toucanbuzz
No rule is inviolate
Speed: the more players and monsters you have, the more time savings because decision making occurs simultaneously rather than 1 at a time. However, the #1 goal of the system has never been to make combat faster than the d20 system (that's been more of a slight side effect).I don't see how this is really faster than other systems. Also, how does this remove the sheer randomness of initiative, you are still rolling dice after all?
The #1 goal has been to add tension by making combats more strategic yet unpredictable, to create that jolt of fear that you don't know if you're going to get to your unconscious companion in time to heal them before the orc stabs him, unlike a d20 system in which you know perfectly well who will go when. You'll be making the best choice as you see it, anticipating things though the fog of war, and not always the perfect choice. The same goes for monsters.
Randomness: it shrinks the d20 variable in favor of choice. You choices shift the odds but don't guarantee them.
Nope.I got a little confused about bonus actions. Do they have to be declared?
In the preceding version, they did and you'd roll the highest (worst) die. However, after roughly 2 years, I found it was slowing mostly me, the DM, down as I'd often track 2-4 different monster types. I'm vigilant for abuses, and part of the original design was to avoid declaring a fast weapon for dual wield and then using a slower weapon in your off-hand. Since I cannot guess all the unlikely but theoretically possible scenarios, a common sense role has to be in play.
Yes, monsters declare, though an amendment needs added that they follow the same spellcasting rules as players. Otherwise, they get too great of an advantage over PCs. However, I wouldn't amend it if we adopt dnd4vr's recommendation, NEXT:Do you declare monster actions or just choose when their turn comes up?
Solid idea. I like it quite a bit. It'd put the onus on players and the DM to "know your spells" (and over time, people do with repetitive use, no different than eventually knowing off the top of your head magic missile is a V,S spell that fires 3 d4+1 bolts). If players are into some theatre acting, it might encourage them to wiggle their fingers or pretend to grab a component when taking their turn as a memory device.Have you considered having the die for spells be based on components?
For example, you have Power Word spells have 1 because they are verbal only a just a single word.
Maybe something like this:
Single component (V, S, or M): d4
Two components (VS, VM, SM): d6 or d8
All three components (VSM): d10 or d12
Just a thought instead of having it +1 per spell level, since a spell such as Wish is V only, despite being level 9. Now, it could be narratively that the longer time is due to the magic gathering or something... so I could see it either way.
My initial though is d4, d8, and d10, to keep in line with weapons, leaving our d6 for nearly every generic action you can take.