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Message: <blockquote data-quote="El Mahdi" data-source="post: 4676499" data-attributes="member: 59506">Sounds like a good idea.  The visual factor can be really good for keeping the players aware of when they need to be ready, help them determine strategies based on when their turn is, and leave no excuse for not being ready when it's their turn.  I do things a little different, but by no means do I think one approach is better than another.  Sounds like what you have fits the way you want your game to run.  How do your players like it?  As a player I'd probably like it.  As a DM what I wanted was my players to be ready when it was their turn, but also not ignore the rest of the action at the table when it wasn't their turn.  Also, I wanted the randomness of new initiative every round.  I wanted combats to be a little less predictable, so I didn't want my players to know exactly when their turn would come around.  At the same time, I didn't want to add an initiative roll every round, and end up adding even more things to slow down combat. What I decided on was to use my computer.  I list every combatant on an excel document.  At the beginning of the game, before we even get started on the adventure, I have everyone roll for 20 initiatives, and put down their rolls in sequence on the excel doc.  I'll usually use a standard initiative number for monsters and npc's, but a different one for each (like 5, 10, or 15).  Then, each round I just use the sort function by column to list everyone in initiative order for that round. Advantages are: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">adds an element of randomness to combat</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">forces players to pay attention to combat, even when it's not their turn, because they don't know when their turn will come up</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">forces players to be ready for when it is their turn</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">eliminates the need to roll initiative just prior to the beginning of combat - allowing us to transition directly into combat without delay</li> </ul>Disadvantages:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">adds an element of randomness to combat (this may be something that some players, and even DM's, may not like - tastes vary)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">requires the use of a computer or laptop at the gametable (not everyone likes this, or even has easy access to a computer for gametable use - not a problem for me though, since I mostly run my games right off of my computer - except for the actual adventure module and referencing rules in books)</li> </ul>It would be really cool if I had the resources and technical savvy to incorporate your idea also.  If I had a monitor up where the players could see it, I could make a virtual board with counters like you use.  The computer could update the board every round based on the new initiative order.  That would look seriously cool.  Oh well, here's to dreaming.</blockquote>

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