While reading through some very old threads I've come across many lamenting Initiative with regards to ambushes and/or surprise, or "What if I want to 'ready/hold' an action/maneuver to interrupt opponent X?"

What about using competitive checks?

The check wouldn't supplant Initiative. The check could be based on any appropriately applicable skills.

Just a thought. I see people posting ALL the time about standard checks and opposed checks, but I can't honestly remember the last time I saw competitive checks mentioned.

I know it's not RAW, but I prefer to roll initiative as normal and couple it with an appropriate skill check on the part of the defenders. If the defenders are successful at the skill check, they can participate in the first round of combat as usual. If they fail, they participate starting with the second round. I know it's not RAW, but I consider it a fair compromise between the screwy way initiative can work in this system and the equally silly way it works in D20 systems.

Lotsa ways to handle surprise. Probably the easiest is just have the PCs use their Vigilance and have the opponents use their Cool as usual and any PCs that don't beat the adversaries are surprised the first round and maybe unable to take Actions.

Just a thought. I see people posting ALL the time about standard checks and opposed checks, but I can't honestly remember the last time I saw competitive checks mentioned.

Can you define how "competitive checks" are different from "opposed checks"?

While reading through some very old threads I've come across many lamenting Initiative with regards to ambushes and/or surprise, or "What if I want to 'ready/hold' an action/maneuver to interrupt opponent X?"

What about using competitive checks?

The check wouldn't supplant Initiative. The check could be based on any appropriately applicable skills.

Just a thought. I see people posting ALL the time about standard checks and opposed checks, but I can't honestly remember the last time I saw competitive checks mentioned.

Forgot to mention, initiative is a competitive check.

Just a thought. I see people posting ALL the time about standard checks and opposed checks, but I can't honestly remember the last time I saw competitive checks mentioned.

Can you define how "competitive checks" are different from "opposed checks"?

Opposed checks are done in one dice pool. With the appropriate skills making up the positive and negative dice, respectively (positive for the actor, negative for the defender). Competitive checks are usually simple checks where the results of the dice pools of the various actors are compared and the "winner" is the one with the largest positive result. Opposed checks could result in failures, threats and despairs. Competitive checks (in almost all cases) can only result in varying degrees of success, advantage and triumph.

Adversary Annie and PC Pip are both standing near a WMD big red button, but PC Pip doesn't actually know what the big red button does, just that he doesn't want Adversary Annie to push it. BAD NEWS! Adversary Annie's initiative comes before PC Pip's. GOOD NEWS! PC Pip was holding his maneuver from last round...

Just a thought. I see people posting ALL the time about standard checks and opposed checks, but I can't honestly remember the last time I saw competitive checks mentioned.

Can you define how "competitive checks" are different from "opposed checks"?

EotE Core Rules, pg.25, Other Types of Checks.

Just a thought. I see people posting ALL the time about standard checks and opposed checks, but I can't honestly remember the last time I saw competitive checks mentioned.

Can you define how "competitive checks" are different from "opposed checks"?

Opposed checks are done in one dice pool. With the appropriate skills making up the positive and negative dice, respectively (positive for the actor, negative for the defender). Competitive checks are usually simple checks where the results of the dice pools of the various actors are compared and the "winner" is the one with the largest positive result. Opposed checks could result in failures, threats and despairs. Competitive checks (in almost all cases) can only result in varying degrees of success, advantage and triumph.

Conceptually, determining initiative is actually basically a competitive check with no mutual challenge/objective to provide a difficulty rating