Is This the Perfect Way to Track Initiative at Your D&D Table?

[@SupergeekMike]

What do you use to present initiative to your players? Thanks so much to WorldAnvil for sponsoring this video! Visit www.worldanvil.com/supergeekmike and use the promo code SUPERGEEK to get 51% off any annual membership! www.worldanvil.com/supergeekmike

[@Regult]

I use oversized clothes pins clipped to the top of my gm screen decorated with character art that my son draws.

[@sarahbettany7546]

A white board like the one you used - I mark the names down on the left side as they're callled then rewrite it clearly on the right and erase the mess - I'm a player, my DM doesn't have to fiddle with it. I've bought a nice range of fine tipped coloured dry wipe pens to mark effects on pcs/npcs too.

[@Stephen-Fox]

I mostly play online, and I think everything I've run in the past has either been combatless, or PbtA, so no initiative to track. ...I do like the idea of initiative trees, however, and if the Animon Story campaign I was starting running later this month was in person I might try and use one for it.

[@NecroSnak]

As Part of Session 0, I have all my players decorate cloths pins and use those as initiative trackers. Then I have cloths pins with corresponding numbers and letters on generic tokens for monsters and allies. I use adhesive flags to represent different status affects as they come up, and stick those to the cloths pins on tokens on the board. If I have time, I print little images of various monsters and plug them into my tokens so the players have a good visual. I also have a cloths pin labeled "Event" for boss battles or environment battles, and I roll that into initiative order as well. Then I slide the cloths pins across my DM screen as each turn is resolved so we can also keep track of how many rounds have passed since combat started. =D!

[@Drudenfusz]

Playing cards, face up means the character has not acted yet, face down they have acted this turn. And the initiative is more freeform otherwise, usually passed on to the character that was interacted with giving them the opportunity to react or if target has already acted then the acting player can give the inititive to whoever they like.

[@bol.1615]

I have a player track initiative. On our dry erase map. He announces who's up and who's up next (pc and npcs). And boy is he a God send. I'm a first time DM running Lost Mine and I'm already spinning enough plates behind the screen so his help is invaluable. I typically have my monsters initiatives pre rolled for planned encounters to speed things along. This works well for me and my group.

[@MarianoPingitore]

Yes! Use your players! Initiative is public info after the first round, and with a little talk about aligning expectations and definitions of what constitutes as bad metagaming and what is good metagaming you can have your players keep track of initiative and more. I'm not a first time DM but I started doing this because I wanted to free some of my mental RAM to focus on description and it's certainly a way to go!

[@EvilLobsterKing]

I love this idea. TTRPGs are, after all, collaborative story telling games

[@dolphin64575]

Have you not seen the Initiative Clothespin Tower? Get some clothespins, chalkboard tags & chalk, a small dowel, and a board. Glue dowel to board, glue 1 chalkboard to a bunch of clothespins. Everyone writes their initiative on their clothespin and clips it to the dowel. If someone needs to be moved up or down a bit, no worries. And they can be cleanly erased and reused!

[@FlyingRock225]

This is what we do, it's amazing

[@MidnightAge]

The initiative conversation is always interesting. I always find it a little bemusing when people get upset with people who don't know what they want to do when it comes to their turn if only because often the battlefield situation can change so dramatically in a round that plans can get thrown out the window. This is especially true in crunchier games like PF2, where damage can be extremely spiky and characters can drop fast. The one thing you thought you would do next turn is suddenly being weighed against a battle environment that has dramatically changed. Lately I found myself really liking side initiative. The players all go at once and then the baddies all go at once. Or vice versa, depending on who gets the highest total init score. One thing I've found that is really fun about side init is that it really lets the players strategize and flex, while also kind of letting you throw more and more complex things at them. It makes combat a bit faster in some ways and gives it a more pulpy feeling.

[@timbolden774]

One of my players is a bit of a techie and got into 3D printing. He made a set of little clips that go on the top of the screen, and little shields that magnetize to the clips. He made a shield for each of the PCs, and then a bunch of blank ones that can be marked up with dry-erase markers, for the monsters/NPCs.

