This is part of an ongoing series of posts about Initiative (mostly in Dungeons and Dragons, but most of this can be used in any TTRPG). I have a massive PDF I planned to sell, but I’ve decided to post it all here for free. I chose this next type of initiative by roiling a die.
This system(s) bases initiative on what actors did in the previous round. It does require new turn order every round.
You Did What Last Round, Simple
This is a pretty simple system. Whatever you did last round determines what die you roll to determine your place in initiative. Lower is better!
Moved or took a Bonus Action only
Took an Action only (most likely Attacked or Cast a Spell)
Moved and took an Action or Bonus Action
An opponent forcibly moved you
d4
d8
d12
d12+d4
You Did What Last Round, More Complex
Use the table above to determine what dice to use, then use this formula:
(die above)+d20-Dexterity bonus-(other positive modifiers from feats or abilities)=initiative score.
Again, lower is better. Basically, we’re just adding the die to the normal process, but going for lower is better.
Clarification and Options:
*move or movement in this system means your character walked, flew, burrowed, swam….they physically moved on their own
volition. It does not include teleportation or similar movement methods.
Option:
Classes that are “movement classes” roll a d4, d8, d8 in the system, not d4, d8, d12. This might include Monk, Rogue, Barbarian (maybe Ranger?).
Have each player place a die in front of themselves to mark what die they should use next round!
Why You Might or Might Not Like These Systems
You might like these if:
You like the choices your players make to matter more than they do. You want to reward more tactical play, and have choices be more complex.
You might not like these if:
You think they are too complex. You don’t like non-cyclical initiative. You don’t want to remember what anyone did in a previous round.
Conclusion
Not my favorite systems, but the first one especially is easy, and has some inherent logic to it. I’m not sure I’d ever use these. If I’m going to determine initiative based on decisions around actions, I’d prefer to do that based on what someone will do next. But this is easier for sure.
The tokens in the picture are from the Terraclips system that is no longer in print. These are scatter tokens.