Initiative Variants
Source: Dungeon Master’s Guide p. 270
This section offers different ways to handle initiative.
Initiative Score
With this optional rule, creatures don’t roll initiative at the start of combat. Instead, each creature has an initiative score, which is a passive Dexterity check: 10 + Dexterity modifier.
By cutting down on die rolls, math done on the fly, and the process of asking for and recording totals, you can speed your game up considerably—at the cost of an initiative order that is often predictable.
Side Initiative
Recording initiative for each PC and monster, arranging everyone in the correct order, and remembering where you are in the list can bog the game down. If you want quicker combats, at the risk of those combats becoming unbalanced, try using the side initiative rule.
Under this variant, the players roll a d20 for their initiative as a group, or side. You also roll a d20. Neither roll receives any modifiers. Whoever rolls highest wins initiative. In case of a tie, keep rerolling until the tie is broken.
When it’s a side’s turn, the members of that side can act in any order they choose. Once everyone on the side has taken a turn, the other side goes. A round ends when both sides have completed their turns.
If more than two sides take part in a battle, each side rolls for initiative. Sides act from the highest roll to lowest. Combat continues in the initiative order until the battle is complete.
This variant encourages teamwork and makes your life as a DM easier, since you can more easily coordinate monsters. On the downside, the side that wins initiative can gang up on enemies and take them out before they have a chance to act.
Speed Factor
Some DMs find the regular progression of initiative too predictable and prone to abuse. Players can use their knowledge of the initiative order to influence their decisions. For example, a badly wounded fighter might charge a troll because he knows that the cleric goes before the monster and can heal him.
Speed factor is an option for initiative that introduces more uncertainty into combat, at the cost of speed of play. Under this variant, the participants in a battle roll initiative each round. Before rolling, each character or monster must choose an action.
Initiative Modifiers
Modifiers might apply to a creature’s initiative depending on its size and the action it takes. For example, a creature that fights with a light weapon or casts a simple spell is more likely to act before a creature armed with a heavy or slow weapon. See the Speed Factor Initiative Modifiers table for details. If an action has no modifier listed, the action has no effect on initiative. If more than one modifier applies such as wielding a two-handed, heavy melee weapon, apply them all to the initiative roll.
Speed Factor Initiative Modifiers
| Factor | Initiative Modifier |
|---|---|
| Spellcasting | Subtract the spell’s level |
| Melee, heavy weapon | -2 |
| Melee, light or finesse weapon | +2 |
| Melee, two-handed weapon | -2 |
| Ranged, loading weapon | -5 |
| ^speed-factor-initiative-modifiers |
| Creature Size | Initiative Modifier |
|---|---|
| Tiny | +5 |
| Small | +2 |
| Medium | +0 |
| Large | -2 |
| Huge | -5 |
| Gargantuan | -8 |
| ^creature-size-initiative-modifier |
Don’t apply the same modifier more than once on a creature’s turn. For example, a rogue fighting with two daggers gains the +2 bonus for using a light or finesse weapon only once. In the case of spellcasting, apply only the modifier from the highest-level spell.
Apply any modifiers for bonus actions to that creature’s turn, remembering never to apply the same modifier twice. For instance, a paladin casts a 2nd-level spell as a bonus action and then attacks with a shortsword. The paladin takes a -2 penalty for the spell and gains a +2 bonus for using a light weapon, for a total modifier of +0.
The table is only a starting point. You can refer to it when adjudicating any actions a character takes that you think should be faster or slower. Quick, easy actions should grant a bonus, while slow, difficult ones should incur a penalty. As a rule of thumb, apply a bonus or penalty of 2 or 5 for an action.
For example, a fighter wants to turn a winch to raise a portcullis. This is a complex, difficult action. You could rule that it incurs a -5 initiative penalty.
Rolling Initiative
After deciding on an action, everyone rolls initiative and applies modifiers, keeping the result secret. You then announce an initiative number, starting with 30 and working down (it helps to call out ranges of numbers at the start). Break any ties by having the combatant with the highest Dexterity act first. Otherwise, roll to determine who goes first.
Turns
On its turn, a creature moves as normal but must take the action it selected or take no action at all.
Once everyone has acted, the process repeats. Everyone in the battle selects an action, rolls initiative, and takes turns in order.