I like the idea of the continuous, sequenced combat and understand it as
it's been discussed here.  But what about the "monsters"?  Let's say the PCs
are ambushed by a band of seven hobgoblin archers.  Under the new system, is
the DM to roll d20 for EACH of the seven monsters?  If so, that seems a
little cumbersome.  (Before, my group did the abbreviated initiative, each
side rolling one d10 to see which sides' actions go first.)

Also, I wonder what will happen if everyone decides to take a "focus" action
to move up in sequence.  Will the sequence remain the same?

1)  With only having to do it one time, the DM could (in theory) roll (or
assign) all of the monsters' initiative rolls ahead of time.
2)  Some monsters will be fast, some will be slow.  Perhaps the 3E Monster
Manual will have an Initiative stat that looks like this +2 (12).  The first
part tells what modifier to apply to the monster's roll; the second gives you a
default number (like an average score) if you decide against rolling.
3)  In any edition, one can always group monsters instead of rolling
individually.  Seven hobgoblins could be broken into a group of three (with
battle axes) and a group of four (with halberds), and then roll once for each
group.
4)  Maybe combat will still start with each *side* rolling initiative (once),
but within a few rounds the order will probably change dramatically as members
of both sides Focus or Delay or Ready or make Attacks of Opportunity.

The question about multiple characters striving to all Focus at the same time is
interesting.  Does each attempt Focus move you to the *top* of the initiative
order, or just up one "notch" I wonder?  Is Focus a skill one could fail at?

Eric Noah