Started reading up the new schlock mercenary rpg, and they have an interesting take on initiative...

Started reading up the new schlock mercenary rpg, and they have an interesting take on initiative. Thought I'd get Veeky Forumss reaction to it.

Its called Speak First, Go First, and it's exactly what it says on the tin. Going first in combat is player initiative rather than character, and if everyone delays the opponents go first. Enemies react to combat whenever it makes sense for them to do so, and time only pauses if someone has a needs time to explain their action.

Any other games in particular do you think would work well with this method?

None of them. As a GM I don't need a table of people screeching at me trying to be "first", especially when some of the characters in the game should be much faster than others. Would it make sense for someone playing The Flash in a supers game to go second to The Hulk because The Hulk's player is more aggressive?

This sounds like a system that exists more to be different and to look neat in the rulebook than to actually be played.

Well I imagine it works less well in that case, but most other genres don't have speeds as disproportionate as the hulk and the flash. Also, if everyone is just screeching to go first they probably aren't prone to the kind of teamwork this method works better with.

This game is sci-fi pulp, by the way.

I don't think anyone is suggesting is the divine immaculate mechanic to be used in any and every system.

It's also worth noting that schlock is about semi-trained quasi-professionals hurting people and breaking things for a living and a comedy spin; narratively, having to deal with the results of the hair-trigger retard who talks/shoots faster than he thinks is entirely appropriate.

Speaking of narrative, turns out movement speed is narrative based. The game master determines what they can reasonably do, or whether they need an athletics check to pull it off.

I'm just reading through this the first time, myself.

Seems like an odd thing to say. Doing something different hardly discounts the rest of the game. Or are you just assuming it's some variant of a heartbreaker?

well it avoids the "I shoot him", "Ok, roll for initiative" situation

Which isn't really an issue.
Either you've already got your gun aimed and ready to fire in which case you've clearly already started a fight and should be in combat rules, or you have to draw and aim in which case the other guy might beat you to the punch.

This particular system gives you two actions per turn, so draw and fire can be done together.