Speed Factor Initiative

[superninja109]

deleted.......

[Aett_Thorn]

I really don’t advise that sort of system for a group of new players. It’s more complicated, and new players have enough to get used to. New players are also the ones most likely to not necessarily think ahead as much as they need to and want to change what they said they were going to do.

I’d say let them get used to the game first, then if you still feel like you want to switch to a speed factor type system, bring it up to the group.

[MaxWilson]

Hello. After toying with the idea of using it myself, I've been reading things about the speed factor initiative variant. After reading an Angry GM article on this, I think I want to use this. However, I am not sure if I should implement it. In a day or two, I am going to start running a campaign for all new players. I want to introduce it now so that I don't have to switch gears halfway through, but I also don't want to over-complicate things too early. Any thoughts on if I should do this or not?

It winds up being simpler than PHB initiative because you don't have to solve the problems that PHB initiative creates, like players checking out mentally whenever it's not their turn, or monsters feeling static (which then leads to creating complicated legendary actions as a kludge), etc.

If you want to keep it even simpler at first you can just not use any speed factors and roll only one initiative d20 for each side, then add individual dice if the players feel it's TOO simplistic.

[MaxWilson]

Thanks for the responses. I don't think I am going to use the side initiative. That is a stretch too simple. Any tips for implementing the speed factor initiative if I end up using it?

Be open to the idea of letting players roll dice and start resolving actions even before everyone finishes declaring. Just let players know that if they have already rolled they can't change their minds later--if Connor already rolled two attacks against the orcs, he can't change his mind and Disengage away when Ralph decides to Fireball the orcs. So players should wait until everyone has declared to start rolling dice if there's any chance they will need to coordinate actions.

In large battles you may want to delegate some work to a player, such as keeping track of all the action declarations and making sure no one accidentally misses their turn--sometimes a player can be so eager to resolve his turn and then start his next turn that you don't realize at first that someone didn't go at all. Along those same lines, in large battles I have likewise found it helpful to write down declarations and check off the ones which have been resolved, which also makes it easy to say e.g. "sorry Connor, you can't Disengage away from ground zero, you're busy disembowelling that orc, remember?"

[MaxWilson]

Huh. Writing down the action sounds like it could be a good idea. Maybe I could even try printing off a a list of actions and just have the player check the box for his/her choice. Thanks for your suggestions.

Maybe even make a whiteboard matrix of characters vs. actions (including "Other") and have players move their token to the appropriate grid box at the start of each round, then flip the token over once the action is resolved. Could be worth trying.

[Kane0]

You could use a deck of cards, poker chips or similar for it instead of making custom tokens