D&D 5E Handling Initiative

[Sacrosanct]

I saw a recent discussion the other day about how a lot of people use white boards, note cards, and other tools to keep track of initiative. And that seemed a bit odd to me. Not "bad", or "wrong", or anything else like that before I get jumped on LOL.

I guess I look at it like this:

When you get down to it, it really comes down to when the party attacks, and when the monsters attack. IIRC, it has always been a rule that you can hold your initiative for later segments if you want. At least that's how I've always played it. In that case, any player that goes before the monsters, it doesn't matter what their individual initiative roll is as long as it's faster than the monsters. Same is true of those players who go after the monsters. If all monsters have gone already, it doesn't matter what order the remaining players go in.

For example, if you have:

player A: 17
player B: 15
Monster A: 14
Monster B: 11
Player C: 9
Player D: 8

If player A wants to hold his turn to see what player B does, he can. Same with Player C. If the monsters have already gone, then Player C can hold her turn until Player D goes if she wants. So basically, you don't need to keep track of individual segments.

This leads me into how I manage initiative as the DM. In the above example, I wouldn't track individual segments. I would simply say, "Anyone over 14? You can go." and let the player A and B decide what order they want to go in. Then I say, "On 14 monster A goes. Anyone go on 14?" then "Monster B goes on 11, anyone left higher than that? No?" Then I say "OK, I'm all done, everyone else can go."

It keeps it simple, and fast. Again, this isn't to disparage anyone who uses white boards or cards, but I'd like to better understand the reasoning behind it. I guess it comes down to preference, as I prefer speeding up combat when you can.

 

[ExploderWizard]

This is generally why I like using group initiative, rolling once for each faction in the fight. Most of the time there are two sides but sometimes there are more (especially if the fight is joined later by more monsters or PC allies).

It is also why I usually discard initiative modifiers and use that factor instead to modify the chances of and effects of surprise.

 

[Agamon]

I use a magnet board, so the names can be moved around easily. You can also mark the names with condition markers, which is nice if you're not using minis or don't want to move a marker around with your mini if you are using them.

So it gives a visual guide for all the players, if someone's turn is coming up they can prepare for it instead of, "oh yeah, it's my turn...uhhh..." but it still allows the list to be mutable.

 

[MarkB]

We used to use magnetic boards or whiteboards until our current DM got a netbook. Now he runs combats from a custom Excel spreadsheet that includes initiative placement, monster HP and status effects, and PC status effects and Action Point usage.

As a result, he can happily split groups of monsters down to individuals and assign each one their own initiative. It makes for more fluid, organic-feeling combats with the PCs and monsters intermingled instead of "all PCs go, then all monsters go, then all PCs..."

 

[Bawylie]

I've just not been using it at all. Sometimes I use "popcorn" initiative, like popcorn reading in grade school. But mostly, I run it without initiative at all.

 

[Tormyr]

I cut 1"x4" strips out of a foamcore board that had a dry erase surface on one side and attached strips of magnets to them. Those are then added to a small, magnetic white board that is on an easel. Six of the strips have character names on them. I then have one of the players at the opposite end of the table write everyone's initiative next to their player name and add any monster names and initiative. The player then arranges them in order. It is quick, easy, has a minimum of writing and everyone can see when their turn is to help me when I screw up and skip someone.

 

[Nikosandros]

Normally, I roll once for the monsters (using some kind of average modifier if it's a mixed group). Every PC that rolls higher gets to act. Then is always in groups: monsters, party, monsters, party, etc.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Normally, I roll once for the monsters (using some kind of average modifier if it's a mixed group). Every PC that rolls higher gets to act. Then is always in groups: monsters, party, monsters, party, etc.

that's pretty much how I do it. I only roll once for all monsters. Then i figure out their initiative based on any modifiers. That's how I got two different values in my example. But mostly, all monsters go on the same segment. So it very much is, "Who goes above X?" then "I'm done, everyone else can go."

 

[Crothian]

Normally, I roll once for the monsters (using some kind of average modifier if it's a mixed group). Every PC that rolls higher gets to act. Then is always in groups: monsters, party, monsters, party, etc.

That's what I do. This way the group can act in any order they It also speeds things up by just having everyone handle there decisions at the same time.

 

[Blackbrrd]

I roll individual initiativ for most monsters and the players roll for each character. Asking who goes when etc would actually slow combat down.

Instead I use some cardboard triangles with the PC name/Monster number written on them and sort them according to initiative. I also use a marker (a small box) to show who's initiative it is. That way a player knows when it's his or her turn just by looking. The result is that the player is usually well prepared when it's his or her turn, and I don't have to say "it's your turn".

If someone wants to "hold" their initiative or "ready", I just push the cardboard triangle out of the line to indicate it and move it back, at the right place when the character/monster has acted.

After I started running initiative like that, nobody has been skipped (something that often happens otherwise) and I don't have to prompt anyone for their action.

@OP I like your method, but I am guessing it gets slower as you add more monsters, and neither the players nor you as a DM has a visual aid for who's turn it is.

I don't like group initiatives, because all the damage can quickly pile up on one character without allowing anybody to react. It would be faster though.