Initiative Systems

 Every RPG out there has an initiative system. It is a necessary evil when it comes to playing games like Table Top RPGs. Necessary because when things get hectic in the game, there needs to be a system that figures out who can talk and whose actions resolve when. Evil because by their nature initiative systems take what is a very exciting and chaotic sequence of events and slows it down while chunking it into very orderly segments or bites.

However, while every RPG comes with a pre-packaged initiative system, I can't think of a single game where how the initiative system works is of fundamental importance to the system. And with the exception of 7th Sea 2nd Edition I have yet to see a game with an initiative system that can't be taken and used in other games. I could be off on both of those - my experience is limited - but in most games - especially the mainstream ones - you can change initiative systems with relative ease.

That said, let's talk about initiative systems and why you may want to change from the default in your game.

Mechanics Worth Stealing Lite: Giving the Environment a Turn

At GenCon this past year I got to play in a demo run of the Sentinels Comics RPG. It is a super hero RPG based off the universe used in the Sentinels of the Multiverse CCG. One of the neat things that happens in the game is that during combat, the environment you are fighting in gets a turn.

It's an idea I kind of like. And today I want to talk about it. This isn't a full on "mechanics worth stealing" though as I haven't seen the mechanic enough to fully know how it works. So this is more just me going off the idea and what I think and hope it could be.

Running Combat With Battle Mats for Cheap

Games like D&D 5e and Pathfinder will tell you they're don't require being on a gridded battlemat, but combats tend to run a lot smoother - and take more full advantage of all the various combat mechanics - when they do. Things like the range for attacks, area of effect for spells, and whether or not someone can move without drawing an attack of opportunity or blocking a door all become a lot clearer with a battle mat. Heck, I find combats in D&D 5e actually run faster - and more interestingly - with a battle mat because you don't have to keep reminding people what is going on or what monster is where, nor figure out how far a given monster is from a given PC. It's all their on the mat.

That said, miniatures get expensive. Fortunately, there are some cheap alternatives.