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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Staffan" data-source="post: 9806808" data-attributes="member: 907">2e doesn't have segments as such (even if some early books alluded to them). Rather, 2e has three different initiative rules depending on how complicated you want to get (four if you count Combat & Tactics). I might have the names wrong, but they basically work like this:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Group initiative. Each side rolls d10 for initiative, with very few possible modifiers. The side that rolls lowest acts first.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Modified group initiative. Each side rolls d10 for initiative. Each combatant on that side then adds various modifiers to the die to get their own initiative result. The most common modifiers are weapon speed factors, spell casting times, and monsters adding a size-based modifier for natural attacks (e.g. a frost giant attacking with a battle axe would add the battle axe's speed factor, but if they try to punch you they'd add whatever the modifier for a Huge creature is). Act in ascending initiative order.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Personal initiative: as Modified group initiative, but every combatant rolls their own d10 (or possibly per group for easily grouped opponents, like "8 orcs").</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Combat & Tactics initiative: The round is divided into five phases: very fast, fast, average, slow, and very slow. Actions have a speed rating, usually fast, average, or slow (these are mostly based on the speed factor/cast time numbers, but IIRC the breakpoints were a little different – I think speed factor 4 was Fast, but cast time 4 was Average, so a slight hidden nerf to casters). Very fast and very slow are rarely used on their own, but usually only when things make a fast thing faster or a slow thing slower. Each side rolls a d10, and within each phase the lower roll goes first. On a 1, all actions are one phase faster, and on a 10 they are one phase slower. If both sides roll the same, a special event happens.</li> </ol>1e initiative worked differently, and I believe it was pretty weird and poorly explained – and yes, had casters act with a delay compared to melee. I think this was part of balancing casting – you really didn't want to cast a spell if someone was in your face.</blockquote>

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