Combat in Apprentice

I'm streamlining / simplifying combat. Needs to flow quickly and make sense to young players and be easy for DMs who've used different systems to adapt to.

Initiative.

Initiative determines the order of turns during each round of combat. At the beginning of a round, each participant rolls a d20 and adds their initiative modifier and the DM does the same for monsters. The DM makes one roll for a group of identical monsters. Characters and monsters with [Sneaking Talent] act first, and then combat proceeds from highest to lowest modified initiative.


Either;

Characters always win initiative when tied with monsters, and characters tied with one another act simultaneously.

Or

Characters and monsters with the same modified initiative act simultaneously.

So the Sneaking Primary always wins initiative?

On a d20, could you give Sneaking +10 initiative for Primary and +5 for Secondary (then plus Dexterity)?

Lord Kai wrote:So the Sneaking Primary always wins initiative?

On a d20, could you give Sneaking +10 initiative for Primary and +5 for Secondary (then plus Dexterity)?

I think you are probably correct - giving a really big modifier probably makes more sense than an automatic. My inclination is to push the limit with the playtesting and see how "auto win" feels. Being able to go first in combat is one of the biggest perks of Sneaking Talent.