I was listening to the Roll for Initiative podcast on the commute home from work, and they were discussing, what else, rolling for initiative.
It seems that few, if any, that I know do this "by the book".
I run with - roll a d6 for each side, adjust that number by individual reaction speeds, and then count down from the highest number.
When using reaction speed adjustments, I really should be using individual initiative numbers, but ain't nobody got time for that!
Once a round. d10. Dex adjustment.
ReplyDeleteIt really doesn't matter if my players die first or last in the round. I just like giving them hope.
Playing b/x and very vanilla I know but straight out of the book. We will house rule /hack later but I wanted to get the old school feel.
ReplyDeleteI like "tag you're it" initiative. Hurts characters with good initiative modifiers in whatever system you are using, but adds more player skill (in my opinion anyway).
ReplyDeleteSince that's unlikely to be the "correct" name what I mean is that when a character finishes their turn they decide who goes next. They can pick another character or a monster group. The DM does the same for the monsters.
A bunch or risk v reward choices. Do the players go all one after the other and try to take down the monsters in one turn? If they don't manage it they risk a dreaded double turn from the bad guys - since the will all go at the end of the turn and then choose who goes first next turn and could pick themselves...
Though of course a game I play in at the moment is using 1d6 +dex (4d6 for monsters etc without a dex stat). And as you would expect my character has a dex of 5...
I used to use group initiative, but found that a lot of player prefer individual. Using all applicable modifiers, of course.
ReplyDeleteMy experience is that my S&W DM seems to roll 1d1 for initiative.
ReplyDeleteAlso, that Tim Shorts flips a coin to hit, with one side a "1" and the other a "20."
Deletelol Seems like it. Although I think it might be bad voodoo from Erik.
DeleteI use Basic/Expert initiative rules by the book. Each group rolls 1d6. Everyone in winning group acts, then everyone in losing group acts.
ReplyDeleteAD&D. Ten second/segment melee rounds. Each segment = 1 second.
ReplyDeleteEach player rolls a d10. The DM rolls a d10 for each like type of opponent. Each of a player’s characters (PC+henchmen/hirelings) or DM’s opponents act on the segment indicated by the die. Ties act in ascending order of Weapon Speed. Characters firing missile weapons may subtract their Missile Weapon bonus from their initiative result. Spellcasters start casting on their roll, and the spell takes effect after a number of "segments" equal to the casting time have elapsed. This means some spells can take effect next round.
I actually have my initiative rules on my blog, if you have an hour
ReplyDeletehttp://harbingergames.blogspot.com/2013/07/looks-like-it-is-time-to-act.html?_sm_au_=iVV627R7tTS2BD3M
D6 for each side. High roll goes first as a group. I have a deck of cards with every PC name on them. Shuffle and deal to see who's next in the group. If the d6 match, I just shuffle the cards and deal. There are monster cards in there too.
ReplyDelete