Does anyone else find that rolling for initiative each round takes too long? I'm thinking of simplifying it for my group, to an agility + cool/vigilance + 1d4 roll. Thoughts?

Don't roll initiative for each round. Roll it for the whole combat. Also, what you're proposing adds MORE dice to the equation.. how does that speed it up?

Roll it once at the beginning of combat. All you're doing is setting up slots for the PCs and the GM. The slots don't change round to round, you might end up with something like:

PC

PC

GM

PC

GM

PC

... but the PCs or the GM can pick whoever hasn't acted yet for whatever slot they like in each round.

What I do is have everyone make 4 rolls before the game starts (at the same time they roll Destiny): 2 Cool and 2 Vigilance. I record those. I also do the same rolls for any groups of NPCs they may get into combat with. Then when combat breaks out, I have someone roll a D100. 1-50 is the first roll for each person in the given category, 51-100 is the second roll. Since we've started doing this, I've never had a situation where we've run out of these pre-game rolls during a session. I'd say it's been successful in eliminating the sometimes awkward and flow-breaking delay between when a situation turns into combat and when the actual fighting begins.

As for the NPCs, i roll their initiative during planning. My players are ok with it.

Roll initiative once at the beginning of structured play. then each round each PC can use any 1 of the PC designated initiative slots, so long as each PC and each slot is only activated once each round. NPC's each activate in the same way using GM initiative slots.

The system is designed so 1 PC can be the ultra Cool guy (Edit: this could be the Face), another is Ultra Vigilant (edit:could be the scout/doctor), but a third is actually the combat monster who is neither cool not vigilant but takes the first PC slot in an encounter to "cull the numbers".

It super flexible too, 1 character may act first in a round to perform an action that assists other PC's until their next action. Then in the next round they take the last PC slot so everyone else gets the benefits twice.

As a GM I often add an extra GM slot at the end of the round if there BBEG is in the combat. It's another way of giving the BBEG some extra kick to make up for the many PC's vs 1 Nemesis power imbalance.

Other things like:

Letting someone Stim the wounded before they get hit again,

Or Pilot getting them out of dodge quickly

Social character can get out of the way

Are all possible due to the flexible nature of the initiative system.

Does anyone else find that rolling for initiative each round takes too long? I'm thinking of simplifying it for my group, to an agility + cool/vigilance + 1d4 roll. Thoughts?

I don't bother rolling at all, I simply go around the table starting with the player on my left. If the players win the contest for surprise or there is no reason to roll for surprise then the NPCs go last on the first round then each consecutive round they move up one slot until eventually they go first. Then the cycle continues with the NPCs going last, then moving up one slot each round. If the NPCs win the contest for surprise they go first on the first round and the above cycle continues as normal. The players can swap their turns if they want but that's up to them. When we set up I try to get the players to sit around from left to right based on how much of a butt kicker their characters are so the system works out ok.

Once per COMBAT?! Oops!

Just a heads up to those who don't have it yet, the new Force power in Chronicles of the Gatekeeper has about half of its applications to the initiative roll.

I don't bother rolling at all, I simply go around the table starting with the player on my left. If the players win the contest for surprise or there is no reason to roll for surprise then the NPCs go last on the first round then each consecutive round they move up one slot until eventually they go first. Then the cycle continues with the NPCs going last, then moving up one slot each round. If the NPCs win the contest for surprise they go first on the first round and the above cycle continues as normal. The players can swap their turns if they want but that's up to them. When we set up I try to get the players to sit around from left to right based on how much of a butt kicker their characters are so the system works out ok.

So, you basically make Vigilance (and, to a lesser extent, Cool) completely redundant? Bit harsh for characters who took those skills, isn't it?

Just a heads up to those who don't have it yet, the new Force power in Chronicles of the Gatekeeper has about half of its applications to the initiative roll.

I've not looked at the released version yet, but in the playtest, it was pretty awesome. And more than once, lead to temptation to the darkside...

I don't bother rolling at all, I simply go around the table starting with the player on my left. If the players win the contest for surprise or there is no reason to roll for surprise then the NPCs go last on the first round then each consecutive round they move up one slot until eventually they go first. Then the cycle continues with the NPCs going last, then moving up one slot each round. If the NPCs win the contest for surprise they go first on the first round and the above cycle continues as normal. The players can swap their turns if they want but that's up to them. When we set up I try to get the players to sit around from left to right based on how much of a butt kicker their characters are so the system works out ok.

So, you basically make Vigilance (and, to a lesser extent, Cool) completely redundant? Bit harsh for characters who took those skills, isn't it?

We talked after the last session about things to fix and initiative came up as one of them. So we are going to go back to the standard way, I just need to come up with a mechanism for keeping track. I tend to loose track of things like that, but a raid on a office supply store should fix my problem.

I don't bother rolling at all, I simply go around the table starting with the player on my left. If the players win the contest for surprise or there is no reason to roll for surprise then the NPCs go last on the first round then each consecutive round they move up one slot until eventually they go first. Then the cycle continues with the NPCs going last, then moving up one slot each round. If the NPCs win the contest for surprise they go first on the first round and the above cycle continues as normal. The players can swap their turns if they want but that's up to them. When we set up I try to get the players to sit around from left to right based on how much of a butt kicker their characters are so the system works out ok.