[@Lutehammer]

We used magnetic name labels for about the same effect, easy to move around and add in adversaries etc. to our board. Very valid points

[@zachmatheson3176]

I've got something similar for my in-person games, I picked up the Pathfinder branded labels and initiative board

[@AZombie48]

I used to use initiative tents. I had mine color coordinated so that players were one color, and monsters were another. Made it more clear when the pacing of the combat switched. Honestly though, I haven't run that way in the past few months. I found that the most annoying part of the initiative (calling for the roll and determining the order) was still taking forever. I would have to collect numbers from everyone, and place the tents as I went along. And frequently, I'd readjust the whole line of tents as a player revealed that they rolled a number right in the middle of every other combatant. They also covered up a huge part of my screen, so I had a tough time showing off that sweet player-facing art, and using the charts on the DM-side, haha! I've since switched to side based initiative. Each round I roll 1d20 and one player rolls a d20. Whichever side rolls higher goes first that round in whatever order (clockwise around the table by default). This keeps the game moving, provides a bit of dynamic flow to most combats, and allows the combatants to act in whatever order makes logical sense without dealing with delayed turns or readied actions. It makes combat much more swingy, since sides could be obliterated before getting a chance to act, but we like that danger. And my game sessions are pretty short (2.5 hours at most) so fast combats are vital to making sure we get a satisfying amount of stuff done.

[@PVSR]

I love initiative tents for all the reasons you mention. But I also like using NPC tents outside of initiative. We aren’t all world-class voice actors, so it can be handy sometimes to be able to point at which NPC is speaking when there’s more than one in a scene.

[@matthewheimbecker9055]

My gaming tables have been using tents for what feels like decades at this point. We fold an index card in half and write on it. No formatting, photos, printing or mucking around. I've started doodling goofy monster and NPC faces on the ones I use as a DM, but that's all the work that ever goes into them. I love that this is a 20+ minute video for a hack that I thought my friend invented 20 years ago.

[@tommiskey]

The initiate system I liked to use back when I was playing in person was a standard deck of playing cards. Each character and/or group of enemies were dealt a playing card from the deck, and initiative was counted down. (You could go from King down to Ace if you counted Aces as ones, or Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10 to 2 if you saw them as higher than the Kings). If someone got a Joker, they could choose to go at any time and they got a +2 on their action/attack/spell DCs, etc. If 2 characters (or a boss monster and his minions) wanted to swap initiatives so that one or the other goes earlier, they could just trade their cards! Everyone's cards are placed on the table in front of them so everyone can see who is going next (if they are paying attention to the game like they should). This idea initially came from the Savage Worlds RPG, but it works well in any game, especially if the GM has themed card decks for fantasy, sci-fi, horror, etc. (which they make nowadays... I have several fantasy decks that work great for a D&D game).

[@marcos2492]

I use the side initiative from the DMG with a change. What I do is set a DC, let's say 15 for a medium encounter, and an initiative check from every player, if half or more get a 15 or higher on the check, they all go first in whichever order they want and then I take the turn of every NPC, otherwise I go first and they all go after me. Super simple and quick

[@sgtNACHO]

I used tents (I call them flags or trackers) for a long time. Once I got my Wyrmwood DM screen they wouldn't sit right anymore. My wife made new ones that would sit in the groove on top instead of folding over it. Then I have player cards magentically attached to the inside metal panel. The dm screen tracker method really is the best that I have seen.

[@zacharydavis9574]

I’ve recently started using initiative tents. On the back-side, I include AC, DEX/CON/WIS saves, and any tiny bit of info that’s important or easy to keep in my line of sight. Players have really enjoyed being able to strategize and prepare their turns. Plus, with 90% of my players enjoying Baldur’s Gate 3, they do like the similarity between the two systems. Might have to steal the clothespin idea!

[@carolyntellier9969]

I personally love my group's solution, which is clothespins painted on both sides by the group's resident artist. They're so pretty and based around the vibes of the character (the player in the case of oneshots). My DM's custom screen has card slots in the top that we put a dungeon tile in and pin the clothespins in descending order, and it works well. Enemy pins are all made around the vibes of the campaign, which special ones meant for bigger bosses.

