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<blockquote data-quote="T. Foster" data-source="post: 4543437" data-attributes="member: 16574">Honestly, the best way to handle initiative in AD&amp;D is not to have a detailed system that covers all the possibilities written out in advance because if you do so it's inevitably going to be either too complex or have corner-cases that aren't covered by the system (or, almost certainly, both). It's better to just have a general idea: &quot;each round both sides roll 1d6, the side with the higher roll acts first, ties mean simultaneous action; there are exceptions for special cases,&quot; go with that (which will be sufficient at least 75% of the time) and as the special cases arise (someone trying to interrupt a spell-caster, melee at the end of a charge, etc.) make a quick spot-judgment that seems appropriate to the circumstances. That's all the rules in the DMG are -- spot-rulings that seemed appropriate to Gygax (or whoever else collaborated on and developed that section) for situations that come up frequently. For the first few combats, the first time these special cases arise, you'll probably want to go a little slowly, and then pick up the pace once you've gotten a bit more comfortable and the players know more what to expect. Luckily, the way the game is set up, those first few combats likely won't be very complex and by the time you start getting into the really heavy stuff (like multiple spellcasters on each side) you'll have enough experience under your belt that you'll be able to handle it all without slowing the game down.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="T. Foster, post: 4543437, member: 16574"] Honestly, the best way to handle initiative in AD&D is not to have a detailed system that covers all the possibilities written out in advance because if you do so it's inevitably going to be either too complex or have corner-cases that aren't covered by the system (or, almost certainly, both). It's better to just have a general idea: "each round both sides roll 1d6, the side with the higher roll acts first, ties mean simultaneous action; there are exceptions for special cases," go with that (which will be sufficient at least 75% of the time) and as the special cases arise (someone trying to interrupt a spell-caster, melee at the end of a charge, etc.) make a quick spot-judgment that seems appropriate to the circumstances. That's all the rules in the DMG are -- spot-rulings that seemed appropriate to Gygax (or whoever else collaborated on and developed that section) for situations that come up frequently. For the first few combats, the first time these special cases arise, you'll probably want to go a little slowly, and then pick up the pace once you've gotten a bit more comfortable and the players know more what to expect. Luckily, the way the game is set up, those first few combats likely won't be very complex and by the time you start getting into the really heavy stuff (like multiple spellcasters on each side) you'll have enough experience under your belt that you'll be able to handle it all without slowing the game down. [/QUOTE]

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