leadpipe
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Post by leadpipe on Jan 28, 2015 21:37:47 GMT
So one of the things I always have trouble with is innitiative. Having to take into account all those numbers always bugs my games down. I'm the kind of person who doesn't usually get more than 5 hours to play each session, so dealing badly with combat really ruins the game for us. Last game I DMed I decided I would use a different method: I asked everyone to roll me their innitiative and then I would use that during the rest of the session. We were barely starting the official Tyranny of Dragons campaign from WotC, and in just 3 hours I managed to successfully go through the first half of the first chapter. The method was successful, cause I had to literraly roll tops 5 initiatives secretly every time combat started, and I didn't have to go through the usual hassle of asking each player what they got every time they ran into enemies (which is specially tough because one of my players is extremely talkative and can't keep quiet for more than 10 seconds).
However, I wonder what more experienced DMs might've done in my place. How do you guys deal with initiative? Do you think my method was good or bad? Or what method would you recommend? Some people that are faster with numbers tend to take initiative in other ways to keep the combat fresh. If you're one of those, how do you like to deal with initiative?
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Post by Sheena on Jan 30, 2015 6:45:56 GMT
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jfm3
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Post by jfm3 on Jan 30, 2015 13:13:08 GMT
innitiative? Is that like rolling to see who checks in first?
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leadpipe
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Post by leadpipe on Jan 31, 2015 17:45:17 GMT
Hmm, that's a good idea. I might do that next time I DM  |
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imnvs
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Post by imnvs on Feb 1, 2015 8:50:02 GMT
What's the point in having a variable if you just get rid of it? It takes just as much time to roll initiative before the game plays as it does to roll it right before combat.
Generally there is only one combat per session 'round these parts, so there's no difference to me.
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leadpipe
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Post by leadpipe on Feb 2, 2015 1:10:45 GMT
What's the point in having a variable if you just get rid of it? It takes just as much time to roll initiative before the game plays as it does to roll it right before combat. Generally there is only one combat per session 'round these parts, so there's no difference to me. I actually like doing 4 challenges (Combat, skill, or diplomatic) per session. It takes a long time, but it is usually much funner and it doesn't get people too tired to do so, actually. |
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imnvs
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Post by imnvs on Feb 2, 2015 1:14:52 GMT
Oh, they usually have to deal with more than just 1 combat as far as challenges go... but I make sure to keep it to no more than 1 combat challenge.
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stlaughter
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Post by stlaughter on Feb 3, 2015 3:16:19 GMT
I've never had real problems with initiative, but one method I've debated using was to assign it based on Dex or the equivalent stat. Higher goes first. It's a nice way to make rogue and other "speedy" characters have a real role in combat, which can be a problem in many systems- systems know how to handle "big beefy punchman" and "wizardly whampow mageguy" but "speedy sneaky Mcfastlass" isn't something they handle well.
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imnvs
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Post by imnvs on Feb 3, 2015 11:12:13 GMT
I dunno. I kinda specialize in quick characters. My warrior types are usually dex-based instead of strength-based. If I got to go first every time too, I could probably break the game.  |
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leadpipe
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Post by leadpipe on Feb 3, 2015 20:57:34 GMT
I dunno. I kinda specialize in quick characters. My warrior types are usually dex-based instead of strength-based. If I got to go first every time too, I could probably break the game. Or a face xD |
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