D&D 5E Old School Initiative

[BigBadDM]

I am thinking about bringing back an old school Initiative (from 1st edition) to my game and curious what you all think.
Basically players (and monsters) have to declare their actions (both move and standard) before rolling Initiative.
The reason behind this is twofold;
First it brings a little bit of unpredictability. Say, I am going to attack Orc #1, Orc #1 dies by fellow player character first. The attack is wasted.
Second it brings back the idea that everything is 6 seconds is happening simultaneously. Giving it a better feel for fluid combat.

A few exceptions to this rule is bonus actions can be declared during your turn (if you have any). Reactions act the same. Readied actions act the same.

I also think this might spread out combat more as you don't know if your fellow player is going to kill CreatureX this round. So maybe you attack CreatureY instead banking on that hit.
Monsters will do likewise of course.

I am going to play test it next time with my players, but curious what your thoughts or of some imbalance I might miss that might occur from using this method.

 

[DRF]

So you'd have to roll initiative every round, or how does it work? That might slow things down, but I've never tried it, and I am curious.

A small thing I use from the older editions is randomizing who a given creature hits. My players are pretty whiny and feel targeted when a monster hits them instead of an adjacent player. I solved this by just randomizing who a monster hits unless the monster has good reason (or high enough intelligence) to hit a specific enemy.

 

[Ath-kethin]

I use the old-school initiative in my games, along with the weapon speed option from the DMG. I think it works really well, and my players seem to enjoy it. I'm not really hardcore about it, though; we basically just use a character's most common action as a default and mix it up if we have to. I also just roll once for my side and all monsters go on that turn, but that's how I've been doing it for 25 years so why stop now?

People on here always talk about a worry it will "slow down combat," but that's not something I've really seen. In fairness, I run pretty small groups, though, so I guess it could be an issue if you have a large number of PCs.

 

[ad_hoc]

The Greyhawk Initiative variant is basically this.

I use it at my table with the exception that movement is free.

I have found that it has sped up combat and made it more cinematic. At the beginning of each round I ask the table what they are doing. Then they declare their actions when they're ready and roll their initiative. Then resolution is quick. All the players are deciding what they're going to do at the same time which saves quite a bit of time.

 

[DRF]

. All the players are deciding what they're going to do at the same time which saves quite a bit of time.

Can you elaborate please?

The method I currently use is: I write numbers 20 to 1 on an A4 paper, and then have players announce their number, which I then write down. I add the monsters (same monsters are on same initiative). This takes a few moments, but once all the numbers are marked down, things progress fairly smoothly.

How does your system work? If I had to write down every few minutes it'd get tedious. I guess if the numbers of PCs is low then the table can just remember the order(?).

 

[aco175]

I thought 1e had each side taking initiative and weapon speed and Dex adjusting it. Once it is set it remained the same. If the PCs roll a 7 on a d10 and the monsters a 5, the PCs go first. However, my fighter with low Dex wants to swing his greatsword which has a speed of 7 and now he goes on a 0. The monsters may be using daggers with a speed of 2 and have a +1 Dex modifier from having a 17 Dex, so they go on a 4. It generally flows once you figure it out. Make sure you check Dex bonus out since older editions did not give bonuses the same way.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

I'm not a fan of 'declare your action' initiative models. Too much can happen during the round before a player's turn and then you have people finagling ways to change what they announced to fit the new tactical picture. Keep it simple, clean and fun.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

We've started using a version of Mearl's initiative system in one game. This does involve a certain amount of pre-decision to determine what dice is rolled.
In most of the others we use the standard. If I did implement a 'declare first' system, I would probably include contingency for changing actions, since having to miss a turn doing nothing because the monster you were fighting died before you got to act isn't very fun, and not worth the added verisimilitude.

I'm also very much not a fan of weapon speed modifiers, and they would be unlikely to fly in my group. D&D just isn't granular enough in terms of weapon reach and suchlike for them to be workably realistic for us.

 

[Sunseeker]

Any system with a possible outcome of "you lose your turn because the thing you said you wanted to do 5 minutes ago can't happen now" is a terrible system.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I prefer a faster playstyle, and one that adds flexibility for the players that benefits them. So basically, when I'm the DM and everyone has rolled for initiative and let's say my monsters go on 14, I just call out "Anyone above 14 can go." then I go, then I say, "everyone else can go." I know with 5e mechanics that can cause some things because so many spells and effects last until "end of your turn", but as of yet, I haven't seen any major affect to game play by doing so.