[@Stephen-Fox]

The meta question isn't one I really buy into for initiative - Yes, it's meta information. But the entire concept of initiative is a game design solution to attempting to represent a fictional reality where everyone is acting at once. Your turn represents what you're doing over six seconds, as does the monster's turn. But those are the same six seconds of activity. The question of 'turn order' isn't a thing within the fiction, it's already entirely in meta, so I'm not sure why meta knowledge would be an issue with it.

[@SLorraineE]

Yah. When he mentioned how the characters would know initiative order I just thought "because you can see the people in front of you doing things???"

[@savnana3605]

I really like 'rewarding' players with strong passives by giving them half the information without rolling. I've found this usually leads to them trying to roll to get the whole picture, successfully incentivizing the players to engage with something their character presumably cares about. IE: To a player with high nature, I'll simply tell, no roll "hey, this is a black dragon, and you know they're normally found in swamps and forests." and let the player fill in the 'then why is it underneath this random church' on their own, which then leads to me asking them to roll to see if they can remember any secondary information (Like they're also found in places heavily associated with the shadowfell). Even if that roll fails, the players now know something is up, and might investigate further. And the high nature player feels like they got the party 'extra' information that helped them solve the mystery, despite having failed their roll. On a mystery they might not have even initially noticed or cared about had I not volunteered that information as a 'reward'. Spoilers, I just always find a way justify the 'reward' to trick the players into being more invested.

[@ken.droid-the-unique]

My GM did exactly what you suggested, using initiative tents with character info on the back. So cool not to have to look up passive perception, armor class, etc. and fun to hear a die roll and feel the tension build.

[@christianquenan1358]

Little hello from France! I know some people use an alternative initiative system were you chose who take the turn after yours. It allow tactical thinking on who goes next to try some combos

[@Krlytz]

My husband has been using the most basic version of these tents (just a folded paper with the PC name on each side, plus "NPC 1", "NPC 2", etc for enemies or other combatants), and he even added placing the monsters in the initiative order only when their first turn comes around literally last week 😂 We still got some good advice from your video, and we'll be implementing a few new things. Thanks a lot!

[@billychan8631]

ran my first in-person game for a long time as well just a few weeks back; using a small magnetic whiteboard for initiative with a set of 4 color dry erase markers. I wrote the 4 PCs names in blue on the whiteboard according to where they were seated and then when initiative came around, I just asked them to hang on to their numbers until I called them out (clockwise) and wrote that in black. I did one single initiative roll for the monsters/NPCs and put that on the bottom of the whiteboard (ie, 6 o'clock representing me) also in black. For random effects, those get written in red or green as they happen. During combat, I track who was up with a round magnet, then announce who was up and who was on deck. Move the magnet to track the next person up. It worked well enough without sorting or rearranging, and I could just eyeball the numbers. By the second or third round, most of the players worked out whose turn they followed anyway.

[@robertgreen7593]

I like the idea of the party being able to decide what order the characters go in each round depending tactics. Like a cleric casting a buff before a fighter attacks. I thought it would be better if each side takes all their turns starting with surprise/initiative (party initiative). The first side to act would effectively be the surprise round. One side doing all their actions before the other might be way too much of an advantage, but perhaps the winning side keeps taking actions in any character order they decide, but when a character/enemy wants to take their turn they have to roll initiative (an different version - like a DC test or something) in order to take their turn. If they fail control passes to the other side until they fail and it passes back. When all of the people on a side have taken their turns full control goes over to the other side for them to resolve all of their remaining turns. Then the party initiative test is taken again - passing back and forth with passes and fails.

[@darktrent182]

When you talked about initiative tents, I thought you were talking about cardstock folded in half with #1, #2, #3 and so on. I had a DM who would have nine of those, and when everyone had figured out all the PCs, NPCs, and monsters' initiatives, he would pass out #1 to the person who went first, and would usually hold onto more than one to either signify different monsters, or different types of monsters. When a monster died completely, the cards would get shuffled around. Everyone could look around the table at the cards in front of everyone and see "Okay, the rogue goes first, and then the cleric (for once!), and then one type of monster, and then me..." But it would be who is going first, second, third, fourth, and so on.

