Correct. First thing I do when I wake up (after kissing my lovely wife) is to discover how Fitz will eat us today and all of your actions. Usually, I have a full day before you all get up, playing mostly at work. So, when I see Fitz posting during the day, I know he has some ongoing sleep crisis.
I'm glad we don't use the PHB initiative by the way.
True. Sometimes I post in the middle of the night. Other times in the middle of work!
I really like the way I've been doing Initiative. So much so, that I used it F2F for awhile. Everyone loved it. The only reason I went back to 'regular' Init in my F2F games is because I kept getting new players (I run games regularly in my Comic Store) and I got tired of explaining it.
...I should warn people who haven't been playing my games here about it, shouldn't I?
For those who don't know (I think just Gene at the moment) I run what I like to call "Cinematic Initiative". Essentially:
Your side: Don't roll Init. Post whenever you get the chance after I call "Begin Round X". Assume anything that has been posted before you is going on around you (you can see it happening Right Now). If you want to "Delay" (I know, not a thing in 5e) or "Ready" just tell me when you want your actions to occur and roll them anyway. Don't get carried away with If/Then statements, if you can, but feel free to leave some things open to me (see below).
(This reminds me... I should ask everyone to go ahead and roll it right away if they expect a reaction of their might be triggered. For example, A battlemaster could say, "If I'm hit with an attack, then I will parry (roll) 7 damage"
My Side: I will spread the enemies out throughout the round. Usually this means you "agro" anyone you attack. So if you attack a monster, and it survives, it attacks you back right away, in between my resolving other player's posts. If monsters are left alone, they will work their way into the fight whenever it makes sense. I usually resolve the round in what I call "bite-sized chunks" or I get overwhelmed (and run out of time). This is usually two or three characters at a time and whatever enemies they're fighting. (And possible NPCs allies). If I have time, I will do this bit right away before everyone posts. Players who haven't gone yet can again consider what they read to be "going on around them" when they make their posts.
Finally, when everyone is done (I tick each player, npc, and monster off on my tracker as I resolve them), I will post my round-breaker, that has The Encounter, A Map, and everyone's positions and current condition. Sometimes I miss stuff (usually get the wrong position on the tracker or forget to track someone's HP). Feel free to tell me about it.
Anyway, you'll see. Trust me (I guess this system requires a lot of trust of the DM). It works quite well.
Oh!
I'll put another reminder here for everyone: Please remember to put your limited resources (spell slots, potion uses, etc) in the posts in which you use them. You don't have to put them in every post, but if you use them, I'd like to see what you have left. For example, when Primus uses his fourth crazy psionic power for the day, I'd like to see that he has 35/54 power points left (or whatever it is - I can't find any of that on his sheet at the moment) Or if Sesto uses Channel Divinity to Turn Undead, I'd like to see that he's at 1/2 CD left. Thanks gang!
