The Anatomy of Combat: Alternate Initiative Part 1

A big question in any role playing combat situation is: “When is it my turn?” 

     Classically this is decided by a die roll of some fashion.  Typically with a d20 where the highest roll goes first, then the next highest, and so on.  This works when dealing with an adventuring party of 3 or 4 adventurers and a GM or DM with a single monster or a small group of similar monsters.  This system, though still viable finds itself falling apart from time to time when dealing with larger groups of both baddies and players.  Today I’ll focus on one method I use with particularly rowdy groups and larger groups of players.

~The round table method

     Who goes first can be figured out with the die roll appropriate for the system taking into account all applicable bonuses. But rather than going in what ever random order the dice might determine I’ll go around the table starting with the highest role. To the left or right it’s up to the person running the game.
     As the person running the game you will often find yourself rolling for both allies and adversaries to the players.  Roll for each character or monster then determine if your highest roll was for an NPC working with the party or an adversary.  If an Adversary ends up with the highest roll then have all adversaries go first and then the party, then the ally.  Reverse it if the ally ended up with higher roll

Pros:

            Each player knows who they will be following in combat as each round passes and the stall in a game that comes from a player saying “I didn’t know it was my turn” is essentially removed. 
            From the standpoint of running the game it gives you the opportunity to plan coordinated surprise attacks.  Sometimes players might assume that one of the baddies has not held their action and will walk right into a trap.  You, running the game, can simply turn to the next person and save time that would be needed to list each persons turn.

Cons:

            Moving enemies in mass can alert players to your plans more easily than moving them in intervals.   
            If a player is sitting on the wrong side of a player with high initiative bonuses they could be consistently going last.