Narrative Initiative

I use something called Narrative Initiative. At the beginning of combat there's no initiative rolls, no writing down the order and following it, hoping not to skip over anyone.

Everyone gets a token, we use playing cards. At the start of the round they start face up. When you want to take your turn, you say "I'm going to take my turn now" and flip your card face down and go.

When all cards are face down, the round ends and the flip back over to repeat the process.

This leads to combat being much more dynamic and tactical. It's SUPER fast. Everyone stays engaged the whole time because of how quick it is and because they're watching for the opportune time to go.

It took me and my players a few sessions to get used to, now I'll always use it because of how smooth and easy it is.

So Villain and PC 1 declare at the same time, they roll Initiative, the order is PC 1, then Villain. No matter what, that's the order for the next 2 turns. No one can interrupt the Villain's turn.

To keep it from being a "we all go first!" fest, I just put a cap on how many people can "challenge" to go at the same time at like 2 or 3.

Talk to your players. The point of the rule is to make combat flow better, feel more narrative, dynamic, and dramatic.

It is NOT to optimize or maximize. So if you think your players will use this rule in a way you don't like, don't use it!