and is forced to act first at a significant penalty to success. Maybe that's where I'd call for the initiative roll, only after the winners and losers in the contest of wills have been decided.

!i!

Ummm - who in the world said the init was to shoot first? The init is to see who has first action. That action could be anything - intimidation, bluff, ingratiation, whatever. Anyone shooting first in a Mexican Standoff deserves to die. The idea is to shoot last.

-clash

Okay, mea culpa. I still see initiative as secondary to the real contest, which is the test of wills, which you place second.

!i!

[Edit: And, to be frank, I was previously referring to Jim's post, which, admittedly, only mentioned "who goes first". I hadn't read your post.]

Ya know, I even went back and checked my post because I wasn't sure if I had written "goes" or "shoots."

In D&D Terms, it might look kind of funny, mechanically.

DM: OK, inititiave order 22 - Dalen, you're up!
Dalen: I'll ready an action to shoot if Naugrim start to pull the trigger.
DM: OK, that changes your initiative to be just before Naugrim's if she shoots. Pental, you're up at 18.
Pental: I'll ready an action to shoot if Dalen starts to pull the trigger.
DM: OK, that changes your initiative to be just before Dalen's if he shoots. Naugrim the Unquenchable is up at 13.
Naugrim: I'll ready an action to shoot if Pental starts to shoot.
DM: Uhh OK, that puts your initiative just before Pental's if he shoots. Wait...but if Pental Shoots, then your initiative will interrupt. If you shoot, then Dalen will interrupt and shoot. But if that happens, then Pental will interrupt...

yikes..

No one reads my posts. Someone keeps putting fnords in them... :O

I think my answer has a lot to do with StarCluster's abstract tactic system. Retarding init gains you bonuses at the expense of - well - taking the risk that the other guy will go first. Therefore the init *has* to come first in order to put that into play.

Wait - come to think of it, you could *bet* on your init before you roll it. It all comes out in the wash. If you bet too much, you'll lose your chance. If you bet too little, you won't have enough leg up. Interesting possibility...

-clash

Here's how I'd do it:

Grab a deck of cards.
Deal one to each person in the standoff.
Reveal cards.
High card goes first!

I could be wrong, but I think I see where this could go aside from the who goes first issue - and perhaps what droog was getting at.

That is - it's a Mexican Standoff - what things other than shooting get done and how do they impact the chances of it ending in shooting.

At least, that's my take-away pondering now that I've rethought it a bit.

Interesting...

Yes, yes! That's the sort of thing that's really going on in a Mexican Standoff. As Jim says above, there's more to it than the shooting. The shooting is, in many ways, superfluous to the real contest taking place. In the context that you're using, the chances of getting shot (or the likelihood that you will shoot someone else) are just another part of the wager.

This is part of what I like about the way that HeroQuest can handle this contest. As a player, you can decide if your character goes into the standoff relying on his Pistol skill as the primary ability modified by his rating in Steely-Eyed Bastard, or you could go into it with Steely-Eyed Bastard modified by his rating in Hate [the Other Guy]. Without going into the specific intricacies of the system, there's a lot of flexibility to really focus in on the contest of will, nerve, intimidation, and skill -- and it utilises a wagering mechanism combined with die rolls for resolution.

!i!

Jim, yes, you're right. It's not just about who shoots first.

What I like about the Poison'd system is: what happens at the table is what happens to the characters. If you want to talk, then you can talk. The rules don't kick in until you shoot, but the moment you do that, you're as likely to die as the other guy.

On a stupid aside: has anyone noticed that a Mexican standoff can be averted by everyone doing a Mexican wave? It's like a sort of Mexican synergy. This is probably just me, but I thought it was interesting.

Graham

In my games, what happens in a standoff is that the stakes change, constantly. It's a pissing contest sure, but there's also all that other stuff that could happen, if you act first. For intance, this one time a couple of characters got into a showdown with members from two rival (who hated each other but were fairly neutral [but still hostile] to the pcs) groups. The player who got to act first, "covered" the other PC, who retreated from the room. Or another time, when the PC/NPC who acted first grabbed a hostage. Standoffs usually results in death, with all the bonuses that gets applied. Off course players being players attempt to invoke the "Serpico rule"*. So, for us, initiative roll solution is the best way to go.

*If you remember Serpico got shot point blank in the face and survived.