D&D 5E Avoiding Initiative

[LordEntrails]

Nobody rolls initiative every round! Once at the start of combat is the norm.

Huh? Actually rolling initiative every round is very popular with the groups I'm aware of. Lots of benefits and since it can be done with a single click of a mouse button it doesn't slow things down at all.

I just made a random initiative generator in Excel. Took about 2-3 minutes. Simple press of F9 and it rolls initiative. Easy!

Of course, I'd need Excel at my table but anything that can do a RANDBETWEEN function will work. If I used a laptop while DMing I'd use it. But I don't own a laptop.

This is one easy way to do it. I use FG myself and it can be automated.

But thanks for telling us how we play our game

 

[Ilbranteloth]

One of the things I personally struggle with is that pause where the narrative stops and everybody rolls initiative, and then the combat starts.

One tip I’ve used is to roll initiative in advance (at the end of the previous combat is one approach) to avoid that artificial pause.

What techniques do you use?

We don’t use initiative at all, resolving things in what seems a logical order. I don’t “go around the table”, just tell me what you’re doing, and go ahead and start doing it. They can talk to each other, etc. I can listen to several people at once, and if I have questions I’ll ask. We like combat to be fast, chaotic, and just part of the flow of the game.

It’s usually not important to know who hit first, and if it is we do an opposed initiative check between the relevant combatants.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

Drawing cards for characters that have already acted, is also going to eat up a lot of time. Dice may just end up being faster, considering this issue.

Huh? I think you may be dramatically overestimating how much time it takes to flip over a card. I mean, if you can sort and write down a bunch of called-out rolls in less than a second, then more power to you, I guess, but I can't. (And it's not as if I'm doing anything silly like calling out initiative ranges... *cringes in the direction of Critical Role*)

 

[Ath-kethin]

We don't even try to avoid such pauses. We recognize that it's a game & that at times there's mechanical details to attend to.

I'm another vote in this category, and in my games we roll initiative every round.

I don't see rolling initiative as being terribly different from rolling attacks, skill checks, or anything else. Rolling dice is part of the game, and for many of us it's the most viscerally fun part.

In my group, we dig it.

 

[Simon T. Vesper]

Nobody rolls initiative every round! Once at the start of combat is the norm.

... yeah, I'm sorry, I don't know where that came from. Might have been thinking back to my 3rd Edition days.

Either way, the principle stands: we're playing a game. The players will always be aware of this. If they're not ~ if you've managed to get them so immersed that they literally forget where they are ~ they either have some serious issues or you're a freaking wizard.

 

[Imaculata]

Huh? I think you may be dramatically overestimating how much time it takes to flip over a card. I mean, if you can sort and write down a bunch of called-out rolls in less than a second, then more power to you, I guess, but I can't.

I write down the rolls only once, after which I know the initiative of everyone for the entire fight. But if you have to flip over multiple cards every round, to determine who goes first, that would eat up a lot of extra time. Or am I misunderstanding the way you use the cards?

 

[TheCosmicKid]

I write down the rolls only once, after which I know the initiative of everyone for the entire fight. But if you have to flip over multiple cards every round, to determine who goes first, that would eat up a lot of extra time. Or am I misunderstanding the way you use the cards?

I don't think you're misunderstanding anything, but I'm still a little surprised by your concern that drawing maybe one to three cards is a time-consuming process. It just... isn't. Flipflipflip "Okay Bob your turn!" done.

 

[Imaculata]

I don't think you're misunderstanding anything, but I'm still a little surprised by your concern that drawing maybe one to three cards is a time-consuming process. It just... isn't. Flipflipflip "Okay Bob your turn!" done.

Yes, but now imagine doing it for every player, every round.

Going: Flipflipflip "Okay Bob your turn!" done, every round, makes rounds take a lot longer than:

"Okay Bob your turn!, Okay now Steven, Okay now Elen".

I see only a disadvantage here in terms of how long a round takes to resolve.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

Huh...I use several different methods throughout the game. First of all, I use ye old edition "Surprise Round" (Basic D&D) where if I don't see it as a Yes/No, I roll d6, and one of the players rolls d6. On a 1-2, that side is 'surprised'.

As for Initiative. I use:

1. - Each side rolls d20, modified individually.
2. - Each individual rolls d20, modified individually.
3. - I roll d20 for each 'group' of bad guys; players use #1.
4. - As #3, but players use #2.
5. - Any of the above, but with d12's (more common than using d20's; a +3 bonus is a LOT nicer with a d12 than a d20).
6. - I just decide based on the circumstances, usually narrated rather than stated.
7. - Each side rolls 1d6, highest side goes first; no modifiers.
8. - I use the DramaDeck/PlotCards-Combo from the MasterBook RPG system where stuff is 'translated' on the fly into D&D terms.

Oh, and I use all of these interchangeably throughout a game SESSION, not a "campaign". Not always, but usually; so we might all be a bit more tiered than normal and just elect for using #7 for the whole session...or we may start with #2, then move to #1 for smaller, more intense fights, then switch to #5 for the rest of the session other than the last half-hour or so, when we are really getting into the RP/Story aspect of the game and we pull out #8.

In short...combat is chaotic; Initiative is part of combat, so, well, yeah...

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Imaculata]

8. - I use the DramaDeck/PlotCards-Combo from the MasterBook RPG system where stuff is 'translated' on the fly into D&D terms.

I have never heard of this before. How does that work?