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Cinematic Initiative Variant (CIV)
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<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 8141084" data-attributes="member: 29398"><p>Ah - I kinda got the impressions this would be a somewhat-declaration-based system; except that if your declared action no longer made sense when it came time for it to happen you could change it.</p><p></p><p>As for rolling lots of dice at once, that's the point. Roll 'em all at once instead of doing a bunch of separate rolls.</p><p></p><p>Descending order, of course.</p><p></p><p>The idea being that if someone with 3 actions is going up against someone with one, in theory the 3-action person would act before the foe, about the same time as the foe, and after the foe. The foe's one roll would be the randomizer to some extent.</p><p></p><p>If your players each own lots of d20s (a common situation IME! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> ) the answer is for each player to roll their dice and then line them up such that each player has a little line of d20s (so I've got 3d20 on 16, 14, and 5 in front of me; Bob might have 2d20 on 20 and 4 in front of him, etc.), with each one pulled off the table as its action occurs. This idea falls apart when modified initiatives go over 20 (or below 1), but were it me I'd do away with nearly all initiative modifiers in any case.</p><p></p><p>Haven't seen that other thread, but I'm generally in favour of anything that breaks up cyclic initiative and better replicates a fog-of-war situation where things are less predictable.</p><p></p><p>In fact, we already use a similar system (though not for 5e) only it's based on d6s; where if you've got more than one action in a round you roll a separate die for each one. We don't have movement hard-coded as its own separate thing - usually if you're moving in to attack you might get knocked down a point or two on your init die depending how far you have to go, and you'll only get one attack when you get there no matter how many you would have had normally - nor do we have bonus actions. We've used this system more or less in its current form for 35+ years now, and it works well enough.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 8141084, member: 29398"] Ah - I kinda got the impressions this would be a somewhat-declaration-based system; except that if your declared action no longer made sense when it came time for it to happen you could change it. As for rolling lots of dice at once, that's the point. Roll 'em all at once instead of doing a bunch of separate rolls. Descending order, of course. The idea being that if someone with 3 actions is going up against someone with one, in theory the 3-action person would act before the foe, about the same time as the foe, and after the foe. The foe's one roll would be the randomizer to some extent. If your players each own lots of d20s (a common situation IME! :) ) the answer is for each player to roll their dice and then line them up such that each player has a little line of d20s (so I've got 3d20 on 16, 14, and 5 in front of me; Bob might have 2d20 on 20 and 4 in front of him, etc.), with each one pulled off the table as its action occurs. This idea falls apart when modified initiatives go over 20 (or below 1), but were it me I'd do away with nearly all initiative modifiers in any case. Haven't seen that other thread, but I'm generally in favour of anything that breaks up cyclic initiative and better replicates a fog-of-war situation where things are less predictable. In fact, we already use a similar system (though not for 5e) only it's based on d6s; where if you've got more than one action in a round you roll a separate die for each one. We don't have movement hard-coded as its own separate thing - usually if you're moving in to attack you might get knocked down a point or two on your init die depending how far you have to go, and you'll only get one attack when you get there no matter how many you would have had normally - nor do we have bonus actions. We've used this system more or less in its current form for 35+ years now, and it works well enough. [/QUOTE]
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