D&D 5E Ideas for Initiative house rules

DeviousQuail · Nov 21, 2020

I've tried a few different initiative styles in 5e. Side, popcorn, and cinematic. The results have been mixed and we always end up reverting back to the standard style. But I haven't given up hope. Next time I DM I'm going to try a new style that incorporates a couple ideas I've seen.

Basic idea:
Cyclical order with normal initiative rolls but DM rolls a secret d4. At the end of the round rolled by the d4 there is some kind of environmental effect. This could be anything from a landslide, the ship sways dangerously, things catch on fire, enemy reinforcements arrive, magical anomaly, etc. It doesn't have to be anything that drastic. But it's enough to shake up the battlefield and cause everyone to reroll their initiative. Roll the d4 again while everyone rolls initiative and start the process again.

On paper it sounds fun and should mesh well with my groups preference for cyclical initiatives.

el-remmen · Nov 21, 2020

I've grandfathered how delay and ready work from 3E because the static numbers of 5E are boring. Otherwise, PCs roll individual initiative and I roll initiative for monsters and NPCs in groups or individuals as make sense. Sometimes if one person in a group initiative ends up readying an action later on then they split from their initiative group. I keep track of it all on a dry erase board everyone can see.

Stalker0 · Nov 21, 2020

DeviousQuail said:
I've tried a few different initiative styles in 5e. Side, popcorn, and cinematic. The results have been mixed and we always end up reverting back to the standard style. But I haven't given up hope. Next time I DM I'm going to try a new style that incorporates a couple ideas I've seen.

Basic idea:
Cyclical order with normal initiative rolls but DM rolls a secret d4. At the end of the round rolled by the d4 there is some kind of environmental effect. This could be anything from a landslide, the ship sways dangerously, things catch on fire, enemy reinforcements arrive, magical anomaly, etc. It doesn't have to be anything that drastic. But it's enough to shake up the battlefield and cause everyone to reroll their initiative. Roll the d4 again while everyone rolls initiative and start the process again.

On paper it sounds fun and should mesh well with my groups preference for cyclical initiatives.

An interesting idea!

DND_Reborn · Nov 21, 2020

FWIW another concept I played around with is the idea of "Fast Initiative". You have to declare your intentions, and if you only take 1 actions (move or act) you gain advantage on your d20 roll. In other words, the less you do, the quicker you are likely to get to act.

Just throwing it out there for people to consider. shrug

Don Durito · Nov 21, 2020

Use an index card for each player character and each monster. Shuffle and draw at random during the first round of combat.

A character with a lower Dex can exchange their place in the initiative order for a character with the higher Dex. So for example any PC whose card comes up can give their place in the order to the Assassin rogue with 20 Dex so he can his special abilities.

toucanbuzz · Nov 21, 2020

I posted my homebrew system here. The rationale behind it is in the documents.

Over the years, I've tried or used:

AD&D 2E. Roll a d10 for your team, winner's side goes first each round.
AD&D 2E. Declare system. Roll a d10 for your team, add a modifier based on what you're doing (weapon speed, spell casting time, etc.)
AD&D 2E. Declare system, everyone rolls their own d10 instead of a team die.
D&D 3.5. Standard d20 + Dex modifier, one roll.
Pathfinder. Same.
5E. Same
5E. DMG weapon speed variant. d20 roll modified by weapon/spell your using each round.
5E. Mike Mearl's Greyhawk (modified), initiative die you roll each round depends on your declared action.
5E. Homebrewed initiative die. Die you roll each round depends on your declared action.

Don Durito · Nov 21, 2020

LuisCarlos17f said:
Longer weapons can attack before than shorters. Try to fight with toy weapons and you will notice who dares to be the first one to attack

Yeah. This is the speed factor that actually matters.

When people make daggers faster than Greatswords it just gets ludicrous.

Fanaelialae · Nov 21, 2020

I picked up a D&D themed "tarot deck" on Kickstarter recently. I've only used it for one session, but it worked rather well.

Essentially, I add cards for each character and monster to the deck. For every +3 to their initiative (or advantage) I add an additional card for that character or monster. This doesn't allow them to go multiple times, but rather makes it more likely that they will go sooner. They can also opt to delay their turn if they have more cards remaining in the deck. Every round I reshuffle the deck, which keeps turn order unpredictable. That's something that both my players and I really enjoy, as it has a tendency to shake up combat.

I was originally giving a card for every +5 to initiative, but my players said that seemed too little (because an 18 Dex was the same as an 8 Dex in terms of initiative). After a bit of discussion we settled on +3 as a reasonable increment.

Puddles · Nov 21, 2020

In my current campaign we re-roll initiative after 3 rounds of combat. It works really well accept in the cases were the 4th or 7th round is a “mop up” round, in which case I usually waiver the rule so the last enemy can quickly bite the dust.

I do really like the 1d4 idea posted above though with a narrative event occurring with it. I think I’ll use it next session.

Einlanzer0 · Nov 22, 2020

A lot of people seem to favor moving Initiative from Dex to Wis or Int. I prefer keeping it with Dex. Why? Because Wis is already factored into combat preparedness through Perception and surprise rounds. When DMs actually use it, it can become as or even more significant than Initiative.

I tend to treat it as a default instead of only when players/monsters are trying to be stealthy. My rule is using a passive initiative score modified by Dex and a passive perception score modified by Wis. HOWEVER, I also allow deferring. This opens up a lot of strategic options and keeps things from being too samey same very combat. Perception checks come into play frequently to determine if any PCs and/or monsters get a free round, and it happens often. Then after the surprise round everyone moves according to their fixed Initiative.

Truthfully if it was a video game I'd want them to both be rolled but I just think it slows the game down too much, so passive scores work well enough.

D&D 5E Ideas for Initiative house rules

DeviousQuail

Hero

el-remmen

Moderator Emeritus

Stalker0

Legend

DND_Reborn

The High Aldwin

Don Durito

Hero

toucanbuzz

No rule is inviolate

Don Durito

Hero

Fanaelialae

Legend

Puddles

Adventurer

Einlanzer0

Explorer

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