[@Magnus2dead]

One player gathers initiative and we use an initiative tower for fun. Give small tasks like this to players and it makes my job a lot easier. DMs do a lot of work, to ask for small things like this is absolutely appropriate and helps the game run smoothly!

[@jloost-gamer]

I used to just write down the initiative order in my GM notebook, was easy enough but when it came to strategy, as you said, I often had to remind the players who was next and answer their questions about initiative order. Then I played with a GM who used tents and it has been my default ever since.

[@EB081997]

Had the first long drawn out fight for a party of all new players. Fought a Leucrotta (Acrid smelling, gnoll-adjacent, badger-horse monstrosity), some gnolls and their Fang leader. The party's only level 3 so the enemies entered initiative at different stages. In hindsight might've been a bit difficult after a few RP sessions back to back; but they made it through and the battle was very very dynamic with all the rules of combat coming out in very spotlight-y ways to explain. This video came one day too late! But its always great to hear your insight!

[@sirsimon6562]

I changed from individual initiative to group initiative. Party vs Enemies. There is no order so every player can go when they want each round. Players are now playing together way more. Also initiative is rolled by the instigater. 1d20 - Number of players/enemies. Larger Groups are slower and smaller are faster. Best homebrew rule I introduced.

[@riculfriculfson7243]

My main DM runs absolutely crowded combats. We started using a magnetic white board with numbers in boxes for the initiative. We then had magnetic tokens that with character names and initiative bonus (and DEX mod) on. This allowed characters to change initiative easily when characters delayed or joined the fight (same for the OPFOR too).

[@patricks2645]

I started this for my 10 person game in college and it hasn't let me down yet. With that many people, we were struggling to get through even the smallest combats in less than 2 or 3 hours so I bought a pack of timers (advertised as children bathroom timers lmao) online , 2 timers each of 30s, 1min, 2min, 3min, 5min, and 10min. For big games like that I'd use 2 minute timers and smaller games/higher level games I use the 3 or 5 minute guys. I get everyone's initiative matt mercer style, and then I toss the first two players their 2 minute hourglass. when player 1 is done/hourglass runs out, they toss it back to me and I toss it to player 3. this is great since it lets everyone know when they are done with their turn and allows me to acknowledge who's turn is coming up without the issue of being like "mike youre on deck" "oh wait sorry the orcs are between you guys, mike youre after the orcs" the 10 minute hourglass is also great for ritual castings during exploration/social encounters, and they all make for great ways to raise the stakes by slamming an hourglass on the table. they also make great risers for flying characters/creatures, or markers for small AOE spells that can move like moonbeam or cloud of daggers

[@Onslaught-Starts]

I like the way RobertyHartleyGM tracks initiative in the VLDL D&D game, they started with folded card slips for each player laid over the top of DM screen, so both the players and DM can see the correct order, they're easily moved around like and Abacus by sliding from one side of the screen to the other as they take their turn, and status effects can be written on the slips to keep track in battle. They later moved to duplicate minis for their initiative posed in a way to hold status effect rings in the same way.

[@GreyUsurper]

I just use their base initiative. Call it simple but the only time a roll is called for, is if theres a tie in base initative scores. This makes it super easy to track initative. Players never change, so you can write it on paper for tracking. Every. Game. Save some spaces for enemies. Erase enemies and repeat. This also makes extra initiative bonus items and the feat 'Alert' (I believe is the one that gives a +5 bonus) super useful and rewarding to the players. But deadly costly when in the hands of foes. However, these rarely come up, and when they do they don't usually change hands often. Still making it easy for a DM to make small edits to the "initiative tracker" sheet.

[@redknight808]

I play Hero System, so tracking Initiative is completely different. But I did want to mention that I use 1-inch plastic chips with printed images for character location (instead of miniatures) and basic status effects. I also use homemade NPC index cards laminated with clear packing tape. This lets me use wet-erase pens on them for notes, like damage, and means there's no need to have game books open and out on the table. Thanks for sharing your thoughts about your own system.

[@ericjohnson8847]

Perfect timing on this video! I just started working on making my own initiative tents for a campaign I'm playing in with a new DM. I thought they would be helpful for him and the players for managing combat. I was trying to decide what info I should put on the tents. So, this is helpful!

