I really don't see why people have such problems with a basic roll-the-die initiative system.

Quote from: RPGPundit;1044626I really don't see why people have such problems with a basic roll-the-die initiative system.

I don't think it's a problem with the idea of rolling a die and using that to determine order.  It's more that the default d6 Star Wars system seems to drop the ball on the concept of initiative.  

And changing initiative order to something like the OP is considering is really no different from talkers->runners->fighters from Adventures in Time and Space.

Edit: Did the title always say FFG Star Wars?  I assumed the OP was talking about d6!  DOH!

Quote from: RPGPundit;1044626I really don't see why people have such problems with a basic roll-the-die initiative system.

Hey thanks for posting. I think regular Dice initiative if kind of an extra step that slows things down. I always liked it when there was a surprise round in D&D because we wouldn't roll Initiative and would go right into the combat. Initiative makes you stop before each sequence so it's the difference between a highway and a street with stop signs every block.

Quote from: Archlyte;1043959For about 6 months now I have been using Narrative initiative for determining order of battle in my SWRPG games.

I tried to monkey with the Initiative system for FFG's SW games but found that so much of the initiative modifiers were actual talents from the class talent tree, that any system I used short-changed some of the players. I ended up just using it as written with the one change that you had to use your own initiative slot on the first round (no more having a quick-draw artist hand his action over to the machine gunner).

Quote from: Archlyte;1044051What were your experiences with that? Good, Bad, Ugly? lol

Yeah the old D&D surprise round. I remember many an argument starting over that when I was younger.

1: Pretty well really. Unless someone took the time to study an opponent beforehand there was essentially that sort of gunslingers risk every time as you never knew who was the fastest till weapons were drawn. And sometimes speed alone wasnt enough. Skill, intuition, etc might tip the outcome.

2: Pretty sure it is in 5e too.

This is very similar to the initiative system I use. Common sense goes first: is one side waiting to see what the other does? Does one side of a closing melee have significantly longer weapons? Etc. Only if common sense doesn't determine initiative, we roll group vs group. In fact, "common sense" is RAW for my homebrewed D&Dish game.

We roll initiative only once per encounter, and take turns after that. The players (and monsters) go in whatever order suits them each round on their turn. At first the players stumbled on ordering themselves a bit and we tried switching to individual initiative, but they found that even more cumbersome, so we switched back and haven't had a problem since.

I've been using this system for about 2 years now, and find it awesome in every way. Fast, believable, engaging.

Quote from: RPGPundit;1044626I really don't see why people have such problems with a basic roll-the-die initiative system.

For me, in cases where a die roll contraindicates common sense or obvious applicable circumstances, it creates cognitive dissonance and breaks immersion. I have no objection to rolling a die in every other case.