D&D 5E Group initiative every round in 5E

[Anth]

I just love the chaotic group initiative in BDnD: the party rolled one d6, the DM rolled one d6, highest goes first, roll again every round.

The problem in 5E, as I see it, is three-folded:
1. Party members and monsters shouldn't have the same initiative count and act simultaneously. But as I see this isn't a big problem. If a PC and a monster act at the same time some funny things can happen, but nothing gamebreaking.
2. Effects that last until the beginning of a PCs next turn can get really screwed up, as the puropse is that all others should have exactly one turn until the PCs next turn.
3. People get upset as they are used to that their DEX affect the initiative roll (and the feat Alert (Improved Initiative) become worthless).

Has anyone tried group initiative every round in 5E (or 3E/4E)?
What rule did you use and what problems did you encounter?

My solution so far:
The party roll one d20 every round, then every PC add their initiative to the roll, meaning that the initiative order within the group will always be the same.
The DM doesn't roll, but add monsters initiative to 10.5 (Lair Actions are 19.5), meaning that no monster act att the same count as a PC.
If more than one PC act before, between, or after the monsters; those PCs act as a group and can act in any order they like.
Effects that last until the beginning of a PCs next turn are now effective during every others next turn, no matter when this turn may happen (effects that last longer than one round isn't affected).

 

[GX.Sigma]

I've tried something like that, but we never came up with great solutions. It was really problematic when Spare the Dying was a swift spell. If someone got down to 0, the Cleric could heal them and do something else, and the revived character can act. They're not even taken out for 1 round. This is the system I currently use (alongside normal 3e-style initiative):

At the start of combat, the DM rolls one initiative check for the monsters (using the highest modifier) and announces it.
Each PC rolls initiative.
Any PCs that win initiative go first. Then all the monsters go. Then all the PCs go. Then all the monsters go, etc.
Turns are simultaneous, so any "start of your turn" effects happen at the start of the shared turn.
At the start of the shared turn, dying characters immediately roll death saves and can't act, even if they're healed.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I do something sort of like group initiative. I use the same # for all monsters. Say I go on 12. I say to the players, "everyone above 12 can go.". Then I go, then everyone else. It's simple and fast, and works easily

 

[Bupp]

Out of old habits I've been having players roll individual initiative every round. For opponents I roll similar groups together. So far this works pretty well and I feel makes the fights more dynamic.

 

[Psikerlord#]

I do something sort of like group initiative. I use the same # for all monsters. Say I go on 12. I say to the players, "everyone above 12 can go.". Then I go, then everyone else. It's simple and fast, and works easily

I really like this idea, I am stealing it!

 

[Nefzyflin]

Hey all.

I haven't given this any real in depth thought, but I thought I'd throw this at you and get some feedback.

Orcs, Goblins, PC's.

Player with the highest Dex mod rolls Init for the entire group. I as DM roll initiative once for each group of monsters as per normal RAW. End result is 12 for the Orcs, 8 for the Gobs and 10 for PC's. Orcs go first. And now on the PC's turn, they can decide amongst themselves their turn order.

Would something like that give the players to much control in a game breaking way?

Thanks.

Nef

 

[Chocolategravy]

Having monsters all go at one time is more convenient and fast, having them go at different times can make more interesting combats and is less swingy. If you're doing a curbstomp of an easy or medium encounter then all at once makes a lot of sense, but if you're doing a deadly encounter then separate initiatives is a better choice.

 

[Anth]

At the start of combat, the DM rolls one initiative check for the monsters (using the highest modifier) and announces it.
Each PC rolls initiative.
Any PCs that win initiative go first. Then all the monsters go. Then all the PCs go. Then all the monsters go, etc.
Turns are simultaneous, so any "start of your turn" effects happen at the start of the shared turn.
At the start of the shared turn, dying characters immediately roll death saves and can't act, even if they're healed.

I do something sort of like group initiative. I use the same # for all monsters. Say I go on 12. I say to the players, "everyone above 12 can go.". Then I go, then everyone else. It's simple and fast, and works easily

That is the method I'm currently using, but it still doesn't have that chatic feling from BDnD, when initiatve order changed every round.

Player with the highest Dex mod rolls Init for the entire group. I as DM roll initiative once for each group of monsters as per normal RAW. End result is 12 for the Orcs, 8 for the Gobs and 10 for PC's. Orcs go first. And now on the PC's turn, they can decide amongst themselves their turn order.

I used something similar, calculated anaverage initiative for the group, but the players with higher DEX complained as they felt cheated.

Out of old habits I've been having players roll individual initiative every round.

We tried that, it has the dynamic that I want, but slow down combat to much. I want combat to be fast and furious.

 

[Joddy37]

For me, it is not the initiative that is slowing down combat. It is the players not planning their next actions during other players' turns. They just sit and watch what the other player does, and when it is their turn they start to ponder their options, try to read spell descriptions etc. In my case, this takes so much time that even 10 initiative rolls in each round cannot equal.

In any way, I have all players roll each and I let one player record the initiative order. I sometimes roll for each group of monsters, or just assume monsters take 10 if it's a random encounter.

 

[Lord Vangarel]

Our group rolls initiative individually for the players each round and the monsters are split into groups by type so different groups get to go at different times. This can even be different groups of the same monster type. It creates the dynamic feel of early editions and doesn't seem to slow things down too much with 4 players. There's a few corner cases that come up but they can add to the chaos of combat and are usually easily dealt with in game.