[@pdpandion4931]

The Stat Trackers box is great for tracking initiative. It has tent cards for the players’ stats and stats for the monsters. Very convenient for running combat.

[@Felixian]

I DM for a very small party, and they're all always very on top of writing initiatives during the first round individually. I love that they are so engaged! But if I ever run a game for a larger group I think these tents would be a fun idea.

[@MarceldeJong]

As a player, I keep track of the initiative order for our dm. I have a dry erase sheet on which I have the numbers 25-0 and I write the names behind the numbers as they're rolled. Including the enemies rolled by the GM, and then I share with everyone the order of play. Asking a ruling from the GM in case two characters have the same initiative. And that seems to work fine for us.

[@rickway2039]

I use the tent approach. I had some acrylic tents laser cut for my PCs that are filled out with wet erase marker. I also do full monster stat blocks on the back side of the NPC tents. Super helpful.

[@LB_adventurer]

I appreciate your video's format, design, and visuals. Thank you for sharing this

[@GeekPhilosophy]

Great tips! I backed the Stat Trackers kickstarter several years back, and they work great. They've put out some cool products since then. That said, I keep some index cards in my DM kit for any trackers I need on the fly. Thanks for the video!

[@tonysladky8925]

I do like Initiative tents. It's convenient to just throw them up on the screen, and you can throw useful information on your side of the tent, like AC so you're not always asking. Of course, it does have the issue of it being mirrored on either the DM or Player side, so I like to have a tent for "Initiative Count 1" and "Initiative Count 20", so even if it's mirrored on my side I can tell I'm going from low to high. Also, at a later point in Acquisitions Incorporated: The "C" Team, the Initiative tents got really fancy when a fan sent in really nice color-coded, plastic tents with the character portraits standing above the screen. That said, I'm also considering doing radically different things with Initiative whenever I next run the game (God, having a group full of people who want turns behind the screen is such a double-edged sword). My group has a bunch of tactical gamers at it, so something like the Fantasy Flight Star Wars or MCDM RPG initiative system is something I really want to try to homebrew into D&D the next time I run it.

[@arachnidsgrip9205]

As mostly digital players these days, we definitely use a visual combat carousel (a la BG3/Divinity/PoE/etc.) to keep track of the initiative order, whilst our tokens are using the little dots. Back when I played in meatspace, though, we would use a magnetized board with little stickers for buffs and afflictions, just like yours!

[@azzaelulbrinter]

I printed a bunch of small tcg-card sized papers with a layout to write down name, ac, attack modifier, max hp and a white box. On combat, i write the monster stats on said cards and write the initiative roll. My players do the same and then we put all the cards in a row in order of initiative. Sure, the players can see the AC and attack modifiers... so? that makes combat faster. I also use "active defensive rolls", so instead of attack modifier of the monsters, i write down the "Block DC". The white box is to write down condition and damage, so players track damage instead of me. It's at least 40% faster.

[@RottenRogerDM]

I think I have always let the players know initiative. Current way is everyone writes initiative on grid map, and I write the whole list on a mini white board. Everyone is responsible for tracking initiative. If I skip you once, my bad. If I skip you twice your bad. The tent information I place on check on the check in sheet. Best card I have seen is a four-inch porcelain place cards or I think they called Write on Menu Card.

[@teathomas]

I have to say, with the way you talked about Mercer’s initiative system I was expecting your method of tracking initiative to be something totally different. I don’t know if I missed something, but I don’t see how this is any different from what he does, besides having a visual for the players (which is great, I think it helps a lot, we do it too at my table). We play online, and use Owlbear Rodeo with the initiative tracker on there, but in the past I’ve put a sticky note on the vtt to track initiative that everyone can see. I think it’s better to have it on the table. I might try putting tokens down on some kind of initiative thing above the map to imitate the tents virtually. It reminds me of how Baldur’s Gate 3’s visualization works. The portraits at the top of the screen during combat always reminded me of putting little cards on your dm screen during in-person games to track initiative. I think card stock would work great too!

