Build on the first turn

Catan's opening is the slowest part of the game: everyone places, everyone collects, and then several turns pass before the board looks any different. This lets each player spend the wood and brick they were dealt at once, so the first roll happens on a board that has already started to take shape. It changes no economy — the resources are the ones setup already gives you, and a road is the cheapest thing you can buy with them. What it changes is tempo, and the effect is largest at four players, where the wait between your setup and your first real turn is longest. The one thing to agree first is order: build in the same order you placed your second settlement, so the player who chose last is still the player who commits last.