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What is your way for doing Initiative?
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<blockquote data-quote="WhosDaDungeonMaster" data-source="post: 7555704"><p>It's hardly a line I <em>imagine</em>. Others see it and don't like it, either, which is why several people have posted alternative systems they use in their groups.</p><p></p><p>Obviously not everyone agrees to it or they wouldn't offer alternatives. I never said the <em>system</em> was an "abuse", only that it is prone to it. Maybe no one in your group ever acts with the idea, "Hey, I go before you, I should do something that will be way cooler and more OP because of it!" I can see it now, "Well, you really shouldn't. I mean, how would your character know he gets to act before mine?" And to that the first player responds, "Well, weren't you paying attention last round? I go before you." It's like the example in the DMG, the wounded fighter decides to attack the troll only because he knows the cleric will act before the troll does and can heal him before the troll attacks.</p><p></p><p>Of course you couldn't see what I prefer as an abuse, because you can't abuse it. You can't act with foresight. That's the beauty of re-rolling and declaring actions <em>before</em> you roll! The only reason using it requires some changes to other systems (such as spells) is because they simplified initiative in the first place! It doesn't remove any choices at all--a character can still do what they want as normal. All it does is remove predictability from the game and foresight to who will act when.</p><p></p><p>If you don't see it as abuse, that is clearly on you. I see that way, as do other DMs, which is why they added it to 5E as a variant. Like nearly everything else in 5E, they sacrifice certain things for simplicity, Initiative is simply another case of it. I've never used a cyclical initiative for that reason, never will, and wouldn't bother playing in a group that did. So we are safe that we never have to worry about playing together, which I, for one, am pretty happy about. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p>If you prefer simplicity, more power to you. Enjoy your game. I'll enjoy mine. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I appreciate you acknowledging that. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue :p" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":p" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="WhosDaDungeonMaster, post: 7555704"] It's hardly a line I [I]imagine[/I]. Others see it and don't like it, either, which is why several people have posted alternative systems they use in their groups. Obviously not everyone agrees to it or they wouldn't offer alternatives. I never said the [I]system[/I] was an "abuse", only that it is prone to it. Maybe no one in your group ever acts with the idea, "Hey, I go before you, I should do something that will be way cooler and more OP because of it!" I can see it now, "Well, you really shouldn't. I mean, how would your character know he gets to act before mine?" And to that the first player responds, "Well, weren't you paying attention last round? I go before you." It's like the example in the DMG, the wounded fighter decides to attack the troll only because he knows the cleric will act before the troll does and can heal him before the troll attacks. Of course you couldn't see what I prefer as an abuse, because you can't abuse it. You can't act with foresight. That's the beauty of re-rolling and declaring actions [I]before[/I] you roll! The only reason using it requires some changes to other systems (such as spells) is because they simplified initiative in the first place! It doesn't remove any choices at all--a character can still do what they want as normal. All it does is remove predictability from the game and foresight to who will act when. If you don't see it as abuse, that is clearly on you. I see that way, as do other DMs, which is why they added it to 5E as a variant. Like nearly everything else in 5E, they sacrifice certain things for simplicity, Initiative is simply another case of it. I've never used a cyclical initiative for that reason, never will, and wouldn't bother playing in a group that did. So we are safe that we never have to worry about playing together, which I, for one, am pretty happy about. ;) If you prefer simplicity, more power to you. Enjoy your game. I'll enjoy mine. :) I appreciate you acknowledging that. :p [/QUOTE]
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