Combat

Believe it or not, Original Dungeons & Dragons had no initiative system.

Instead, the rules referred you to the initiative system for Chainmail, Gary Gygax's earlier Miniature War Game.

The problem was, Chainmail was designed for mass combat, and didn't include things like mmm monsters and spells.

So every DM had to make up their own initiative and combat system.

My System

The system I use is a combination of the "standard practice" for old school games, the Holmes Basic system, and Mike Mearls' Greyhawk Initiative.

1. Determine surprise. If one party surprises the other, they get a free action.

2. Roll initiative. One player rolls a d6 for the party. The d DM rolls for the monsters. Highest goes first.

3. Declare actions. Actions are resolved in order of how quick they can be accomplished, with movement coming first and spells tea taking effect last. Therefore you have to declare your intended action at the top of the round, so I know when you will be acting.

In general, you can take only one action per round. EXCEPTION: if an adversary is less than your full movement rate away, you may move and make a melee attack on your turn.

Actions are resolved in the following order:

Movement: you may move up to your speed.

If you readied a spell in the previous game turn, you can cast it now. If not, you can ready a spell now, instead of moving. It will take effect in the spell phase, but if you take any damage before it goes off, you lose the spell.

Fighters can "charge" if they have a clear, relatively straight path to their target, requiring their full movement. They can only do this on their first turn.

Elves armed with bows may "spilt move", moving half their movement rate and firing one bow shot. They take their second shot and the rest of their movement in the missile phase.

Missiles: you may attack with any ranged weapons. Keep in mind that bows get two shots per round.

If you fire into melee, you can't choose your target. There's a chance you'll hit your allies ([number of allies]/[number of total combatants]). You can negate this by taking a -3 penalty on your attack roll.

Elves who are using the "split move" take their second shot and must use the other half of their movement now.

If a spellcaster takes damage in this phase, they must ready the spell again, but they don't lose the slot.

Melee: you may make a melee attack if you are in melee range (10 ft) of your target.

Your target gets an immediate Returning Attack (an attack roll against you) if they are still alive. If you get multiple attacks, the Returning Blow comes after your first attack.

The Returning Attack comes from Chainmail and I use it instead of Opportunity Attacks. Therefore, it is relatively safe to run away from melee. A monster may chase you, but they would have to catch you before they could attack again.

All PCs are entitled to Returning Attacks.

If a spellcaster takes damage in this phase, they lose the spell slot entirely.

Spells. If you readied a spell in the Movement phase, you may cast it now. If not, you may ready a spell now. It will take effect on your next Movement phase, but if you take damage in the next round, you may lose the spell.

Improvised actions are strongly encouraged! Tell me what you want to do, and I'll figure out how it works and when out happens. This is a free-form game, so don't feel limited to the above list of actions.

4. Other side. The side that lost initiative goes.

5. Roll initiative again. We roll initiative every round. It is possible for one side to get two turns in a row.