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<blockquote data-quote="Keldryn" data-source="post: 5949084" data-attributes="member: 11999">My preference is for AD&amp;D 1e and BECMI style initiative.&nbsp; Each side rolls for initiative at the beginning of the round.&nbsp; Sure, you get some complaints about how so-and-so has an 18 Dexterity and should be able to strike first and all that, but no other official initiative systems in any version of D&amp;D can match this one when it comes to speeding up play.I consider individual initiative to be one of those rules that are more fiddly and time-consuming than justified by the benefit of using it.Individual initiative, rolled each round (as in AD&amp;D 2e) is terrible.&nbsp; It's way, way too slow.&nbsp; Individual initiative, rolled once at the beginning of combat (as in 3e and 4e) is still too slow for my liking.&nbsp; I've grown to despise the &quot;roll call&quot; at the beginning of combat, putting all combatants into proper initiative order.Side-based initiative, rolled each round, is the way to go for me.&nbsp; It's abstract, but D&amp;D combat is very abstract.&nbsp; Some common sense handles situations like PCs with readied missile weapons vs enemies advancing and the like.I ditched the cyclical initiative for my 2nd playtest session, opting for the above method, and it worked very well.&nbsp; Combats ran even more smoothly and the players liked it better too.&nbsp; It also easily accommodates the characters all moving into position and then resolving their attacks without getting into delays or held actions.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Keldryn, post: 5949084, member: 11999"] My preference is for AD&D 1e and BECMI style initiative. Each side rolls for initiative at the beginning of the round. Sure, you get some complaints about how so-and-so has an 18 Dexterity and should be able to strike first and all that, but no other official initiative systems in any version of D&D can match this one when it comes to speeding up play. I consider individual initiative to be one of those rules that are more fiddly and time-consuming than justified by the benefit of using it. Individual initiative, rolled each round (as in AD&D 2e) is terrible. It's way, way too slow. Individual initiative, rolled once at the beginning of combat (as in 3e and 4e) is still too slow for my liking. I've grown to despise the "roll call" at the beginning of combat, putting all combatants into proper initiative order. Side-based initiative, rolled each round, is the way to go for me. It's abstract, but D&D combat is very abstract. Some common sense handles situations like PCs with readied missile weapons vs enemies advancing and the like. I ditched the cyclical initiative for my 2nd playtest session, opting for the above method, and it worked very well. Combats ran even more smoothly and the players liked it better too. It also easily accommodates the characters all moving into position and then resolving their attacks without getting into delays or held actions. [/QUOTE]

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