Initiative in Play by post?

[Seharvepernfan]

What do you think is the best way to deal with it? On the first round, at least, I would want it to be secret, so I'm thinking private messages.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that I intend to roll for the players secretly.

[AmberVael]

Personally? PbP combat is slow enough as it is. For initiative, the fastest method is the best method in my opinion.

Therefore, I tend to prefer some form of group initiative (how exactly you roll it matters less). If people don't have to worry about posting order, and can just post whenever the players are up, things become a lot simpler.

I imagine keeping initiative secret would just slow things down a lot more, so I can't say I'd ever do that.

[Savannah]

Indeed, you don't want anything that slows down combat. I've seen individual initiatives work well, but the players have to be into it and the DM has to keep on top of it. I've also seen group initiative work well. Both come with their problems, though, so I wouldn't recommend adding the complexity of not knowing where you are in the initiative.

[Jopustopin]

My favorite part of D&D might be combat. I have a pbp where I (as the DM) roll everyone's initiative and just do combat in order. Each player has two days to post when it's their turn or they go on auto pilot.

Combat takes about 2 days to 7 days to finish. But I think it's worth it as combat is a role playing opportunity for many characters anyway.

[marcielle]

Personally, I think DM should roll it in a post everyone can see and that's it.
If a DM wants to screw you over, he has WAY easier ways to do it then fidling with your Init score.

[Morph Bark]

Personally, I think DM should roll it in a post everyone can see and that's it.

This is how I do it as a DM and advise others to do the same.

Same goes for passive ability/skill checks.

[Seharvepernfan]

Personally, I think DM should roll it in a post everyone can see and that's it.
If a DM wants to screw you over, he has WAY easier ways to do it then fidling with your Init score.

It's not for screwing over the players, it's to keep combat a bit more realistic. I don't want any unrealistic coordination between party members. There is an advantage in knowing if the orc barbarian can charge before the party wizard can cast a spell, or if you should run up and attack the creature knowing that the rogue can move in and flank before that creature gets its turn. That kind of thing.

[Savannah]

Question: Have you played pbp before? Because you seem to be ignoring the impact of slowing down combat, which is huge in pbp. Anything that slows pbp down vastly increases the chances of the game dying, and combat already slows it down plenty! The only way I've found to keep combat running fast is to make sure everyone knows when they're up, so they can post as quickly as possible when their turn comes around.

Also, the simple existence of rounds, hp, and dozens of other things already makes combat "unrealistic". Doesn't mean it's not fun. (And tactical planning is actually a very realistic aspect of combat that is often ignored.) If it really bothers you, assume that PCs are using their free actions to communicate -- "You run up first!" "I'll blast him before you go!" "Get into position for a flank!"

[Seharvepernfan]

Question: Have you played pbp before? Because you seem to be ignoring the impact of slowing down combat, which is huge in pbp. Anything that slows pbp down vastly increases the chances of the game dying, and combat already slows it down plenty! The only way I've found to keep combat running fast is to make sure everyone knows when they're up, so they can post as quickly as possible when their turn comes around.

Also, the simple existence of rounds, hp, and dozens of other things already makes combat "unrealistic". Doesn't mean it's not fun. (And tactical planning is actually a very realistic aspect of combat that is often ignored.) If it really bothers you, assume that PCs are using their free actions to communicate -- "You run up first!" "I'll blast him before you go!" "Get into position for a flank!"

Nope. I just started my first one as a player, and I've never DMed one, though I plan to. I'm working out the kinks as best I can beforehand, and initiative is one of the biggest.

I understand that it might slow things down, thats why I'm asking around. Maybe someone knows a clever way to do it. I'm just fishing for ideas and suggestions.

Like I said, I don't want anyone to know the turn order on the first round of combat. Also, having a posted list of initiative order can backfire if a monster decides to delay its turn or someone uses an immediate action. I'm not saying THIS IS WHAT I WILL DO, I'm just saying thats my best idea so far, "what do you guys think?"

I understand the tactical planning aspect, but it doesn't always apply. When the pcs get ambushed, for instance. Also, if they're really into coordinating actions, there is always delaying your turn or taking readied actions (or white raven).

[Ernir]

Whatever you do, don't keep the initiative a secret.

It reduces how "responsive" your game is. The DM not telling the players when their turn is up is a bit like a browser's download manager not giving the user any information on the progress of the download. Is it done yet? How long has it been since I checked last, should I check again? Is something even happening? You don't want this.
It increases the number of relays information has to pass through before it can be used. Rather than checking the thread to see whether the guy before you has posted, you have to check the thread, see whether the guy has posted, and then message the next guy. It's slow and inefficient.
There are more opportunities to miscommunicate this way. You'll have communication issues by the truckload anyway, you don't need to invite more.

Yeah, it's going to influence how the tactics turn out. It's a sacrifice I definitely recommend you make.

[Roland St. Jude]

I think the solution to your problem, in a way that still meets your needs, is to have the each player declare their first round action and roll initiative in that post. That way, for the first round, they don't know where in the order of things their action falls, they have to state their actions without knowing. But it's also not slowing anything down because the initiative roll doesn't happen first, it happens at the same time.

Then, in your first round DM post, post the initiative list. For later rounds they can PM each other to coordinate or just wait for those with higher initiatives to go first (with the limit that no one can wait longer than your required post period. I prefer 1/day.)

[candycorn]

I think the solution to your problem, in a way that still meets your needs, is to have the each player declare their first round action and roll initiative in that post. That way, for the first round, they don't know where in the order of things their action falls, they have to state their actions without knowing. But it's also not slowing anything down because the initiative roll doesn't happen first, it happens at the same time.

Then, in your first round DM post, post the initiative list. For later rounds they can PM each other to coordinate or just wait for those with higher initiatives to go first (with the limit that no one can wait longer than your required post period. I prefer 1/day.)

That's.... actually quite elegant.

[jiriku]

My method has been:

1. Roll initiative for all players and monsters (monsters all rolling on one count) in the pre-combat post in which I describe the encounter setup.
2. All players who are faster than the monsters post their actions in any order.
3. Once all actors have posted, I resolve the actions in initiative order, then describe and resolve monster actions.
4. Next, all players post an action in any order.
5. Repeat steps 3-4 until combat is finished.

Because all players are entitled to post at once, I can use the 2-day rule to run a round of combat in a maximum of 2 days, rather than a maximum of 2 days per player. This keeps things moving at a brisk pace.

[NeverSleep]

I like that last one. I would also suggest pre-rolling initiatives.

So after combat 1 is finished, you roll for combat 2(publicly).

Now, when they don't know what they're reacting to, and the order is pre-estblished without giving the monster's initiative away.

[Hbgplayer]

3. Once all actors have posted, I resolve the actions in initiative order, then describe and resolve monster actions.


As I hope you know, being a player in the campaign I'm running (and if you didn't, sorry, this is a much better way of putting it than I did a few days ago), this is how I handle it.
Initiative seems to be a very hard thing to translate into PbP from table-top, and I'm happy I am not the only one that has/is having difficulty.