Something like this will probably work best for what I'm going for.
D&D 5E Fast Initiative ideas?
Something like this will probably work best for what I'm going for.
I ran a game that had 6-8 players for a while. What I did was have a small white board on a table easel. Each PC's name was written on a wide magnet that had enough room left over for the initiative number. When it was time to roll initiative, a player at the other end of the table took everyone's iniative, wrote it on the magnets, and rearranged the magnets in initiative order. There were blank magnets for monsters. This allowed me to offload the setup for initiative to another player, and everyone could see the order which helped make sure that I did not skip anyone.
Not a system but a tool. Use a laptop with excel. Jot the players names on the sheet, add the monsters in.
On the next column, add the players initiatives as they call them out (or you can have the sheet roll it for them if you want)
Then do a sort and presto, you have everyone in initiative order.
I used to use notecards and this was a lot quicker, add bonus you can use the excel to track hitpoint losses too
On the next column, add the players initiatives as they call them out (or you can have the sheet roll it for them if you want)
Then do a sort and presto, you have everyone in initiative order.
I used to use notecards and this was a lot quicker, add bonus you can use the excel to track hitpoint losses too
I generally find the system works great for big set piece battles a la 4e encounters, but for "one orc" type encounters the init rolls can take longer than the actual fight, & half the PCs never get to act. It's particularly a problem when the PCs are in a 10' corridor, very common in old-school dungeons.
I'm thinking of something like "roll init vs DC set by target init, those who win go first in order of closeness to target".
But "d6, 4-6 your side goes first" also sounds good.
Alternatively you could have the players pre-roll PC initiative at the beginning of the session and at the end of each combat encounter. That way you can roll for just the Orc's initiative and then smoothly transition into combat in the already established initiative order.
Blue
Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal
Okay, so to restate the problem from reading multiple replies, the problem is that when you run encounters that are way below a real challenge that initiative takes a long time.
What I'm having a problem reconciling though is that you seem to be willing to go for an entirely un-D&D feel in having an initiative system that's a complete break, but unwilling to address the root problem of vastly easy combats in a way that's reminiscent of other versions of D&D because it doesn't add to the "old-school feel".
Are you looking for a faster initiative system but only restricting yourself to old-school ones, or are you willing to try something new, including potentially on the root problem of <1 round encounters?
As a side note, the "one orc" encounter is where initiative matters a great deal since it determines if the foe gets their single action off or not, as well as who is attacking them, if they are using spells or other limited resources, etc. (Plus any RP that can come out of it - bragging rights for the barbarian, the paladin trying to take prisoners instead of killing, etc.)
And if the PCs are lined up in a corridor then perhaps marching order is more important than initiative order? But you still want to know who goes first - monster or PC...
ART!
Deluxe Unhuman
So true, and really they'll develop different strategies for whatever method or approach you take.
Here's what I do, although I remain open to other ways:
If there's any question at all regarding surprise, all the players roll for their PCs, and I roll for their opponents. If the opponents are all the same or pretty much the same, they get one roll for all of them. If some of the opponents are special in some way, I might roll separately for them.
If even just one of the PCs gets a higher result that the opposition, and that PC is able to warn the other PCs, then the PCs go first, generally in whatever order they want or we just go around the table. If a PC fumbled their roll, they miss a round. Then the opposition goes, and back and forth.
Having the players deal with it always a great idea! I have enough work as it is as DM!
I'm sure many folks here are aware of this, but since we're discussing the various ways to handle initiative this is an excellent method: http://theangrygm.com/manage-combat-like-a-dolphin/
It also discusses why letting players track the initiative order is perhaps not optimal.
It also discusses why letting players track the initiative order is perhaps not optimal.
Croesus
Adventurer
I'm still unsure what issue the OP is having with initiative, but here are some ideas we use at my table to speed it up.
1) At the start of the session, I have each player roll initiative four times, recording the numbers. I add 2-3 initiative rolls for enemies to each set. When an encounter occurs, I have a player roll a d4, which determines which initiative set we use.
2) Each character has a face card with their name on it (I use the Paizo ones, though an index card will work just as well). I add a card for each separate group of opponents in the encounter. I organize the cards in initiative order, then simply flip each card as that character's/group's actions are completed.
3) If there's a small, quick encounter, I often say "We'll use the initiative from the last encounter". Since I already have the cards in that order, it takes zero extra time.
1) At the start of the session, I have each player roll initiative four times, recording the numbers. I add 2-3 initiative rolls for enemies to each set. When an encounter occurs, I have a player roll a d4, which determines which initiative set we use.
2) Each character has a face card with their name on it (I use the Paizo ones, though an index card will work just as well). I add a card for each separate group of opponents in the encounter. I organize the cards in initiative order, then simply flip each card as that character's/group's actions are completed.
3) If there's a small, quick encounter, I often say "We'll use the initiative from the last encounter". Since I already have the cards in that order, it takes zero extra time.
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