[@FlyingRock225]

Rod + clothes pins, you clip based on initiative order, rotate from left to right and right to left, tracks rounds and initiative.

[@vicky092011]

In a couple weeks, I will be running combat that has waves of enemies and I ALWAYS get flustered by the amount of enemies when this happens. I think I am going to get the cards and use the conditions idea with the stickers to make my life a little easier. So thank you for this video!

[@KateCallen]

When we play in person it's often without writing at all, so the players each have two tokens (one for the map, the other for our paper initiative grid), and the monsters have three (the third is to go on the stack of cards I use to mark their hit points. Initiative is always open. We have different tokens for people's spell slots/ki points/etc.

[@allynickle025]

I love this! I think I’ll have my players decorate the side that faces them however they would like to personalize it for them. Thanks for the idea!

[@lucaroth4137]

when i was a in person dm for my friends we just had a whiteboard with all the numbers from i think 25 to 0 on it and than everyone just had a differently coloured magnet they put on there and i had like preped a bunch for different enemies or allies of my players, enemies being red ones and allies being green ones and my players had their own colours each like my warlock was purple, later on we made it so that everyone bought/brought a magnet they thought their characters would pick it was kinda fun

[@evilquaelgeist8418]

I use a list with all possible initiative values(it currently goes up to 39...) and write each character or NPC in the field of their initiative value, but that might be related to the system I play, "the dark eye, 4.1th edition", where Initiative matters a lot more than in DnD and is fairly flexible

[@under20over40]

My first DM used the initiative tents from small clear plastic photo holders that were made for like family photos but were the perfect size for index cards

[@dngerouds]

I use clothesspins and carton cards, glue them together and have them less as a tent, and more of a "Initiative-card", that I can easily also change and follow. As they are pinned on my DM screen.

[@dgthunderer]

I have like a small flag pole that I clip cloths pins to that have player names written on them and monster 1, 2, etc. Top of the pole is the active player. I could probably also add colored bands to represent conditions.

[@jasong8085]

We use a big white board with columns and rows with the players name AC Pp and init The bottom half of bored is for monsters initiative and tracking damage they've taken. Column all the way to right is what number you are in initiative

[@Jonalith]

For the tents, you could use small binder clips and flip up the handle of the person who's initiative it is. It would help keep them attached to a DM screen, especially for the small ones.

[@sgtNACHO]

I did this for a bit. I eventually got tired of flipping the little things over and over. I will still use a clip to keep track of monsters if I don't have a flag/tent for them.

[@DVDMaster2009]

I made initiative tents for npcs with the character name and art. I would use them for social scenes to remind the players which npcs were in the scene. I would also point the one that was doing the talking (I don't do voices very well).

[@fakjbf3129]

For the metagaming argument, the PCs live in a world where combat happens in turns. They know that some characters act before others and the order that effects are applied in can matter. In much the same way that they are aware that if they get hit a bunch of times they will be totally fine up until some certain threshold and then suddenly they fall unconscious (even if they wouldn’t know the exact numerical value), they would be aware that there is a turn order and they would be able to determine what it is.

[@lm7586]

I roll a d20 for each side (eg. players one side, monsters on the other) whichever side rolls higher has their combatants go in any order they like. I have never seen a player on their phone while using this initiative system, so I know it works.

[@Aikolon]

We use paper tents for some years. On my side the players put their character name +passive perception number. On the players facing side comes a little picture one of my players doodles. All the pictures are cute and funny and all the other players love his funny pictures 👍 It works well

[@bencarter1646]

I've only ever used tents on my screen to track Initiative, but they're currently super simple. Just the first initial of each PC, each in a different colour. Then I have a few different coloured skull tents for monsters. I may up my game now based on Mike's ideas, to include PC info on my side and HeroForge character portraits on the other. The bigger problem for me is tracking spells and conditions. I feel like I need a dry erase grid, to track when spells/effects get cast, so I can work out how long they last.

[@serrasedai]

I've been playing in person for 2 years at a local game bar, and everyone uses little folded paper cards on the screen like this. So it's the way I learned to play!

