D&D 5E Solving the problem of initiative.

[dave2008]

I considered it interrupting your second of breath in between strikes, pushing yourself beyond normal limits to react to something. I suppose making it free wouldn't hurt much, though Spells cast as a reaction should still cost, I think.

I thought about that too, and I determined reaction speed of 1 for counterspell would work, as it is = to a cantrip (1+0) and faster than all other spells. Since, everything is declared up front I guess you would have to declare reactions up front as well.

 

[dropbear8mybaby]

I'm liking this "ticking clock" initiative. It would be a lot of overhead to run but I think it could eventually be smoothed out enough to be workable.

If I'm to understand correctly, it would work like the following (mainly summarising and checking to clarify it for my own benefit):

Roll initiative. People with the lowest initiative declare what they're going to do, in order up to the character with the highest initiative. DM determines creature actions in the same manner but in secret. Once declared, the action cannot be changed.

Every action has a time that it takes to complete. You record your completion time for the action you chose for that round.

A ticking clock is counted upwards until someone's "turn" happens based on the decisions they made.

Once the last action has been completed, that round ends and another begins.

 

[dave2008]

I'm liking this "ticking clock" initiative. It would be a lot of overhead to run but I think it could eventually be smoothed out enough to be workable.

If I'm to understand correctly, it would work like the following (mainly summarising and checking to clarify it for my own benefit):

Roll initiative. People with the lowest initiative declare what they're going to do, in order up to the character with the highest initiative. DM determines creature actions in the same manner but in secret. Once declared, the action cannot be changed.

Every action has a time that it takes to complete. You record your completion time for the action you chose for that round.

A ticking clock is counted upwards until someone's "turn" happens based on the decisions they made.

Once the last action has been completed, that round ends and another begins.

Seems like it could work, but I think you shouldn't hide what the monsters are doing. I think it would be more enjoyable for all if you at least describe what it appears the monsters are doing, such as: the priest begins to chant, the goblin starts to run towards the door, the orc reaches for an arrow, etc.

 

[dave2008]

I'm liking this "ticking clock" initiative. It would be a lot of overhead to run but I think it could eventually be smoothed out enough to be workable.

If I'm to understand correctly, it would work like the following (mainly summarising and checking to clarify it for my own benefit):

Roll initiative. People with the lowest initiative declare what they're going to do, in order up to the character with the highest initiative. DM determines creature actions in the same manner but in secret. Once declared, the action cannot be changed.

Every action has a time that it takes to complete. You record your completion time for the action you chose for that round.

A ticking clock is counted upwards until someone's "turn" happens based on the decisions they made.

Once the last action has been completed, that round ends and another begins.

Also, let us know how it goes!

 

[dropbear8mybaby]

Seems like it could work, but I think you shouldn't hide what the monsters are doing. I think it would be more enjoyable for all if you at least describe what it appears the monsters are doing, such as: the priest begins to chant, the goblin starts to run towards the door, the orc reaches for an arrow, etc.

Yeah, you're right. It's the advantage of having a higher initiative that you get to judge your own actions and do things like interrupt.

Also, let us know how it goes!

Long, long, LOOOOONG term project so don't hold out

 

[BigBadDM]

I think the current initiative system is fine. The only problem happens when it is someone's turn and they are not ready.
To circumvent that, I roll a d20 (because that is the system) on each person's turn and they have that many seconds to decide their actions or they lose their turn.
Since I can easily roll a 1 as easily as a 20 it creates tension and players are quick to pick up they need to know their action when it hits their turn or lose it.
I don't know if I would implement this if there are less than 4 PCs though.

 

[Jensen]

I use a 'ready-go' system in my PbP game (which I would not use in a table-top game). PbP games can be excruciatingly slow, so I try to keep things moving with this init count/post when ready hybrid:

DM rolls initiative for all characters and enemies (by type, so the 4 skeletons act on the same init and the lich acts on his own init),

Let's say the initiative order looks like this:
Frodo 18
Lich 16
Samwise 12
Pippin 9
Merry 8
skeletons 6

Combat round looks like this:
Frodo
Lich
Pippin/Merry (whoever is able to post can go)
Skeletons
(end of round. repeat)

Cuts down on wait time.

When I'm at the table, I use straight-up initiative count and a whiteboard so everyone knows who's up and who's on deck.

 

[Eltab]

When I was DM'ing, I would have the players roll for initiative at the beginning of the session, and list them permanently for the night. If things went badly or were disjointed, the group could decide to roll initiative over again for the next fight.
As DM, I would roll the monsters' initiative for each fight. If a particular foe was supposed to be hidden, I would not post that group until it revealed itself (usually by attacking from ambush).

To avoid the 'Player Turn / DM Turn" effect, roll separately for similar monsters: BBEG has his own initiative roll, his 2 lieutenants share a roll, the minions all go at once or one roll for each squad of minions. Edit the rolls if needed so they are spread in between the players.

 

[dco]

Can it even be solved?
Specifically I'm talking about the "STOP!", wait for a beat, "Hammer time!" phenomena that initiative turns create. I understand why it's this way, but lately I've been wracking my tiny brain for ways to make it better. Rolling initiative every turn is so tedious and time consuming.

If you don't want that "phenomena" you have to reject any kind of initiative system, but then all people act at the same time, that brings other problems.
If you only want variable initiative you have to determine it every turn, rolling dice, with cards, adjudicating points, etc, it will make things slower.

I'm not sure what do you want but there is no magic system, there will be advantages and disadvantages.

 

[discosoc]

I believe the specific issue being discussed is the "turn" concept. Everything stops, Barbarian does stuff, Everything stops, Fighter does stuff, Everything stops, etc. OP wants a more fluid handling of the order, I think, with the turns essentially intermingled into one mess of a combat, as it should rightly be.

I think the problem is assuming everything stops while someone is acting. Narrate it a little differently. I personally explain to everyone up front (at the beginning of a campaign or when someone new joins) how things like this work. For me, every round of combat takes roughly 6 to 10 seconds in total. Everyone is acting in *mostly* the same time frame, but with initiative being the slight advantage that determines who's action fires that split second faster, etc.. Most combat scenarios will narrate just fine with that concept.

On rounds that particularly impressive stuff happens, I often will "recap" the whole thing in a more cinematic way before moving into the next round, which reinforces how all that cool stuff happened nearly at the same time.