#dnd players and DMs: for those of you who feel combat in 5e is too slow, what is making it so in your own game? What parts of combat are slowing it down at your game? pic.twitter.com/Dq7GMDKWlb
— SlyFlourish (@SlyFlourish) November 27, 2017
Funny enough, taking initiative and tracking initiative. Taking time for initiative rolls and recording the order hamstrings drama. I’m going to experiment with ditching it in favor of a hybrid of SotDL and a few other tricks.
— Chris Sims (@ChrisSSims) November 28, 2017
I also think enforced initiative order exacerbates problem such as players not knowing what to do on their turn. Especially true when a fellow player’s actions muck up your plans.
— Chris Sims (@ChrisSSims) November 28, 2017
It’s funny but I end up just going around the table about twice as often as actual initiative. If the monster’s go either first or last, I skip initiative and just go clockwise or counterclockwise around the table. Neither group minds.
— SlyFlourish (@SlyFlourish) November 28, 2017
I've used this one before for large tables. Another one is to use "passive Initiative" (10 + Dex) for most encounters, and keep that chart handy.
— Rob Gates (@r6artist) November 28, 2017
Yeah I considered that, but didn’t want fixed initiative. Hybrid options include averaging Dex (maybe Int) and passive Perception, giving quicker actors option to delay their first turn (taking a turn fixes their spot), or both. I like non-fixed mostly because it gives tactical players time to analyze and act on opportunities immediately while also giving casual and instigator players options to be casual or hasty.
— Chris Sims (@ChrisSSims) November 28, 2017
It’s cool for the rogue to pick the opportune moment to strike, frex, which is something fixed initiative can’t do other than through Ready actions. Non-fixed eliminates the need for Ready (and Delay in games that allow it). The problem with non-fixed is dealing with durations, but the fix is relatively simple. Thankfully.
— Chris Sims (@ChrisSSims) November 28, 2017