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<blockquote data-quote="Bacon Bits" data-source="post: 7566801" data-attributes="member: 6777737">For a number of sessions we tried something different. We adapted the initiative system from, of all things, Star Wars Imperial Assault. Our goal was to have something that made combat feel more tactical and that meant that we didn't have to roll for initiative.The PCs always go first unless the DM rules otherwise.As a group, the PCs select which PC goes first and that PC acts.After that, the DM selects one NPC, and that character acts.After that, the PCs select who goes next, excluding anybody who already acted.Then the DM does the same with his remaining NPCs.Play continues back and forth like that until every character has acted.&nbsp; When there's an uneven number of characters, the side with the extra characters just finishes all their actions.&nbsp; Neither side can delay; you either act when you have the opportunity or you waste your turn doing nothing or dodging.The system works perfectly fine. The hardest part is tracking who has already acted.I know what you're thinking: &quot;OMG, what about initiative bonuses?!&quot;&nbsp; They go away and you forget that they existed.&nbsp; They're not that important to the game.&nbsp; Are we really worried about screwing over the high Dex characters in 5e?&nbsp; The only class that really loses out is Barbarian.&nbsp; Assassin potentially gets a lot better.&nbsp; Technically, Champion's Remarkable Athlete gets a lot worse, too, because the initiative bonus is 90% of what the ability does, but it was already a terrible ability.We didn't stop using it for any particular reason. We started a new campaign with a different person as the DM and he uses a mobile app that has a combat tracker built in, so we went back to standard initiative.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Bacon Bits, post: 7566801, member: 6777737"] For a number of sessions we tried something different. We adapted the initiative system from, of all things, Star Wars Imperial Assault. Our goal was to have something that made combat feel more tactical and that meant that we didn't have to roll for initiative. The PCs always go first unless the DM rules otherwise. As a group, the PCs select which PC goes first and that PC acts. After that, the DM selects one NPC, and that character acts. After that, the PCs select who goes next, excluding anybody who already acted. Then the DM does the same with his remaining NPCs. Play continues back and forth like that until every character has acted. When there's an uneven number of characters, the side with the extra characters just finishes all their actions. Neither side can delay; you either act when you have the opportunity or you waste your turn doing nothing or dodging. The system works perfectly fine. The hardest part is tracking who has already acted. I know what you're thinking: "OMG, [I]what about initiative bonuses?![/I]" They go away and you forget that they existed. They're not that important to the game. Are we really worried about screwing over [I]the high Dex characters[/I] in 5e? The only class that really loses out is Barbarian. Assassin potentially gets a lot better. Technically, Champion's Remarkable Athlete gets a lot worse, too, because the initiative bonus is 90% of what the ability does, but it was already a [I]terrible[/I] ability. We didn't stop using it for any particular reason. We started a new campaign with a different person as the DM and he uses a mobile app that has a combat tracker built in, so we went back to standard initiative. [/QUOTE]

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