Initiative, Combat Stances, and Types of Actions!

[Bilharzia]

Anyone playing d&d who wants more involved combat is better served by playing another game, and most people who do play d&d don't want anything more involved.

 

[dragoner]

I asked ...

Yes, you asked, and then your description of "everyone yelling all at once", isn't how it works, so I explained it. Your example of 20 minutes fiddling around with initiative in D&D, is proof of how it is faster.

No good deed goes unpunished, though. /shrug

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Yes, you asked, and then your description of "everyone yelling all at once", isn't how it works, so I explained it. Your example of 20 minutes fiddling around with initiative in D&D, is proof of how it is faster.

No good deed goes unpunished, though. /shrug

No, I asked a different question, and then you insisted on pedantically explaining soemthing I’d indicated I already knew. That’s it.

What the hell are you talking about “20 minutes fiddling around with initiative”?

 

[GMMichael]

What might it look like to have initiative modified by combat stance, and by the type of action you last took?
There are a few ideas here, not all of which need to be combined into one system. Any combination could be interesting.
NOTE: in this system, you get one action, free movement like in 5e dnd, and 2 quick actions, per round. Quick actions can be used on turn or off, depending on what you're doing with them. You can also do incidental stuff without using an action, like opening doors and flipping switches or switching weapons.

• I don't like declaring actions at the top of the round, but if you cast a complex spell last turn, maybe that means you drop down the init in this round?
• If you take an aggressive stance, you get an init boost, but either are losing out on a defense boost, or outright take a penalty?
• If you take a defensive stance, you get to do something at the top of the round, but take your full turn at the end of the round? Or maybe get an extra quick action or something?
• Maybe a stance where you get no bonuses except that you can insert yourself into the init order at the end of another creature's turn?
• A protective stance would help you "tank" by imposing penalty to enemy action, but go toward the end like defensive stance?
• Perhaps certain combat skills give a bonus or penalty to initiative if they are what you have ready to fight with?

On second thought, my game is similar to this:

• Three actions per round
• Free movement
• All actions can be used off-turn
• Actions are declared when used
• "Posture," similar to stance, can be offensive or defensive. Defensive posture limits the effectiveness of some attacks.

You can try it to get an inkling of what your idea would be like, before diving into full game-design waters: Modos 2, Free Edition - Michael Terlisner | DriveThruRPG.com

To accomplish the Stance idea, I'd just put stance icons on the character sheets, and each player would place a die (d4, obviously) on the stance that the character is currently using. I'd require an action to change stance (an action is required to change posture), or allow a stance-declaration phase at the beginning of each round. I would hope that most players could remember what their last action was