Dungeon Crawl Initiative

[ondonaflash]

So I was browsing through White Plume Mountain, thinking about adapting it for 5e and running it as a Hardcore Dungeon during my winter break from my regular campaign, and I noticed that the module indicates that initiative should be rolled at the start of the dungeon and then maintained throughout. This is a bit different from my normal routine of having initiative only during combat, and I was wondering if any of you folks had any thoughts or opinions on the matter. As it stands I'll probably run the module as written because some of the traps are based on positioning and such.

[pibby]

If the module told you to do that for initiative, does it intend for you to run it at a fast pace? If that's the implication then I would rather as a DM use the group initiative roll variant from the DMG instead. Keep that number for the party and roll one die for the npcs whenever the party encounters them. That way no one gets stuck with bad initiative rolls. The party may take their time figuring out who should do what first but nothing stops them from doing that with the normal initiative rules from my experiences.

[ondonaflash]

The Module is a classic one, and it's pretty vicious with it's traps. I think the idea is to force the PCs to move slowly and react to the many, frankly unfair, traps.

[Stan]

So I was browsing through White Plume Mountain, thinking about adapting it for 5e and running it as a Hardcore Dungeon during my winter break from my regular campaign, and I noticed that the module indicates that initiative should be rolled at the start of the dungeon and then maintained throughout.

This is probably an artifact of the original usage. Many of the the AD&D modules started as things to be used in tournaments, where the group (often strangers) would see how far they could get in a single session at a con. In that context, I could see everyone continuously taking turns even out of combat to keep things moving and so everyone gets a chance to do stuff.

Whether or not you use this rule, I found it to be fun, challenging adventure back in the day, though the weapons were a bit op to hand out for a long campaign - I'd definitely downgrade them for 5e. (I have the original version, not the updated one - weapons may differ in that).

Another option would be passive initiative - everyone assume 10 on the initiative roll so the order is always the same.

[Shining Wrath]

I can see situations other than combat where making the PCs act in order makes sense - traps, as you say, some social situations where not everyone can talk at once.

[ondonaflash]

I forgot when I wrote this that the reason initiative is maintained is because Random Encounters are rolled by rounds.

[TurboGhast]

I forgot when I wrote this that the reason initiative is maintained is because Random Encounters are rolled by rounds.

...That is really silly, and I would probably drop the random encounter by round so that I do not need to have initiative persist. It is up to you to choose what you do as DM, however. If you keep random encounter by round and persistent initiative, please let the PCs take 10 on that initiative check.