Well, we have used this twice so far and it's a hit. As far as initiative goes in D&D, i don't think i'll ever go back to the d20. Essentially what happens is that it turns the Initiative round into a mini-game where every round something changes. This creates tension, and we pass the deck around and let different players pick the cards, so it's collaborative. Last time I added a random Power Card that gives the next attacker a +2 damage on a hit. This was an arbitrary decision, it could just as easily been +1 damage or double damage or Advantage or whatever the DM wants. Lastly, one of the players was kind enough to custom laminate all 120 cards, he said it took about 4-5 hours, so coupled with the 6-7 hours it took me to just build the deck (including online art searches), holy CRAP, this was a monstrous project. But, we won't have to do anything for a long time unless a PC dies and insists on a new accurate portrait.
And one player said, "It's scary, but in a good way."
You cant use their current enemy and hero type decks, because on the back of each card is a unique number, so if you only use a handful of cards, players would begin to remember which card is which before it's turned over.
