D&D General Alternate Initiative Concept: "Y'all figure it out"

Does it wors at higher level? I'd be happy with it but sometimes, a group all acting first can concentrate their effort on a single enemy, so it might be a huge advantage to off the enemy spellcaster before he has the chance to even act (and it wouldn't be fun if the strategy is turned around...)

We rarely get much past 7th or 8th level. It’s not been a problem for us either way. But we also accept that the changes we make will actually change the game, so being different isn’t bad. There’s pros and cons to everything.
 

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I largely let the players go in any order they want. It doesn't slow things down, and everyone has to be ready all the time. They really get to strategize if they want, but mostly someone just goes.
 

I largely let the players go in any order they want. It doesn't slow things down, and everyone has to be ready all the time. They really get to strategize if they want, but mostly someone just goes.
Very interesting! Can you give an example of an encounter and how it ran?
 

The second setting a timer came up, you lost me. Adding stress to my leisure is an instant no-go.
Ha well, considering I already have a soft timer for turns in the game (FoundryVTT module, I never used a timer with in-person games) I wouldn't have a problem using one in this instance. "Soft timer" meaning it's there, everyone can see it, but it isn't an automatic "ok your turn is over" when it ticks over 1.5mins. It helps folks (including myself) be mindful.
 
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The issue you're identifying is that a randomized turn sequence discourages planning amongst players...because there's no way to know whether Beryl the Barbarian will get to act before or after Sam the Sorcerer's fireball. It's not impossible to plan, it's just much harder due to randomized turn sequence. This is ONE of the reasons I often see player strategies go haywire once combat begins (yes, there are other reasons too).

Last time I played in person I adopted a much more casual simple version of what you are considering... I call it 'clustered initiative with a football huddle.'

Initiative is determined as normal, with 2 exceptions: (1) players who want to go at same time roll one die using the lesser of their initiative values; (2) players who have consecutive initiative rolls with no monsters between them can act in any order they please. This creates 'clusters.'

Then, unless the party is surprised or the players clearly just want to get to the fighting, I give them about a minute to come up with their approach now that they know the initiative order/clusters. This is the 'football huddle.' At the table the "timer" is really just me setting up maps/minis, checking my notes, answering quick questions, and so forth.
Appreciate the input! You say "last time I played in person," I'm guessing that means you also play/run more often online? If so, I'm guessing you use standard online then?

I've seen a few options now: clustered, popcorn, a number of other ideas. Stuff like popcorn means that initiative features don't get used...

The toughest thing here is playtesting: I'd probably need to pitch "danger room" testing to players, they wouldn't be happy if trying out funky initiative systems resulted in them having setbacks in our actual games 😅
 

I can recall the last fight last week, now that I think about it.

Three PCs against 4 or 5 goblins and a goblin rat rider. It was actually using the NIMBLE rules, but whatever.

The players basically went in order of who had a goblin in front of them already. If none was there, they moved to one that was threatening their party member. The tank almost always went first in the round, to eliminate more threats, since they did the most damage.

In another combat, we definitely had the ranged attackers going first, so they could eliminate or weaken foes that had not yet closed.
 

Just do it Dungeon World style. Describe the monsters preparing to do something threatening and ask the players “what do you do?” When a player declares an action, take that as their action, resolve it, and then have one of the monsters take a counter-action of some sort. Rinse and repeat. Try to keep it moving , and If it seems like a particular player isn’t getting enough opportunities to act, try having a monster threaten their character and asking them for their action directly.
 

We do group initiative most the time. Highest pc initiative bonus rolls vs highest NPC determines whether PC or NPC group goes first. Within PC group players can take turns in whatever order is desired.

Works great for strategizing. Turns go fairly fast because players have much less uncertainty about their teammates plans and that additional info helps them plan what they want to do.
Very cool, I like group/side initiative. Have you considered averaging their initiative bonus instead of using the highest? I guess that might be unnecessarily complex 😂
 


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