I admit it. I’m a lazy GM. I don’t enjoy tracking things like hit points or initiative or the like. It is probably one of the reasons why I like Savage Worlds so much. It is also why we adapted the Savage Worlds card initiative system for our 5e D&D games. However, we have been trying out something new in the last couple of sessions of our Side Quest campaign. We have been using the Popcorn Initiative system from the Angry DM.
In a nutshell, everyone rolls initiative at the start of a combat. Whoever gets the highest result goes first. They then pick who goes next who then picks who goes after them and so on. Whoever goes last in the round then picks who goes first in the following round. It has been well received by the players in the game and I like it as well for a few reasons.
First, it appeals to my lazy nature. Like the Savage Worlds card system, it eliminates having to track and manage the initiative order from round to round. Yes, we have to keep track of who has and hasn’t gone but, as you’ll see, we have an easy fix for that. To be honest, with the changes that 5e has made to initiative and actions (e.g., eliminating changes in initiative order due to delaying and readying), this alone really wouldn’t be enough of a reason for me to switch.
The second reason is that it adds an interesting tactical element and a meaningful choice for the players to make during play. I like having players make choices that have consequences during play. We haven’t sussed out all of the tactics of using this approach yet but the players are learning. When we first used it, I believe that there was a strong tendency to always pick an ally to go next. It was quickly learned, however, that this could let the bad guys go last and then first again in the next round…much to the detriment of the party.
Third, I put together some initiative cards for this that still give us the same visual clues that the Savage Worlds’ card system did.
Essentially, when combat starts, the cards are all face up with Pick Me!!! facing the center of the table. After a character takes their turn, they flip their card over. If they are waiting (i.e., they “pass” the initiative to someone else) or have readied an action, they turn their card so the appropriate edge is facing the table. We just use a blank card for the baddies. This easily seen visual clue helps to keep things moving quickly; assuming everyone remembers to adjust their card appropriately…still training everyone on that. 😉
So, essentially, the Popcorn Initiative system is quick and easy, appeals to my desire to not track an initiative order, and includes a nice tactical choice for the players. It kind of hits that nice sweet spot for me and the players seem to like it too. A win-win situation. As we run into things with the rules where the initiative order is important, we’ll figure out how to rule them on the fly and then give it a more careful consideration in between sessions.
The only immediate downside to switching to this system that I have thought of is that I have a bunch of decks of cards that I’ve been collecting for using for different campaigns using the card system from Savage Worlds.
