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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ninjayeti" data-source="post: 7167292" data-attributes="member: 6789120">Reading through the doc a second time it really struck me that the cart is driving the horse here.  This variant makes three distinct changes from the base rules:1) require players to declare actions at the start of each round;2) re-roll initiative at the start of each round; and3) replace d20+dex initiative roll with dice specific to the actions to be taken.The thing is that you can implement parts #1 and/or #2 “a la carte” without needing part #3.  This is significant because #3 is the biggest change from the base rules, and the piece that seems to have drawn the most complaints in this thread – so  the key question is what does #3 add to the system above and beyond what you would get with just #1 and #2?Mearls says the point of this variant is to reduce the predictability of combat and create drama.  But these goals are really advanced by #1 and #2 alone – #3 doesn’t play into this at all (if anything it makes combat MORE predictable – as the UA notes: “Missile fire usually occurs first, melee attacks next, and spellcasting last”).  While it is intended to make simpler actions faster than complex ones, as posters above have noted, it leads to absurd results too often to justify it as “simulationist.”At first glance #3 is the centerpiece of the system and #1 and #2 are just the bits needed to make it work (you obviously need to declare actions to determine what initiative dice to roll, and need to re-roll initiative every round because actions likely change from round to round.)  But when you take a closer look #1 and #2 are the important bits and #3 is just a clunky part that creates problems without serving the stated purpose of the system.  For the groups that are interested in this I would suggest a variant of these variant rules (call it “Blackmoor Initiative”).  Declare actions and roll new initiative at the start of each turn but FFS use d20+dex like the PHB intended.  This should give you all of the additional “chaos” and “drama” Mearls’ system promises, while being much simpler and avoiding the unfortunate consequences of the quirky initiative die system.</blockquote>

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