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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Iosue" data-source="post: 9508908" data-attributes="member: 6680772">B/X used the following system:Side initiative, rolled every round.Once initiative was decided the side that won went through the following phases:1. Morale (for monsters/NPCs)2. Movement3. Missile fire4. Magic5. MeleeDefensive movement (fighting withdrawal/retreat) and magic had to be declared before initiative was rolled.Here's what I really like about this system. There's no one's "turn." You don't have the situation where it's Player A's turn, and so now they think about what they are going to do. I say, "Any movement?" and all the players at the same time are put on the spot to decide: are they going to move, and if so, where? I say, "Any missile attacks?" And the players with ranged weapons are put on the spot to decide whether they will attack or not. I say, "Any magic?" and the magic-using PCs are put on the spot to decide if they will cast a spell this round. That just leaves melee for any characters in range to use a melee weapon.It spreads around the time players spend thinking about their turn. They can make adjustments based on what happened. It even encourages working as a team.I modified the system for 5e like this:Side initiative, rolled every round. 1. Morale2. Movement (Includes Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Help, Hide, Search, and Use an Object Actions)3. Missiles/Movement (Attacks with ranged weapons, plus any movement those characters have left over)4. Magic/Movement/Saves (Cast a Spell, plus any movement those characters have left over, plus any saves that need to be made)5. Melee/Movement (Attacks with melee weapons, plus any movement those characters have left over)Bonus actions generally occur in the phase they best fit into, but can be tacked onto a phase that triggers them. (For example, Expeditious Retreat is cast on the Magic phase, but the bonus action movement can immediately occur then.) Reactions can occur whenever triggered.Having the phases creates clear points for turn-length durations to end, and ongoing saves to be made. I found it's really sped things up and created dynamism.  There is the danger of one side curb stomping the other if they win initiative.  To prevent this, I have each distinct group of monsters make up its own side.  So if it's PCs vs Orcs and an Ogre, there are three sides: PCs, Orcs, and Ogre.  If the monsters outnumber the PCs, I recommend splitting them into party-size squads.  Likewise, if your party is large (6 or more players), it might be a good idea to split up the party into two sides, as well.The biggest downside I've run into is that classes the benefit from initiative bonuses get a little short-shrifted. It's not a problem if you've got player buy-in, but if they are playing a class partly because they want high initiative, you might want do something to make up for that, like always let them go first in the party, or possibly even let them have their own independent turn.</blockquote>

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