Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Who has tried out the UA Greyhawk initiative rules variant?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Charlaquin" data-source="post: 7339613" data-attributes="member: 6779196"><p>I have actually not tried the Greyhawk Initiative system, but I have tried the similar Speed Factor Initiative and liked it quite a lot. What I found was that, contrary to what one might expect upon reading that you re-roll Initiative every round, it actually sped up combat a lot. That was actually the main benefit for me, as there was very little slowdown from players trying to carefully weigh options on their turns. I found that players losing actions due to their declared action no longer being possible was actually very, very rare, however it was quite common that players would get to their turn and say, “Aww man, I wish I could do X instead,” but always knew exactly what X was, so I added a house rule that you can choose to Ready an action instead of taking your declared action. This didn’t cause an noticeable slowdown, so I kept it. I noticed that in this system players use options like dash and disengage far less often, so I’ve considered experimenting with the Greyhawk Initiative system and having those options add dice instead of costing an action, but I haven’t tested that yet. I would also not want to use either option with a group with players who aren’t very experienced with D&D. The primary draw for me was the way it sped up combat, which I don’t think it would do if the players weren’t all very familiar with all of their spells and abilities. That’s why I’m not currently using it, because my group right now has two brand new players and one player who has only played online and isn’t used to doing everything analogue. Ultimately, it’s a useful tool in the toolbox. If you and your players don’t mind a little added complexity, it’s definitely worth a try, but it won’t be for every group.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Charlaquin, post: 7339613, member: 6779196"] I have actually not tried the Greyhawk Initiative system, but I have tried the similar Speed Factor Initiative and liked it quite a lot. What I found was that, contrary to what one might expect upon reading that you re-roll Initiative every round, it actually sped up combat a lot. That was actually the main benefit for me, as there was very little slowdown from players trying to carefully weigh options on their turns. I found that players losing actions due to their declared action no longer being possible was actually very, very rare, however it was quite common that players would get to their turn and say, “Aww man, I wish I could do X instead,” but always knew exactly what X was, so I added a house rule that you can choose to Ready an action instead of taking your declared action. This didn’t cause an noticeable slowdown, so I kept it. I noticed that in this system players use options like dash and disengage far less often, so I’ve considered experimenting with the Greyhawk Initiative system and having those options add dice instead of costing an action, but I haven’t tested that yet. I would also not want to use either option with a group with players who aren’t very experienced with D&D. The primary draw for me was the way it sped up combat, which I don’t think it would do if the players weren’t all very familiar with all of their spells and abilities. That’s why I’m not currently using it, because my group right now has two brand new players and one player who has only played online and isn’t used to doing everything analogue. Ultimately, it’s a useful tool in the toolbox. If you and your players don’t mind a little added complexity, it’s definitely worth a try, but it won’t be for every group. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Who has tried out the UA Greyhawk initiative rules variant?
Top