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Initiative house rules

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
nnnnn
Jun 24, 2008 14:02:20 The way Initiative works has a lot of room for innovation.

Here's a house rule of mine:

A natural 20 on your initiative roll means you react so quickly you get a surprise round all on your own. Multiple 20s act in order of modified initiative.

A natural 1 means that you freeze up and cannot act in round 1.

Also, the rule of 1 applies to all enemies but the rule of 20 applies to elites only...

nnnnn
#2
octavius
Jun 24, 2008 14:33:48 Personally, I don't think that's such a good idea because it can seriously imbalance your combats, especially when it's a situational combat.

Okay fine, when the heroes are fighting a bunch of kobolds in dungeon room 8, it's not going to matter if one of the players gets a free action while the kobold skirmishers hesitate for the round.

But what if the heroes are looking to ambush the kidnappers that just took the prince out of his basinet? The kidnappers could get a free action to jump out the window while your wizard with his hold person needs a minute to compose himself.

Or, let's say you want the PCs to stop some diabolical ritual that the cult leader only has x amount of rounds before he finishes, and oh dang, two of your players rolled twenty on initiative. rather than being a dramatic race against time, they cut the guys lips off before he gets a word out.

Sure, when its just another combat, it wont mean anything, but it can seriously screw with the drama you're trying to present, or worse yet, let's look at a serious case of 20 vs 1 in a medusa fight.

For initiative the medusa rolls a 20, hobart rolls a 1, the other party members were waiting around the corner for hobart to throw a tarp over her as part of their medusa killing strategy. the medusa gets the surprise round and begins her gaze attack, hobart the warrior fails his first death save. on the actual first round, her gaze attack continues, hobart loses another pip. on the second round, the round hobart will get to act (at the end), the medusa goes first and pops his last dot. the guy is frozen solid before he even got a chance to act.

of course these are all hypothetical and can be picked apart, my point is that there are a great many situations where a three round shift in turns can make a huge difference.
#3
jimb
Jun 25, 2008 3:08:44 It seems fine with the following caveat: after you roll a natural 20 and get a surprise round, you shouldn't also get to go first on the following round. Instead, you should roll initiative again to determine your initiative score for the remainder of the combat.

Same thing for rolling a 1.
#4
nnnnn
Jun 25, 2008 11:03:02
It seems fine with the following caveat: after you roll a natural 20 and get a surprise round, you shouldn't also get to go first on the following round. Instead, you should roll initiative again to determine your initiative score for the remainder of the combat.

Same thing for rolling a 1.

I like that. And the second roll will act as normal, no special case for 20 or 1.

Also I thought of these feats:

Jumpy
If there is no surprise round, you can spend your action point for +10 on your initiative roll. If you roll a natural 20 for initiative you gain the +10 bonus without spending the action point.

and

Deadly Patience
Whenever your initiative result causes you to act last in the first round of combat, at the end of the first round of combat you move to the top of the initiative order for round 2 and thereafter.

nnnnn

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 nnnnn Jun 24, 2008 14:02:20	The way Initiative works has a lot of room for innovation. Here's a house rule of mine: A natural 20 on your initiative roll means you react so quickly you get a surprise round all on your own. Multiple 20s act in order of modified initiative. A natural 1 means that you freeze up and cannot act in round 1. Also, the rule of 1 applies to all enemies but the rule of 20 applies to elites only... nnnnn
#2 octavius Jun 24, 2008 14:33:48	Personally, I don't think that's such a good idea because it can seriously imbalance your combats, especially when it's a situational combat. Okay fine, when the heroes are fighting a bunch of kobolds in dungeon room 8, it's not going to matter if one of the players gets a free action while the kobold skirmishers hesitate for the round. But what if the heroes are looking to ambush the kidnappers that just took the prince out of his basinet? The kidnappers could get a free action to jump out the window while your wizard with his hold person needs a minute to compose himself. Or, let's say you want the PCs to stop some diabolical ritual that the cult leader only has x amount of rounds before he finishes, and oh dang, two of your players rolled twenty on initiative. rather than being a dramatic race against time, they cut the guys lips off before he gets a word out. Sure, when its just another combat, it wont mean anything, but it can seriously screw with the drama you're trying to present, or worse yet, let's look at a serious case of 20 vs 1 in a medusa fight. For initiative the medusa rolls a 20, hobart rolls a 1, the other party members were waiting around the corner for hobart to throw a tarp over her as part of their medusa killing strategy. the medusa gets the surprise round and begins her gaze attack, hobart the warrior fails his first death save. on the actual first round, her gaze attack continues, hobart loses another pip. on the second round, the round hobart will get to act (at the end), the medusa goes first and pops his last dot. the guy is frozen solid before he even got a chance to act. of course these are all hypothetical and can be picked apart, my point is that there are a great many situations where a three round shift in turns can make a huge difference.
#3 jimb Jun 25, 2008 3:08:44	It seems fine with the following caveat: after you roll a natural 20 and get a surprise round, you shouldn't also get to go first on the following round. Instead, you should roll initiative again to determine your initiative score for the remainder of the combat. Same thing for rolling a 1.
#4 nnnnn Jun 25, 2008 11:03:02	It seems fine with the following caveat: after you roll a natural 20 and get a surprise round, you shouldn't also get to go first on the following round. Instead, you should roll initiative again to determine your initiative score for the remainder of the combat. Same thing for rolling a 1. I like that. And the second roll will act as normal, no special case for 20 or 1. Also I thought of these feats: Jumpy If there is no surprise round, you can spend your action point for +10 on your initiative roll. If you roll a natural 20 for initiative you gain the +10 bonus without spending the action point. and Deadly Patience Whenever your initiative result causes you to act last in the first round of combat, at the end of the first round of combat you move to the top of the initiative order for round 2 and thereafter. nnnnn