Initiative tracker

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shadowmane
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Initiative tracker

Post by shadowmane »

I know its not too hard to keep up with initiative around here, but I noticed the other night when I played 5E at a friend's Collectibles store the DM was using an initiative tracking sheet. You wrote the characters names down, then tracked the round that way. It was a nifty system. I was wondering if anyone around here had used a system like that before with BFRPG.
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Dimirag
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Re: Initiative tracker

Post by Dimirag »

In my AD&D group I am (mostly) the one that notes everyone's init, I use a blank paper, put the number 1-10 and then each player and the gm give me their values (the gm sometimes gives me just a letter for suspense), then I just say when everyone goes. I also use it for keep track of time and of anything that requires timing.
Sorry for any misspelling or writing error, I am not a native English speaker
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seandon4
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Re: Initiative tracker

Post by seandon4 »

Yep, that's how I've always done it. Get scratch paper, write down names, put init number next to each, run down the list.

When I play face to face we use dice to represent characters on a checker board and set the dice to the init number. We roll once per encounter, so this seems to work well.
Last edited by seandon4 on Tue Oct 28, 2014 8:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Solomoriah
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Re: Initiative tracker

Post by Solomoriah »

My players roll their dice and keep them at the top of their sheet; I roll for the monsters and leave the dice on the battlemat. For bonuses, they turn the die to the correct number, substituting a larger die if needed or placing a d4 on top set to signify how much over 6 they rolled. As actions are taken, dice are picked up.
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Woe
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Re: Initiative tracker

Post by Woe »

I had an excel worksheet which would randomize every round and then sort the results.
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)

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-1warrior
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Re: Initiative tracker

Post by -1warrior »

Woe wrote:I had an excel worksheet which would randomize every round and then sort the results.
That is the way to go IMO. 8-)
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shadowmane
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Re: Initiative tracker

Post by shadowmane »

Up till now, I have been rolling initiative for every turn. I won't any more. I picked that up way back in college when we played AD&D 1st Edition. That's how our DM back then ran his combat, and I simply copied that when I started running BFRPG.

I would still like to play around with the Hackmaster long count system, but haven't gotten around to that yet.
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Jandolar
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Re: Initiative tracker

Post by Jandolar »

I currently roll for each round and each individual and track it on a sheet of paper on my notebook. I then list it in order of action (PbP) for the characters to see so they can decide to do something later on in the round if they need to. I.E. Wait until the mage cooks off a Fireball. Most times all of them have declared what they want to do well ahead of initiative so I can script the scene properly.

I firmly believe that rolling init for each and every round is paramount to a great dynamic combat and lends a small sense of realism to what my players read and react to in the PbP. I do the same thing with PnP games face to face.
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Woe
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Re: Initiative tracker

Post by Woe »

Related to this, I've never been sure how to declare the order of events. I hate getting into the "Does he attack me? If he attacks me, I'll defend. But if he doesn't attack me, I'll attack him." decision trees for every combination players (and the DM) can think of.

What I've been doing since forever is, have people declare what they're going to do in reverse order (lowest to highest) then playing it out in initiative order (highest to lowest). Obviously, people can change their mind if something is completely impossible but I usually try to construct events so nothing is impossible:

dragon (init 2): it flees
player 1 (init 3): I jump onto the fleeing dragon
player 2 (init 5): I disintegrate the fleeing dragon
- - -
player 2 disintegrates the dragon
player 1 makes an amazing leap into the air, but not finding a dragon to land upon, faceplants onto the dungeon floor
dragon doesn't act
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)

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Red Oak loot
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Dimirag
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Re: Initiative tracker

Post by Dimirag »

The times I've used declaration phases I let them make one declaration unless there's a rule benefiting the character.

The Marvel Superheroes game lets you change your action to another one if you succeed at an agility roll, if you fail you continue to do what you've initially said.

I can see as an option letting somebody with a 15+ in Intelligence or Wisdom to make a secondary declaration.
Or give a penalty per extra declaration representing that the character is focusing on many possible outcomes to the battle.
Sorry for any misspelling or writing error, I am not a native English speaker
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