Easy Initiative

by ma-ko

 For my birthday, my girlfriend ran a one-shot for me and a group of friends entirely new to D&D using my GLOGhack. She did extremely well for her first time DMing, we all had fun, and I got a lot of new data to work with.

Anyway, I've been thinking about initiative in combat.

The Procedure: 

At the start of each combat round, the DM describes what the monsters are going to do.

[ex: “The goblins are descending upon Kell, while their ogre companion hefts a boulder over its head, preparing to launch it. What do you do?”]

Next, the PCs decide what they want to do (quickly, if possible).

• PCs who want to act before monsters test DEX. If they fail, they act after.
• PCs who choose to act after monsters have advantage on their action.
• PCs who want to cast spells must act after monsters, without advantage.

[ex: Kell aims her crossbow at the ogre, hoping to disrupt its attack. She tests DEX and succeeds, so she gets the shot off before the goblins catch her.]

The round proceeds PCs -> monsters -> PCs.

That’s it. 

Pretty Neat, But Why Do It This Way?

Starting the combat round by telegraphing the monsters’ attacks is sort of an extension of this AngryGM rant. It accomplishes 3 things:

1. Keeps everyone on the same page w/r/t what’s going on.
2. Helps PCs feel like they’re outsmarting the monsters. (If the monster is smarter than average, this is also a great place to convey that; the mindflayer is casting ~something~, but what could it be? The bandit ringleader flashes his blades as a feint, only to drop a smoke bomb.)
3. Breaks up combat with a clear procedure, which scales well from single-combat to full party brawling.
   

Rolling is now reserved for those who want to race the monsters or interrupt their plans. Obviously, the monsters will react, but they may be caught flatfooted according to how the DM plays them. [ex: The ogre takes a bolt to the eye, and throws the boulder blindly into the fray.]

Letting players act last gives them the option of “leading the shot,” which just feels badass.

Casters going last helps encourage the “fragile wizard” trope in a system without variable HP between classes. (Taking damage while casting incurs a Save vs. Mishap, so other PCs are incentivized to guard the casters.)

In the long run, I want my hack to be runnable by new and inexperienced DMs. Having a strong narrative procedure for the rules-heavy parts of the game is the first step on that road.