[@JaayB]

I 3D printed some initiative trackers that hang on the DM screen in a similar way. I made the player trackers large enough so that any artwork we have can face out and look nice. The inside was also reserved for key stats like AC and passive scores. The DM mobs got smaller trackers that are red for a nice visual distinction and for any boss or major enemies, they get a player sized red tracker. It makes the whole process smooth as butter! And I get to use my 3D printer some more :D

[@user-jt1js5mr3f]

Are they the ones from Loot Studios?

[@JaayB]

@@user-jt1js5mr3f Just random ones I found on Thingiverse /thing:2912619 Simple design, yet effective.

[@JaayB]

@@user-jt1js5mr3f Swear I replied to this already. Anyways, I found the tracker on Thingiverse and it does a great job (thing:2912619). Between there and Printables, I have made some great stuff to augment my D&D player experience.

[@lordbucket7755]

Simple solution: players go first, monsters go second. Turn order is clockwise starting from the DM. Done. No need to roll, no need to track anything, everybody knows exactly whose turn is next, and players get the visual prompt of the person sitting next to them taking their action so they know they need to hurry up and decide what to do. It doesn't require 20 minutes videos justifying it because it takes 10 seconds to explain...and nothing is lost. Try a game without initiative. You won't miss it.

[@SomethingWellesian]

I only play online, but wanted to shout out Carousel Combat, a mod for Foundry that lets you display combat order in a similarly cool visual way.

[@thefollowingisatest4579]

Someone complaining the players having initiative knowledge is metagaming is really cherrypicking what they consider meta. Like, the very nature of combat is metagaming, its not like things are actually acting in turn order, so seeing who is moving and planning allows for faster combat, which is more dynamic and feels closer to what you are simulating. I think GMs overestimate how much players actually know and understand about what is going on in a game, and should take what steps they can to empower them with that knowledge in contexts like combat where the conceit already requires some gamified thinking.

[@trently89]

What I do for mt games is I have a "decoration piece" which is used as my initiative tracker where several small signs hang off. When initiative is rolled, they write their number next to their name on their sign and hand it in, and I hang it up based on numbers

[@dungeonsathome]

Every since I started using Encounter + initiative has been so easy!

[@alanleckert1]

I use passive insight to give 1 minor detail to remind the player with the highest a chance to remember that they had this skill in the first place

[@claudiamcfie1265]

My initiative tents have reduced to initiative flags - basically 1 x 0.5 inch each side, pinned up on my gm screen. I allow players to talk and plan out of character, in game the characters would spend free time training together and working out potential tactics, so above table tactical conversations replace that.

[@aaronbourque5494]

I just have everyone roll initiative at the start of the session, and that's the iniative everyone uses for the whole session. Combat or skill challenge, that's the initiative. If other participants join the encounter, they roll initiative as they join.

[@cylver3593]

I want to try initiative tents, but I think I would reveal when enemies take turns as they come up in the first round. That way, the players cannot strategise around information they shouldn't know yet, but once they do know, it is open information for the whole party.

[@joshuahuelsmann8282]

We play in person and highest roll goes first. Then we just go in a circle around the table so everyone knows who is up next and when everyone goes. It’s very quick to set up and the speed and simplicity of the system more than makes up for getting 2 or 3 people “out of order”.

[@SLorraineE]

I saw Liam use the tents on a one shot he ran and thought it was genius!

[@JK_Kosta]

You can buy a plastic wrap clear plastic wrap thats ment for markers. I would just print a few tents and use dryerace markers to change the monsters

[@kelpiekit4002]

I could imagine using the back for writing tactics could be useful, especially if they have a lot of options in their stat block such as spells or if you want them to use the terrain or other combatants in a particular way.

[@pahawker]

HeroForge can be useful in letting your characters create their character’s art / look!

[@antimonyparanoia]

my family game uses clothes pins with names written on them, we tilt the pin when a turn has passed and then un-tilt them all at the top of initiative.

[@milanthruil]

My dm uses dry erase cards that slot into the top of the wooden dm screen, and we all write our character name on one side and our name, AC, HP, Passive Perception, and initiative roll on the other

[@bobhill-ol7wp]

I just handle imitative by having the player characters go at the same time before the bad guys, or second if they are surprised. Pros: More likely to see crazy ideas and co-operation Cons: Does leave bad guys on the backfoot more often, but then I usually put the heroes up against monsters that act more than once per round anyway.

