Initiative rule
I'm trying out new initiative rules. Our last few instances of combat didn't go so well in terms of rolling and I just winged it. As it stands the players ended up with the advantage every time, much to my chagrin. Initiative is going to run with a different system entirely now. Next session is a test run of this system, and testing it out is especially important with the party planning on engaging in a larger scale battle soon (spoiler alert: if you didn't realize it, the guy-on-a-stake is going to be more difficult than a couple of goblins that failed their morale checks).
A segment is six seconds, a round ten of these (one minute), and a turn ten rounds (ten minutes). Combat occurs in one-minute rounds, and actions within each round are computed by the segment, or: action is constantly divided into six-second chunks. As far as combat is supposed to be envisioned, the "round" does exist, and this is the function that the segment serves. Weapons have their own segment values, movement has a segment value, an action has a segment value, spellcasting has a segment value... in an ideal system it is possible for an action to spill over into another round. Characters don't move as pieces on a board, one after another, but simultaneously. The combat round will go like this:
1. Every player declares their complete planned actions. This includes movement, attacking, getting out an item, etc..
2. 1d6 is rolled for initiative.
3. Each individual modifies their roll subtracting their dex adjustment. This is the segment number where you begin your declared action
4. Movement and spellcasting add in speed factors to the above number (number of segments for movement, and casting time). This modified number is the segment whereon your declared action will actually occur.
That's as complex as initiative will ever get. Movement is not interrupted (attacks of opportunity are a broken and overpowered system) because during movement you are putting all your attention to doing so. Spellcasting is interrupted, and so a spell that goes off on a segment after an attack made on the spellcaster will be interrupted during the casting (if it looks like I need to I might import 3.5's concentration checks to allow for "saved" spellcasting attempts, or perhaps I'll allow a save versus dragon breath).
Simultaneous actions can and will be occurring, and these actions are not rerolled. Since actions do not happen turn-by-turn but simultaneously, I consolidate each combat round into a unified whole after initiative and declared actions are determined, rather than allowing everyone to decide what to do on-the-fly. Actions that "interfere" with each other without a stated rule for doing so (such as, in the case of where last session the spider attempted to retreat and I allowed people to decide not to attack it for the round) will use weapon speed to determine whether or not they go off simultaneously. As in, the aforementioned situation will not be "fudged" again - if you declare an attack, and it goes off at the same time as the spider's attempted retreat, you will attack at the spider whether or not you wanted to change the action. If the attack does not occur in the midst of the spider's retreat, but after it has already moved away, then logically you get a last-minute change of mind, but your only option is to decide to stop the action.
The reason for all the above is shown here: combat is a constant melee of feints and assaults. If your action takes place on segment 4 it is assumed that for 18 seconds you are attempting to get in position and make it past other character's offenses and defenses in order to perform that action. If the entire opposing "side" is taken out of combat for one reason or another then circumstantial modifiers and instant initiative actions are given to the remaining "side", and certain grapple actions can take both the grappler and the grapplee out of combat due to focused attention. The spider "combat," by these rules, wasn't actually a combat situation, therefore. "Last-minute change of mind" is not a chance to change your action but cancel your action, because your action doesn't simply encompass the attack you make but the whole series of maneuvers that required your character to randomly get in position to make that attack on the segment for which you rolled initiative. If you changed your mind to make a different attack, you'd have to roll initiative and add your speeds and modifiers up again, and that would just place you in the next round anyway.
For simplicity's sake, the lowest initiative defaults to segment 1 and the round begins from there. It is furthermore assumed that, after you're "done" for the round, you spend the rest of it preoccupied with the combat. Characters that are "freed up" roll additional initiative rolls on segment 10 of each round. Weapon speed has been dropped from combat except for tie-breakers because it would force a lot more spillover than I think it necessary for fluid combat.
"Free" attacks: A "free attack" happens if two characters clash in simultaneous initiative and one has a weapon speed factor of half the other. This attack is made and rolled automatically with no decision factors (such as called shot) or mitigating factors (such as deciding not to make the attack), as it is assumed to be part of the melee itself and not an individual, strategic decision. This would be a rare circumstance and is only an effect of the speed of an utterly slow weapon interfering with function.
Multiple attacks: If an attacker has extra attacks then weapon speed factors into when those attacks would occur. An attack "between" rounds - as in, 3 attacks per 2 rounds - doubles the speed factor. No additional initiative rolls are made for these extra attacks. In the case of 3/2, there is effectively one half of an extra attack and it occurs automatically every other initiative roll. In the case of 4/2, there is one extra attack occurring per initiative roll, and so on. This extra attack functions as an action like everything else except that it must occur x segments right after the first attack.
