D&D 5E [OOC] A Light Hearted Princes of Elemental Evil Hack and Slash


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I want to introduce a house rule for the next combat to help myself a little bit.

This article is where I ended up thinking about this http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/news/rules-answers-august-2015

PbP just seems a little bit different. I don't want to deal with delaying necessarily, but what I really don't want to do is get bogged down in a series of if-else statements about actions. I also would like to take all the opposition actions in a single post, not broken up into segments.

So I want to roll initiative just once for the party and once for the opposition. I'll give the benefit of the highest initiative modifier in the party and the highest initiative modifier among the creatures in an encounter.

It's not a perfect solution, but it breaks it down into "US" and "THEM".

This is just an idea. Any feedback or thoughts are welcome. I'm still new to this system, so I could be missing important distinctions this breaks.
 

I'm not aware of any major issues with team-based initiative. But even if there is some problem, I think that the benefits of streamlining the process are important in PbP. We've got to make accommodations for the format.
 

I think you're still going to have IF/THEN statements. Even if we all go on the same initiative, if some of us are targeting the same creature, the first hit might kill it. So the second player that wants to kill it is probably going to put an OOC like:
OOC: If Tolan's 5th Critical Hit of the combat that he just rolled before me somehow doesn't kill Creature A, then I'll attack it. Otherwise, I do the following...


The only way to get around that is if we know the creature's AC and Hit Points, which removes a lot of the mystery and surprise. Additionally, we may not know if certain effects apply (Advantage/Disadvantage/Cover/Resistance/etc.).

I feel your pain... managing combat is a pain in the ass in PbP games. Especially with larger parties.
 

Obviously, this is your call, because it's what is easiest for you that matters most (in terms of making the game last a long time.). And I believe that slowing down in PbP combat is the biggest obstacle to keeping games going online.

Still, I like rolling initiative, and I like the choice players make in getting the bump on initiative: one person taking the alert feat shouldn't benefit the fighter in plate necessarily.

I'll admit, I am seeing the benefits of the ruling now (more than I did on my initial read of it) -- I have always liked the option of choosing to drop yourself in the initiative order, but I see what this is doing. Perhaps assume player who don't post just use the dodge action and defend themselves?
 

[MENTION=552]Creamsteak[/MENTION], I agree the slowness and clunkiness of combat can be death to a PbP game. It's very important to keep the game moving so that players stay invested. When I play at a tabletop, I expect to roll for init. When I play in a PbP, I understand that it's a different environment and that tabletop expectations go out the window. It wouldn't bother me if you switched initiative to US versus THEM. My job as a player is to get along with the others, enjoy my character, and support the DM however best I can; I therefore back you, regardless of which direction you elect to take for init.

Besides, if we try group init and don't like it, the fix is easy. We either revert back to what we were doing and everyone chalks it up to the vagaries of PbP, or we select a different method of doing init and move on. I'm certainly open to experimentation.
 


Well I'll try it for a combat or two. Trial and error. I'm going to move this combat forward a round since it is effectively "almost" resolved.
 

I personally don't have a problem with the change. It will make logistics easier (i.e. DM can set a deadline by which characters need to post their actions and DM posts baddies' actions afterwards).

The drawback is as [MENTION=23484]Kobold Stew[/MENTION] mentioned. Low dex characters benefit from those with high dex and perhaps a different kind of incentive to take the alert feat (the whole group benefits, but since the party is full of evil dudes, perhaps this will be a deterrent...).
Cheers,

SG
 

I personally don't have a problem with the change. It will make logistics easier (i.e. DM can set a deadline by which characters need to post their actions and DM posts baddies' actions afterwards).

The drawback is as [MENTION=23484]Kobold Stew[/MENTION] mentioned. Low dex characters benefit from those with high dex and perhaps a different kind of incentive to take the alert feat (the whole group benefits, but since the party is full of evil dudes, perhaps this will be a deterrent...;-).
Cheers,

SG
 

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