Re: Good initiative mechanics?

Brian Gleichman responds to my description of my Eastern Isles game
system:

  I find it interesting that in this description,
  much of it seems driven by the resulting game
  play instead of a recreation of a defined
  reality.

  Is that the case with the original system design,
  or are you just describing it from that PoV?

I think it's mostly that I'm describing it from that point of view -
though perhaps not completely.

Originally the intent was to capture varying weapon speeds; I think
that was the primary impetus to use a system with multiple blows per
round.  However, I also wanted a system that would allow combat to
move quickly, so there were some playability concerns as well.

I mentioned that players seem to like how the combat flows under that
system, but I wasn't specifically trying to make a system that people
would enjoy.  From the standpoint of the initiative system design,
what I was trying to do was to capture a combat flow that would feel
realistic, and I do think that feel is part of what people like.

Warren J. Dew