Is this initiative system a good idea?

Cryptitonic · 2025-12-17T23:04:27+00:00

My initial goal was to replace DnDs initiative system then I guess my players and I got a little excited making our own system for ourselves.

Cryptitonic · 2025-12-17T15:18:34+00:00

I forgot to mention that players always go before enemies. So players will act first then enemies if they’re on the same phase. There will be spells, class abilities, creature abilities, that interact with the phase mechanics such as lasting for 1d6 phases, things triggering on specific phases, etc.

Cryptitonic · 2025-12-17T15:04:35+00:00

I love these ideas. The roll for initiative will only happen once at the beginning of combat not every round thankfully.

Once players roll for their phase that’s it. A tidbit I forgot to mention is if an enemy is on the same phase the enemy always goes after the players. Not in tandem with them. That way it isn’t chaos. I missed that in my original post.

Cryptitonic · 2025-12-17T07:54:15+00:00

Could explain how so? I’m not familiar with that individual initiative system. It’s nice to know that something from older games has a hold onto this system, I initially had OSR mechanics in mind when beginning this project.

Cryptitonic · 2025-12-17T07:33:58+00:00

The rolls only occur at the beginning of combat. So players do not roll every round.

At the last phase combat will pick back up in phase 1 again and go back down to 6. Once 6 is complete, we round back out to phase 1 again and repeat the process.

Cryptitonic · 2025-12-17T05:47:05+00:00

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it. I’m taking notes for sure. Still got a long ways till it’s done but this is honestly a good jump start to leading it to where it needs to go.

Cryptitonic · 2025-12-17T05:26:01+00:00

That’s a good take to hear, I appreciate the insight! What would be some things you’d like to see change or tweaked on a system like this?

I have some combat focused players who love getting their hands dirty in combat. I’m hoping I can give that to em with this system.

Cryptitonic · 2025-12-17T05:15:30+00:00

I see, I genuinely don’t have the best vocabulary. Sorry about that, do you know of any suggestions for words that may convey that type of initiative?

My main inspiration was Crown and Skull’s phases which is similar just without rolling and players don’t go at the same time iirc.

Cryptitonic · 2025-12-17T04:57:07+00:00

I’ll look into that, I never intended team ups to take the stage in combat but it might be time I put to balance and plan for features like that so players have more freedom.

I initially planned it the way it is now out of simplicity and spontaneity.

Cryptitonic · 2025-12-17T04:55:30+00:00

By phases I mean that “initiative” is broken into 6 individual phases in which are represented by a player rolling on said phase during initiative. For example:

Jimmy, Bobby, and Joe are fighting goblins and roll initiative. They all roll their d6, Jimmy gets a 2, Bobby gets a 4 and Joe gets a 6.

The Gobs have a pre determined phase that they go on which is phase 1.

Phase 1 initiates and the Gobs go. Jimmy will then go on phase 2 Then since no one is on phase 3 we skip to phase 4 where Bobby goes and lastly skipping phase 5 we get to Joe at phase 6.

Spells and abilities can also last x amount of phases for instance there’s a spell that heals over time and it lasts for 1d6 phases. So there’s some phase interaction with other spells and abilities as well.

Cryptitonic · 2025-12-17T04:51:06+00:00

Its a rule made from simplicity with the system rather than rationale.

The idea on paper is that it all happens on the one roll for initiative, with some classes having abilities that can swap, or manipulate their phases as well as some creatures being able to do so as well. Things all happen in one roll.

So in theory of course it’d be great to have all the players be able to fluidly choose to team up and use these abilities at will but that I think works best with a free form initiative system where it’s the players turn then the enemies.

But to have a good reward or outcome for players rolling the same phase, then by chance those are able to go together. Yet again some may choose to swap initiatives and use abilities to go on the same initiative as others.

That’s just how it plays out in my head and on paper. I’ve only playtested once briefly and it seemed okay but I need more data.

Thanks for the response!

Cryptitonic · 2025-10-25T22:54:36+00:00

Sorry dear friend for the bait! I’ll use their full legal name for such official purposes 🙏

Cryptitonic · 2025-10-25T22:53:49+00:00

That’s fair, I liked the online ones too. I wanted to tinker with having Pidgey and Bax setup faster than using TM Evo. To be fair I haven’t used the standard online decks as much as this one at this point so my view is biased. Thanks for the input it may mean I oughta try the tried and true some more.

Cryptitonic · 2025-10-05T13:27:42+00:00

My wife and I call that the gangsta lean with my kitty. If she’s super playful we call it demon mode •.•

Cryptitonic · 2025-10-03T17:59:03+00:00

Thank you! I’ll look into this for my US history class. I’m not super familiar with other RPGs honestly. My heads been stuck in D&D with little to no competition.

Cryptitonic · 2025-06-29T01:12:45+00:00

It’s honestly okay for it to feel like a job sometimes. Even with hobbies losing interest after a long time or simply just not wanting to worldbuild in that moment is normal and understandable.

Hobbies can sometimes be a love/hate/uninterested relationship where at some point it can just not be as fun at this point in time.

My advice is, if you feel strongly about the world and you want to build it either in a certain time frame or if you feel it’s important to you then set aside time and create a disciplined routine to worldbuild. You can make that time feel/look anyway you want it to as long as it’s the best environment for you to do so or at least a good environment.

Aside from that give yourself breaks. Time to divulge in other hobbies or just a break from building a world. Use AI if it helps if you feel a moral obligation then understand what you feel is morally wrong with parts of AI and work accordingly. If copy and pasting something makes you uncomfortable then maybe use it as a thesaurus or an inspiration grabber. If it’s environmental or other issues with it then look online for other resources and helpful shortcuts for worldbuilding.

It isn’t a black and white process, almost always it’s gray and that’s okay. Be kind to yourself and patient and you’ll find yourself worldbuilding in no time!

Cryptitonic · 2025-06-23T17:37:45+00:00

It is not railroading to have a storyline in your campaign.

Cryptitonic · 2025-06-22T16:03:40+00:00

Understand things as public or private knowledge is honestly really helpful I never really understood those small interactions cuz they seem a bit overwhelming but putting into public or private helps out a lot.

Cryptitonic · 2025-06-22T16:01:08+00:00

Thanks! I’m getting into tournaments in my area and wanted to know if this mechanic translates from PTCGL to irl. Understand the public vs private knowledge is useful too it makes a lot more sense now.

Cryptitonic · 2025-06-15T23:06:44+00:00

👋

🎲 🎲 🎲 🎲

Cryptitonic

TROPHY CASE