Hi, @BugbearSlug - glad to have you in the community.
Initiative Systems Deep Discussion
Hi, new here. I’m so happy to have found a place to talk about content creation for RPGs.
I run a weekly session with six 8-10 year-old Japanese kids who are new to the hobby. The game has a free-form turn order system I wrote called “ENI”. I don’t think this would work with adults but works well for me in the situation.
Turn order is decided freely. The player who describes how their PC acts or reacts takes their turn.
Players can even make an NPC take a turn, but that never happens. I guess this would be the equivalent of waiting for the right moment to attack.
So the GM usually starts with visual clues and taunts to show that the NPCs are not friendly, and brings them right into the action, and will keep taking turns with 5 second pauses between each turn (usually holding a hand up and counting down fingers), until the party’s survival instinct kicks in and they do something (crazy). The GM might say “You’d better do something or leave” if the players are frozen or too polite to take their turn.