So, you basically make Vigilance (and, to a lesser extent, Cool) completely redundant? Bit harsh for characters who took those skills, isn't it?

We talked after the last session about things to fix and initiative came up as one of them. So we are going to go back to the standard way, I just need to come up with a mechanism for keeping track. I tend to loose track of things like that, but a raid on a office supply store should fix my problem.

Somebody made an initiative tracker sheet. I think it can be found on the resources thread.

Also, Pathfinder has a laminated cardboard-with-magnets initiative tracker that should work very well for this system. Especially when you need to add new character into an existing initiative sequence.

The magnets on a board is my plan. Pathfinder STOLE it from me using a Time Machine!!!!

I've got the magnets, round ones that I can write on. Red for PC's and Blue for NPC's. I just need to come up with a metal plate that will stand up on it's own so we can all see them. Hmm.... Ebay here I come!

I believe that episode 64 of the Order 66 Podcast had a couple of products to help track initiative easily.

Like this magnetic dry erase board and these magnetic dry erase labels to go on the board.

I don't bother rolling at all, I simply go around the table starting with the player on my left. If the players win the contest for surprise or there is no reason to roll for surprise then the NPCs go last on the first round then each consecutive round they move up one slot until eventually they go first. Then the cycle continues with the NPCs going last, then moving up one slot each round. If the NPCs win the contest for surprise they go first on the first round and the above cycle continues as normal. The players can swap their turns if they want but that's up to them. When we set up I try to get the players to sit around from left to right based on how much of a butt kicker their characters are so the system works out ok.

So, you basically make Vigilance (and, to a lesser extent, Cool) completely redundant? Bit harsh for characters who took those skills, isn't it?

We talked after the last session about things to fix and initiative came up as one of them. So we are going to go back to the standard way, I just need to come up with a mechanism for keeping track. I tend to loose track of things like that, but a raid on a office supply store should fix my problem.

I use the tracks from WFRP3E... Red for NPC slot, Green for PC slot, time marker on current slot.... If a general bonus die is paid for, it goes on the next slot of the affected side; same for general penalty dice. (Both due to threat.)

Does anyone else find that rolling for initiative each round takes too long? I'm thinking of simplifying it for my group, to an agility + cool/vigilance + 1d4 roll. Thoughts?

The rules specify rolling once per combat, not per round.

Yeah I was really confused for a bit, even with the responses from some people. I thought it was once per round (don't have my books to check atm). Thanks for confirming that. It would have bugged me until I get home and checked it.

I believe that episode 64 of the Order 66 Podcast had a couple of products to help track initiative easily.

Like this magnetic dry erase board and these magnetic dry erase labels to go on the board.

I've been doing the white board thing for about 6 months now - this **** thing is a godsend! Track strain, wounds - the whole nine yards! They seriously need to include one with each core book sold!

Once per COMBAT?! Oops!

I made exactly the same mistake when I started running my game. Combat got a lot more streamlined when I re-read the combat rules and spotted my error.

Has anyone ever thought of or tried a Savage Worlds type initiative? Seems like a good fit for a narrative game, Joker adds a Boost Die, could have other cards push some of the game and story mechanics.

I might fiddle with this...

I believe that episode 64 of the Order 66 Podcast had a couple of products to help track initiative easily.

Like this magnetic dry erase board and these magnetic dry erase labels to go on the board.

I've been doing the white board thing for about 6 months now - this **** thing is a godsend! Track strain, wounds - the whole nine yards! They seriously need to include one with each core book sold!

I've been using one for a couple of years now. Buying a tablet sized white board was the best gaming decision I've ever made. Using color coded magnets (PC vs NPC) to track initiative is great. While the GM is setting up for the fight I'm collecting everyone's initiative and marking it on my board. Once I have the numbers written down I then organize the magnets in slot order. During play I call out if it's a player or NPC slot next. That way the GM can focus on the bad guys and not have to juggle so many different things. I feel that this does help speed up play. After the fight it's just a swipe of the thumb and the board is clean again.

I'm fairly new to FFG's Star Wars, but I had an idea I'm going to try next time we play (which will probably be next year): Binder clips.

I got myself a bunch of small (19 mm) binder clips in different colors (white, black, gold). My plan is to set them up on top of the GM Screen - gold for a PC slot, black for an NPC slot (with whites for extras). That way, both I and my players can see the initiative order at a glance.

I'm fairly new to FFG's Star Wars, but I had an idea I'm going to try next time we play (which will probably be next year): Binder clips.

I got myself a bunch of small (19 mm) binder clips in different colors (white, black, gold). My plan is to set them up on top of the GM Screen - gold for a PC slot, black for an NPC slot (with whites for extras). That way, both I and my players can see the initiative order at a glance.

You might consider having a magnet per character, and as players and NPC's take their turns, put the magnet on it to show that they've acted...