D&D 5E Solving the problem of initiative.

[dropbear8mybaby]

What if you only got one action per turn, but a round wasn't complete until all actions had been exhausted?

For instance, you have the ability to perform an Action, a Bonus Action, and move. So initiative is rolled once, but you cycle through and only choose to do one thing. So you use 10 ft. of movement and end your turn and it cycles to the next person's initiative. They take an Action and end their turn. Monsters move up to 20 ft. and end their turn, and it's back to the top of the initiative where the person who moved 10 ft. uses their Action to attack the, now in range, monsters. Then the person who used their Action, moves their entire movement, 30 ft. and since they have no bonus actions, their round is up unless they get a reaction, but the PC who only used 10 ft. of movement still has 20 ft. of movement left and the monsters have 10 ft. and their actions.

It'd mostly be difficult for the DM since they'd have to keep track of multiple creature's round breakdowns, but definitely doable.

 

[Lanefan]

What if you only got one action per turn, but a round wasn't complete until all actions had been exhausted?

For instance, you have the ability to perform an Action, a Bonus Action, and move. So initiative is rolled once, but you cycle through and only choose to do one thing. So you use 10 ft. of movement and end your turn and it cycles to the next person's initiative. They take an Action and end their turn. Monsters move up to 20 ft. and end their turn, and it's back to the top of the initiative where the person who moved 10 ft. uses their Action to attack the, now in range, monsters. Then the person who used their Action, moves their entire movement, 30 ft. and since they have no bonus actions, their round is up unless they get a reaction, but the PC who only used 10 ft. of movement still has 20 ft. of movement left and the monsters have 10 ft. and their actions.

It'd mostly be difficult for the DM since they'd have to keep track of multiple creature's round breakdowns, but definitely doable.

A bunch of things occur to me on reading this.

First: every round in this system is going to take ages as you've multiplied the number of individual "turns" by a factor of the average number of actions everyone gets in each round.

Second: it doesn't solve the movement problem at all. The only way to solve this is to get people to state their intended movement either at the start of the round or at the instant it becomes relevant (e.g. I'm fighting a foe who dies before my swing initiative comes up so I want to move to engage another one). That way you can determine how far someone has got in their movement if something happens in between times and you need to know where they are: "did you or did you not just run into the path of that lightning bolt?". For example, someone with init. 12 wants to move across a room to engage a foe and states this at the start of the round. The round starts on init 20, and a lightning bolt goes off on a 16. Well, as 16 is halfway between 20 and 12 it's safe to say the runner is about halfway across the room...and may well have just run out of or into the bolt's blast. But if the player doesn't tell you-as-DM their character is moving until their turn comes up on init 12 you've either got to knock their swing init. down to allow for the time taken to get there or retcon their move back to the start of the round and figure out where she was. Either way is messy.

The movement rules as-is are to me the least believable/realistic thing about the whole combat system as written (and have been for a very long time), in that read literally it isn't movement at all but more a micro-teleport each time your initiative comes round.

Lan-"*blip* - I'm over here!"-efan

 

[MichaelSomething]

Did you consider giving everyone only 5 seconds to resolve their turns? Speed D&D!

 

[ClearlyTough69]

This thread got me thinking, so I came up with a ticking clock initiative variant that uses a combination of declared actions and speed factors. It also addresses the movement problem by allowing movement and responses to movement to happen in a more granular and integrated way.

A key feature is that there are no more discrete rounds: instead initiative counts up and up and up; and declared actions happen a given number of steps after they were declared. Suprise and initiative are determined once at the beginning of the combat and a low initiative roll is a good initiative roll as you get to act earlier. Effects that are triggered at the beginning or end of a creature's turn are handled a certain number of steps further up the initiative count (usually about 12). A minute takes 120 steps in the initiative count.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Eb6gKXe5OnT-hfw1rzQzTFmBVr46JyLSIHdHzp3RVUA/edit?usp=sharing

I have not play tested it in earnest with real life players, but I have done a simulation. It allows for a huge amount of tactical play, but boy is it slow! It also nerfs spell casters a little, but I don't mind that as they tend to be a bit higher powered than non-spell casters anyway. It does allow for spell casting to be interrupted though - a throw back to the good old days! It addresses a range of things that have come up in this thread, such as reactions, multi/ extra attack, bonus actions, action surge.

Check it out and let me know what you think. I'm particularly interested in:

* things I've not explained properly.

* suggestions for speeding up play while retaining the overall approach.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

As someone mentioned way back at the beginning of the thread...go look at Kenzer & Co's Hackmaster (5th; the latest version), or even their Aces & 8's (which is a western RPG where the whole 'seconds count' and 'shot-clock' system started).

Baring that...how about go in the other direction? In stead of trying to get all detailed and specific, go broad-brush stroke and cinematic. Each player decides what he wants his character to do, the DM figured out when the "camera" is on them, and when it is, just play it out. Maybe a quick d6 roll, high goes first; no adjustments, for participants that are "in shot". If whole-hog cinematic isnt' your thing...then what about just the old basic D&D model; each 'side' rolls d6. High rolls go first unless you are using a two handed weapon, then you go last.

Or go get your hands on a "Drama Deck" from the Masterbook system and use it; the card determines which 'side' goes first, but often with good or bad 'things' happening to one side or the other. You can even add in the optional "Plot Deck" cards (same company; www.pigames.net ) for added fun! *shrug* Just a thought...

^_^

Paul L. Ming