VERSION 0.2
Combat Sequence - Concurrent Initiative Variant
In this variant, you don't establish an initiative order at the beginning of combat. Each round consists of two phases: First each player declares an action, then all actions are resolved. The sequence is as follows:
BEGINNING OF THE ROUND
1: DECLARATION PHASE. Each player (and the GM for each monster) declares their character(s) movement and actions for the round, in ascending order of Intelligence score. In a round, each creature can move up to its speed, and take up to one action, one bonus action, and one reaction.
example 1:
Barbarian (Int 9) player: I'll move into melee and attack the goblins with my axe!
GM: The goblins (Int 10) will scatter back into the bushes, then shoot arrows at you.
Wizard (Int 18) player: Oh really? Then I'll duck behind the wagon and cast a fireball into the bushes to set them on fire!
1a. If a player doesn't declare an action, they are Delaying (see Rule 3). If everyone Delays, the round ends.
1b. The GM decides how vague or specific the declarations can be. In general, if an action requires a target, the player must choose the target as they declare the action. Variants include Conditional Declaration and Conditional Resolution (see "conditional action," below).
1c. In complex situations, it may be necessary to record these action declarations for future reference. A player (the "caller") can take this responsibility.
2: RESOLUTION PHASE. The declared movement and actions are resolved. Attack rolls are made, miniatures are moved, and so forth.
2a. If necessary, roll initiative to establish the order of events for this round. Initiative is still a Dexterity check by default.
2b: Full-round actions. Some actions (e.g., Disengage, Dodge, Ready) are continuous activities that don't occur at a specific moment. These take effect at the start of Resolution, regardless of initiative.
2c: Interruptible actions. Some actions (e.g., Cast a Spell, Attack with a ranged weapon) require commitment. These are not subject to conditional action (see below); the declared target cannot be changed. Additionally, if the actor takes damage before the action is resolved, the actor must make a concentration saving throw (see core rules) or abort the action.
2d. While resolving actions, a player can decide to abort some or all of their movement or actions. Otherwise, they must use their turn to take the movement and actions they declared.
example 2:
The Wizard (initiative 18) ducks behind the wagon and casts a fireball into the bushes. The bushes are now on fire.
The Barbarian (initiative 15) engages the goblins in melee combat and hits one of them. It fails its concentration save, and cannot attack with its arrow.
The remaining Goblins (initiative 8) don't want to go into the burning bushes, and they don't want to take opportunity attacks. They abort their declared movement. They stay within melee and shoot their arrows at the barbarian (with disadvantage).
3: Delayed action declaration and resolution. Any character who Delayed can now declare and resolve their actions. Use the same process as above if necessary.
Players cannot Delay again at this stage, they must either choose an action or wait until the next round.
END OF THE ROUND
4. Repeat as many times as you need to.
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ADDITIONAL RULES/RULINGS
Rounds and Turns:
In this ruleset, turns and rounds are synonymous. Every turn takes the whole round. E.g. if you can sneak attack once per turn, you can now also only sneak attack once per round, because the turn is a round. A target which takes damage from fire at the beginning of each turn takes it at the beginning of the round, before (1) Declaration Phase. If a monk does a Stunning Strike, the target is stunned until the end of the following round. Etc.
Note: this tends to make Stunning Strike and similar spells slightly more powerful in conjunction with a high initiative--the target can potentially miss two sets of attacks instead of one, if Stunning Strike happens before the target gets its initial attack off. This is by intentional, because it's better than the alternative (making Stunning Strike useless unless you roll high on initiative) and it's also simpler.
[This] cleans up a lot of nonsense in the rules. E.g. Evard's Black Tentacles no longer gives a Necromancer back more HP when cast on 8 goblins than Fireball IV does. They both give back 8 HP, instead of Fireball IV giving back 8 and Evard's Black Tentacles giving back 64 because the damage happens on each goblin's turn.
The phrase "at the end of each of [a creature's] turns" should be read as "at the end of the next round, and each round thereafter." (this avoids the awkward Hold Person situation where the target gets two saves to negate the effect before they even take their next action)
Incapacitation:
Any character who is incapacitated (paralyzed, dying, etc.) during the Declaration phase cannot declare an action, and cannot Delay. They simply do not take an action this round. (?)
Conditional Action:
It is not always desirable that each player should commit to a single precise action declaration. For example, if a Barbarian wants to attack a Guard in melee, and the Guard wants to run away, the Barbarian will either want to Dash or Attack, depending on the initiative result.
Conditional Declaration: Each player can specify a conditional action at the same time as declaring the main action. e.g., "I'll move and attack the Guard, but if he isn't there by the time I get there, I'll Dash up to him." (Players are encouraged to come up with shorthand for these complex declarations.) This rewards players for anticipating enemy actions.
VARIANT: Conditional Resolution: The player only declares one action. If the declared action is nonsensical at the time of resolution, they may change to a different action. e.g., "I'll move up and attack the Guard"..."The Guard has moved away, do you want to Dash up to him or attack someone else?" This avoids punishing players for not anticipating enemy actions.
In the Conditional Resolution system, the GM decides what conditional actions are allowable. The conditional action should be reasonably related to the original declared action. For example, the barbarian, charging in with his axe, cannot decide to pull out a separate weapon to throw. He can swing his axe at a different target. He can abort the axe attack and keep charging. He can throw his axe if he really wants.
As per Rule 2c,
in either system, spells and ranged attacks cannot be changed for a conditional action ("I'll try to shoot an arrow at that guy, but if he ducks behind cover I'll just Dash away" NOPE) or be used conditionally ("I wanted to hit him with my sword, but since he's running away, I'll shoot a firebolt at him" NOPE). They can still be aborted as per Rule 2d.
//I think I need to work on the vocabulary here...
Movement:
Declarations of movement are not exactly precise. Fudge it.
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New things are in
bold. @
Hemlock is that more like it?