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Initative in PBP

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2018 3:17 am
by Thorpocalypse
Hello everyone!

I'm getting ready to run a game at the Gaming Table and I have a question. The last time I ran a PBP game on the old ATT and the last time I played in a game at RPG.net, Initiative during combat became an issue. Once the order was established, it was hard to get everyone to actually post in order so we had people going out of order all the time or we had to wait until the next person in line actually posted, which could have been days and really drug things down.

Anyone have any tips or tricks for keeping combat moving? I know technically everything happens in the round "at the time same time" but I've never really had in work that way in my 30+ years of gaming and I'd like to keep things moving this time around.

Thanks!

Re: Initative in PBP

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2018 6:06 am
by MacynSnow
I myself am more laid-back about it.As you've probably read from my Dragon Age game,i "Order" the Post's by their Initiative numbers.Of course,i tend to run smaller groups,so it's easier on my end.Still,i hope it helps! :D

Re: Initative in PBP

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2018 6:38 am
by Nunya B
There's three main ways.

Strict Initiative: Everyone takes their turn on their initiative count. Simple, rules-as-written, and tends to bog things down because you have to wait for everyone.

Team Initiative: All the PCs go, then all the NPCs go, then all the PCs go, then yadda yadda. Fast since you're only waiting for the slowest PC, but tends to make battles swingy and screws with the value of initiative.

Flexible Initiative: Everyone takes their turn on a turn belonging to their team. That is, everyone rolls initiative but PCs can trade turns without asking. Works out to be faster than Strict while retaining the value of initiative, but isn't as fast as Team.

Re: Initative in PBP

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2018 2:28 pm
by Thorpocalypse
Thanks guys. I think a combination of the team initiative and the 2 day rule will work. Appreciate the schooling! 8-)

Re: Initative in PBP

Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2018 8:00 pm
by Ghost of Krypton
I've been thinking about this as well as I gear up to start a PbP of my own on these boards, and my own take would be to use the Team Initiative Option posted by Nunya B. However, I was concerned this would skew the value of an Initiative modifier, as such I think I would inform my players that at various times Initiative Checks would be required to react to something unexpected, or quickly.

An example, a Gunman grabs Aunt May & puts a gun to her head, "Back off web head or the old hag get's it!" Spidey, incensed at the criminal endangering his Aunt attacks trusting his Spidey Reflexes to carry the day ... so he rolls contested Initiative against the Gunmen to determine whose action beats whose in the ensuing conflict.

At least that's how I plan to carry through on it!

Re: Initative in PBP

Posted: Fri Aug 17, 2018 12:59 pm
by MacynSnow
I tend to like the thought of using the PC's Initiative number's for who goes first in Non-combat actions(though i use their base Dex number for that)...

Re: Initative in PBP

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2018 11:47 pm
by Spectrum
It's a little more tricky, but you can also group characters together by side.

Example: if three players have higher initiative than the next mook, have them go together ignoring where they are within that set