[@taniaselfindulgart3847]

If it's not too early or too much to ask - will you be running Below Phandelver or just the original scenario?

[@gcvrsa]

I know that individual initiative is deprecated by a lot of people because they feel it's a time waster, but I think individual initiative is an important part of battle tactics for each player. But, rather than making initiative random, I think initiative should be based on player speed, and each player should have the option to defer their action until after someone else acts. I know this "slows down" combat, but I think DMs and players should be asking themselves whether or not combat is something that should be the focus of RPGs, or whether combat should be happening, at all. If combat in a real trial, maybe players will try to find other ways of resolving scenarios than hack and slash. In terms of D&D, initiative should be dependent upon DEX. Highest DEX score has the option to move first or defer until *any point in the turn after*.

[@Quon_the_Destroyer]

I would put the monster’s immunities/vulnerabilities on the back of it’s initiative tent because I’m going to forget that skeleton is weak to bludgeoning

[@BAVy11037]

You know what's easier than doing the 30-25, 25-20, 20-15... or printing out a page full of numbers 1 to 25? You roll for initiative once at the start of the session And use that order for every combat in that session

[@SLorraineE]

Geometrically, I feel like folding the paper twice like a U the width of the screen instead of just once like a V would help them stay on better. It would take up more space vertically on the paper, but they wouldn't fall off as easily

[@LeonardAndHisBiscuit]

Wizard: It took me five minutes to decide I'm going to hit the kobold with a Fire Bolt on my next turn. Fighter: Gotcha, I'll weaken it firs- Oh nice, I took it down in one hit! Looks like you can target one of the other two now. Wizard: YOU FOOL! NOW I HAVE TO SPEND FIVE MORE MINUTES DURING *MY* TURN TO LOOK THROUGH MY SPELLS AGAIN!

[@the_tactician9858]

It sounds a lot like the way Baldur's Gate 3 (and the Divinity series) tracks initiative. I like it, with a bit of polish it can look really professional.

[@hugoCastellnaos]

the easy way to track initiative, is to have everyone tell there initiative bonus, then have everyone sit in clockwise and there you have the order for the rest of the day.

[@bristowski]

This is a good channel. I like Mike.

[@sherbert1321]

For the condition stickers, are they double sided? If not, how do you easily view them on both sides of the screen?

[@Angela-hn6mb]

After we roll initiative, my DM just has us write our initiative on the wet erase battle map in front of us and then he puts writes us all down in order. It works for us.

[@manueltorresart2345]

Yeah, if you're reading my comment for some weird coincidence, commission me to draw your characters. Once I finished spamming Mike channel, never used these kind of tents and don't think I'll use them soon, since I can't play in person, so I do that on some kind of digital board. But these look dope.

[@bjam89]

meanwhile i play using a vtt, that has invitative tracker so players can see it there and i feel so happy about not having to worry about the tracking

[@seaborgium919]

This is how initiative tracking was introduced to me so finding out that it isn't like. Hyper common? Is very surprising to me.

[@Piqipeg]

I made my own initiative tents (didn’t know they were called that) after I saw something similar when looking for a good way to show initiative...

[@VFXBishop]

I use a 3D printed Tracker that has a "hat" that moves from spot to spot.

[@matthewmyatt5698]

I use clothes pins with everyone's PC name written on the. For monsters, I have numbered pins that I reuse and just have written down what number corresponds with which enemy.

[@rsshieldsii]

My DM uses the Mercer Method for initiative, so I use the Travis Method of writing it down at the same time he does.

[@DragonKingZero]

Speaking of clothespins, what's your opinion on the "clothespins on a pole" approach?

[@apatheticrabbit]

I'm a simple man. Either group initiative or just Clockwise around the table.

[@ianreclusado]

I think the whole point of passive skills is to give the DM something to roll against if an NPC is doing something that the players aren’t aware of and the DM doesn’t want to tell them about yet. I don’t think it’s something that the players should ever be able to use.

[@wingedhussar2909]

Just go left to right. Players can move seats at the start of each encounter.