D&D 5E Alternate Initiative Rules

[ChaosOS]

I just use the Savage Worlds cards every round. There's not many things that key off initiative, and my players know walking in that dex isn't baseline useful for initiative. Super quick to handle on roll20 where I usually play as well.

 

[toucanbuzz]

…..I would likely want a spear, because that would dramatically increase my chance of hitting it first and getting to me.....I think giving mechanical incentives to light weapons is difficult - because actually there is very little logical reason to have one (the main historical incentives were they were light, portable and sometimes concealable)….

The Hackmaster game has a "reach" rating for each weapon that breaks ties on initiative, but totally agree reach matters. I use a homebrew from 3rd edition of granting attacks of opportunity if you have 10'+ reach and your opponent does not when entering your threat zone. It reflects the advantage of reach, though accounting for the reach of each weapon probably is beyond D&D's scope.

Realistically and historically, warriors all carried daggers. They used that dagger only for closeup grapples as it could maneuver through gaps in armor that big weapons could not. If we're going to homebrew, giving a dagger advantage on damage rolls when grappling might be appropriate.

I've gotten a bit off topic from the OP.

Addressing the deck of cards, we're still using a somewhat randomized system, just without dice, and providing tension by never assuming it's a set turn each round. That's probably the #1 utility for alternative initiative rules: enhancing the thrill by unpredictable turns.

 

[Anoth]

Yeah, situations like that can be annoying but a Ready action handles it well enough IMO.

Can you ready an action before initiative is rolled. How would that work in the situation I described. I am very curious how this works b

 

[jamesgil]

Good Post!

 

[JeffB]

Based on the way this convo is going- you folks need to look at Runequest- or google/check out "The Perrin Conventions"- Steve's house rules for OD&D that eventually became RQ.

 

[Nebulous]

Based on the way this convo is going- you folks need to look at Runequest- or google/check out "The Perrin Conventions"- Steve's house rules for OD&D that eventually became RQ.

For convenience:

The Perrin Conventions

The place where OD&D and Runequest merge and overlap are in the Perrin Conventions . Originally a set of house rules for the play of D&D ...

dorkland.blogspot.com

I'd never heard of this.

 

[Nebulous]

I still haven't implemented the Fast/Slow initiative with my group, it would vastly bog down play in the middle of a session introducing new concepts. I need to do it practice outside of game time.

 

[DND_Reborn]

What drives me crazy is when I play with a group. The fighter says, “I am opening the door and going to rush in and attack”. So the fighter opens the door and rushes in. There is even a marching order of what order the group will rush in. The Dm says roll initiative and then like the last person who said he was going to enter the room moves and attacks first. So I stopped using individual initiative for that reason. I let the players choose their order of initiative between them with group initiative

Yeah, situations like that can be annoying but a Ready action handles it well enough IMO.

Can you ready an action before initiative is rolled. How would that work in the situation I described. I am very curious how this works b

I'll give you a simple example. B (Barbarian), C (Cleric), F (Fighter), and R (Rogue) are going to break in a door. C will cast Silence once he can see beyond the open door if he spies the wizard they are looking for. B and R will rush in to attack when F opens the door.

The players decide the best order is F, C, B, then R, and roll initiative getting:

B
C
R
F
the DM is last.

1. B uses his Ready action to move into the room once the Fighter opens the door.
2. C uses his Ready action to cast Silence if he sees the wizard through the open door.
3. R uses his Ready action to move into the room once the Fighter opens the door.
4. F opens the door (as part of his movement),...

Since the triggering event has occurred, all of the ready actions are resolved before F continues:
--- B uses his reaction to take his Ready action and moves into he room.
--- C doesn't see the Wizard, so the spell slot is lost. (Technically, he can't cast Silence because the trigger was when he saw the Wizard, not when the door was opened. If the trigger was simply the opened door, he could cast his spell using his reaction.)
--- R uses his reaction to take his Ready action and moves into the room.

... F can now continue his turn since the reactions are over. F moves and attacks the ogre, which B and R are already engaged with.
5. The DM has the ogre roar and attack.

This is pretty much RAW as I see it. The problem with Ready action is it costs your reaction and you can only do one thing: take an action or move. Not both. So, B and R can move in but can't attack.

Now, if B and R had ranged weapons and used their Ready actions to attack once the door was open, they could both take and resolve the Attack action (including Extra Attack if the Barbarian has it).

Some tables find this really limiting as it is not the same as Delaying your action from prior editions. With Ready action, the order of initiative remains constant. So, after the DM resolves the ogre attack, round 2 begins with B acting first. With Delaying actions from other editions, your position in the order moves to the place when you finally take your delayed action.

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[Zaukrie]

Why are you rolling initiative before you open the door?

 

[DND_Reborn]

Why are you rolling initiative before you open the door?

I'll let @Anoth answer that, it was his scenario.

Personally, as a DM, I wouldn't call for initiative until after the door was opened and I determined if either the PCs or the ogre were surprised (not likely but it depends on what is going on).