Initiative/speed system
Turn order is determined by a speed or initiative stat rather than fixed player-then-enemy alternation, so faster characters act more often and slower ones less, and turn order itself becomes a strategic target. Divinity: Original Sin 2 and Baldur's Gate 3 both use initiative rolls at combat start to interleave all combatants — player and enemy alike — into a single ordered timeline, making 'who goes next' a constantly shifting tactical variable. Designers use initiative systems to make speed a meaningful stat (not just flavor), to enable interrupt and reaction-timing tactics (acting before an enemy's turn matters), and to break the predictability of strict side-based turns. Key decisions: whether initiative is rolled once per combat or re-rolled each round, how buffs/debuffs to speed reorder the timeline, UI for previewing turn order, and how ties are broken. Pitfall: initiative systems that are opaque about upcoming turn order remove the planning value that's the whole point — players need to see the timeline to make initiative-based tactical decisions.
- Dev effort: Medium
- Timing: Turn-based
- Common in: crpg, tactics