Declaring actions at the start of the round...

[Klaus]

A friend is thinking of getting back to DMing, but he wants to make a change to initiative: he wants everyone to declare their actions at the start of each round, so the ones with higher initiative can benefit from seeing what the slower combatants are about to do (like, say, a cop who manages to shoot a bad guy as the bad guy is drawing his gun).

What do you guys think of that? Anyone tried that?

(Mods: didn't know where to stick this one, as it isn't really a Rules change, nor a House Rule... or maybe it is, but I'm a n00b! )

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Tried it, didn't work. One action or series of actions can change a character's mind about what they want to do. Character 1 that does Action A effects the opponents adversely. Character 2 does Action B, which causes the opponents to move in a certain direction which effects Character 3 action. Character 2 then shoots an arrow into melee. Okay, Character 3 is now screwed. :\

 

[Montague68]

Tried it, didn't work. One action or series of actions can change a character's mind about what they want to do. Character 1 that does Action A effects the opponents adversely. Character 2 does Action B, which causes the opponents to move in a certain direction which effects Character 3 action. Character 2 then shoots an arrow into melee. Okay, Character 3 is now screwed. :\

Tried it with another DM once, hated it. It completely unbalanced initiative to the point where Improved Initiative was a must-have feat. If the character/monster that won initiative wants to react instead of being a first-mover he can delay or hold his action. Having the first-mover advantage AND having a form of area-effect ESP is ridiculous.

 

[ranger89]

Never tried it and have to say that I never will. Winning initiative is all about going first, for better or for worse. If the situation calls for waiting and seeing what your friends and/or foes do, then it's time for a delayed action.

 

[Charwoman Gene]

The problem is that the game is balanced that the initiative is cyclical.

It could work out to do things that way on the first round only.

Otherwise, roll every round, declare actions ffrom the worst to the best and then resolve

 

[frankthedm]

That works in Old world of darkness. Those who lose init declare first, those who win init adjust to thier actions, storyteller resolves what happens. BUT those who lost initive can abort thier action to dodge / defend.

And when you roll every round, improved init's bonus should go down to +1

 

[Squire James]

I'd only run it that way if one side or another has an ESP effect.

 

[LostSoul]

I used to do something like that with Star Wars d6.

Init was based on your PER roll. But if you wanted to, you could choose to go last. So you got to see if the bad guy was shooting at you and dodging, so you could dodge his shot and stick him with your sword (since melee attacks got a bonus vs. someone who was dodging). It added some extra tactics to the game.

I don't see the need for it for D&D/d20.

 

[Echohawk]

I'd only run it that way if one side or another has an ESP effect.

Hey, that's a really good idea, unlike alway declaring it . Consider it yoinked