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Message: <blockquote data-quote="nnms" data-source="post: 6157902" data-attributes="member: 83293">Well, we kept it simple and used a grid.  We used a version where each sacrificed action could improve your AC by a couple until your next turn and you can do it to as a reaction to interrupt a successful hit.  So if someone really pressed the attack well and you wanted to block it, you could give up your whole round to really concentrate on defense.  It also gave something else to do for those who already went rather than maybe getting an out-of-turn attack.We used a simple "if you are surprised, you get no actions, otherwise you get three."  And initiative meant that it was your turn to do the actions that could only be done on your active turn.  There was somewhat of the "I attack with all three of my actions, so you'll full defense and then not attack back" in the first combat or two, but it's important to remember that they were level 1 characters who were doing what they could to protect their meagre hit points.  So when wild dogs attacked and the PCs largely lost the initiative, they spent a few actions blocking as needed until the initial charge was stalled and then more and more actions were dedicated to attacking.The grid really helps with using actions for other things as you can maneuver a bit more intelligently than without it.  It also meant that more actions were spent on movement than they likely would be in "theatre of the mind" style play.Another thing that helped was that we had free choice on when a PC wants to attack out of turn.  So in a later fight, a spider descended on a PC who interrupted the charge by slashing it with his two handed sword.  Another time, the PC waited for a lizard man's attack to reach the attack roll, saw that it wasn't good enough to hit and then riposted after the miss.It meant attacking someone who was not totally distracted (having used all their actions) meant you could be the one getting stabbed if you weren't skilled enough with your attacks.</blockquote>

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