Swashbuckling initiative
a.k.a. Group by Group Initiative!
Here is how we do initiative order.
We don’t roll or do anything to determine the initiative order. It’s supposed to feel no different from ordinary play (except that we do keep track of the action econ per round).
It’s “Group by group (and then all the loosies go last)”. In other words, if you are attacked it’s your turn right back after you defend, referred to as your “follow-up” (as long as you have actions left that round). That’s it! That’s the whole system.
It’s fast and it gives a varied result with a lot of back & forth instead of first all on one side go, then all on the other side goes. Best of all, your parry is immediately followed-up by your own attack.
I like to order the groups by dangerousest NPC last, but still before all the loosies, i.e. all the disengaged characters. Starting with the minions mooks weenies and henchmen and working my way up to the heavy hitters. This group ordering isn’t vitally important and it’s okay if I mess it up. It’s just there if I want an external thing to help me order things beyond just my own whim. Akin to looking at the second hand of your watch when playing rock-paper-scissors.
“First strike”
Sometimes we have combined the aforementioned with a “first strike” system. A system to determine who goes first within each group.
Currently we don’t have anything (the diegesis is often pretty clear about who attacks first) but in the past we’ve used the idea that holding light (in a dark area) gives you first strike (in your group). Some class features can also give you first strike.
We have also tried a couple of sessions using initiative cards. You flip them up to determine who goes first in that group, and that also keeps track of how many have acted in the round.
Natural-ish flow
This system has been working so great even back when it was more complicated with light sources and w/e. And it cuts down on the number of steam rolls and ensures more of a back and forth. We’ve used it for hundreds of sessions and I love it. I’ve also tried breaking up multiattacks so there’s even more of a back-and-forth within a group.
When people wanna do things out of order, don’t shut that down, but just do the “When you…” key phrase. Like if Wendy is a li’l too trigger happy, just go “While Wendy is starting that spell, Terry, a skeleton is slashing at you with a shamshir, what do you do?” Making sure to acknowledge her initiation and to get back to her.
Glossary of key phrases while DM:ing
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