In conclusion: Combat is determined in six-second segments, and rounds are at best a delineation.
A segment is six seconds, a round ten of these (one minute), and a turn ten rounds (ten minutes). Combat occurs in one-minute rounds, and actions within each round are computed by the segment, or: action is constantly divided into six-second chunks. As far as combat is supposed to be envisioned, the "round" does exist, and this is the function that the segment serves. Weapons have their own segment values, movement has a segment value, an action has a segment value, spellcasting has a segment value... in an ideal system it is possible for an action to spill over into another round. Characters don't move as pieces on a board, one after another, but simultaneously. The combat round will go like this:
1. Every player declares their complete planned actions. This includes movement, attacking, getting out an item, etc..
2. 1d6 is rolled for initiative.
3. Each individual modifies their roll subtracting their dex adjustment. This is the segment number where you begin your declared action
4. Movement and spellcasting add in speed factors to the above number (number of segments for movement, and casting time). This modified number is the segment whereon your declared action will actually occur.
That's as complex as initiative will ever get. Movement is not interrupted (attacks of opportunity are a broken and overpowered system) because during movement you are putting all your attention to doing so. Spellcasting is interrupted, and so a spell that goes off on a segment after an attack made on the spellcaster will be interrupted during the casting (if it looks like I need to I might import 3.5's concentration checks to allow for "saved" spellcasting attempts, or perhaps I'll allow a save versus dragon breath).
Simultaneous actions can and will be occurring, and these actions are not rerolled. Since actions do not happen turn-by-turn but simultaneously, I consolidate each combat round into a unified whole after initiative and declared actions are determined, rather than allowing everyone to decide what to do on-the-fly. Actions that "interfere" with each other without a stated rule for doing so (such as, in the case of where last session the spider attempted to retreat and I allowed people to decide not to attack it for the round) will use weapon speed to determine whether or not they go off simultaneously. As in, the aforementioned situation will not be "fudged" again - if you declare an attack, and it goes off at the same time as the spider's attempted retreat, you will attack at the spider whether or not you wanted to change the action. If the attack does not occur in the midst of the spider's retreat, but after it has already moved away, then logically you get a last-minute change of mind, but your only option is to decide to stop the action.
The reason for all the above is shown here: combat is a constant melee of feints and assaults. If your action takes place on segment 4 it is assumed that for 18 seconds you are attempting to get in position and make it past other character's offenses and defenses in order to perform that action. If the entire opposing "side" is taken out of combat for one reason or another then circumstantial modifiers and instant initiative actions are given to the remaining "side", and certain grapple actions can take both the grappler and the grapplee out of combat due to focused attention. The spider "combat," by these rules, wasn't actually a combat situation, therefore. "Last-minute change of mind" is not a chance to change your action but cancel your action, because your action doesn't simply encompass the attack you make but the whole series of maneuvers that required your character to randomly get in position to make that attack on the segment for which you rolled initiative. If you changed your mind to make a different attack, you'd have to roll initiative and add your speeds and modifiers up again, and that would just place you in the next round anyway.
For simplicity's sake, the lowest initiative defaults to segment 1 and the round begins from there. It is furthermore assumed that, after you're "done" for the round, you spend the rest of it preoccupied with the combat. Characters that are "freed up" roll additional initiative rolls on segment 10 of each round. Weapon speed has been dropped from combat except for tie-breakers because it would force a lot more spillover than I think it necessary for fluid combat.
"Free" attacks: A "free attack" happens if two characters clash in simultaneous initiative and one has a weapon speed factor of half the other. This attack is made and rolled automatically with no decision factors (such as called shot) or mitigating factors (such as deciding not to make the attack), as it is assumed to be part of the melee itself and not an individual, strategic decision. This would be a rare circumstance and is only an effect of the speed of an utterly slow weapon interfering with function.
Multiple attacks: If an attacker has extra attacks then weapon speed factors into when those attacks would occur. An attack "between" rounds - as in, 3 attacks per 2 rounds - doubles the speed factor. No additional initiative rolls are made for these extra attacks. In the case of 3/2, there is effectively one half of an extra attack and it occurs automatically every other initiative roll. In the case of 4/2, there is one extra attack occurring per initiative roll, and so on. This extra attack functions as an action like everything else except that it must occur x segments right after the first attack.
In conclusion: Combat is determined in six-second segments, and rounds are at best a delineation.