Initiative

Philosophy:
One of my buddies, whose gaming blog can be found at http://vedronspotionshop.blogspot.com/, linked me an interesting article about "Initiative: The Silent Killer" (I'll link it if I can find it again) talking about the difference between AD&D initiative (group initiative) and modern initiative (individual). Long story short, individual initiative leads to boredom, inattentive players and lack of party cohesion.

Another element I miss from AD&D initiative is the phasing. Obviously, realism isn't king, but I hate in 4e when a monster or player is able to move across a room and attack with impunity. If archers come across footmen, the archers should be able to shoot first!

Actions
Each character has a pool of actions that are used up during a combat round. This includes a Standard, a Move and a Minor action. Alternatively, characters can use their actions to take a lesser action. This means that a character can use a move action to take a minor action, or use a standard action to take a move or minor action.

The Combat Round:
Each round of combat proceeds in three phases: Ranged, Movement and Engagement. At the beginning of each round, the party leader rolls a d20 and the GM rolls a d20. If the GM rolls higher, the monsters go first in each phase that round. If the players roll higher, then the players go first in each phase that round. Certain players and monsters may have abilities that allow them go first in certain phases.

Ranged Phase:
During this phase, monsters and characters may take minor actions or any action that is a ranged attack.

Movement Phase:
During this phase, monsters and characters may take move or minor actions or take any action that is a ranged attack.

Engagement Phase:
During this phase, monsters and characters may take any remaining actions.

The Party Leader
During combat, the party leader is responsible for coordinating the party's actions, and, if disagreement arises, decide the order in which the party's actions will take place.