Originally Posted by
icefractal
I think it (the initiative system) would work ok if all of the below applied:
1) The group's not playing in a challenge-oriented style, so significantly suboptimal moves are fine.
2) The players are already engaging in spotlight management.
3) All related OOC issues like shyness, attention-hogging, disagreement on style, etc have been resolved.
Not really what I'm looking for from initiative regardless. But for a more "making a satisfying story is a priority" group, I could see the advantage.
For example, consider the situation of:
It's the final confrontation with Baron von Jerkwad. While the whole party is against him at this point, his original nemesis and the one with the most grudge is Sir Plus, one of the PCs. Sir Plus has just taken his turn recently, and the Baron is at very low HP, which means it's almost certain someone else will land the final blow. Your options are:
A) Someone else lands the final blow; it is what it is.
B) GM fudges the Baron's HP to keep him alive until Sir Plus can land the hit.
C) Rest of the party inexplicably decides to stall until Sir Plus's turn.
Personally, I'd just say "Option A, what's the issue?" because I'm not that story-oriented and find too-obvious narrative convenience a turn-off. But if the group does want the cinematic ending, they've got two not-great options. This kind of initiative system would give them a third and better option.