Hello, I think that initiative should be rolled in the begining of each combat round, but that's not clear in the rules. So, the question is easy: should intiative be rolled in the beginning of each round or just in the first one?
Thanks
tarilonte wrote:
The rules actually are clear about this, stating "The initiative order remains the same from round to round." at the end of the second paragraph. (see Basic player's PDF, p. 69, or the Player's Handbook, p. 189)
However, if you want to play it differently, that is perfectly fine - you just need to be mindful of the pros and cons of doing so.
For a not fully inclusive list, here are some things to consider:
- Rolling only once at the beginning of combat saves time.
- Many effects have durations that last until the start or end of a character's next turn, and changing the order of turns between rounds changes the fact that between the end of your turn in this round and the beginning of your turn in the next round someone gets to do something (i.e. someone gets a chance to stabilize your character between then end of your turn and the next time you have to roll a death save).
- Having the possibility of going first in one round, and last in the next round, means having the possibility that you take 1 action in combat and do not get another until everyone else has already had 2, thus creating a larger period of "waiting" - and might even result, during easier encounters, in one player feeling like they didn't really get to participate (such as if the first round had them doing nothing but dashing to get into position, and then the rest of the party got to dash in, and do something).
- It complicates keeping track of who is next, since there is no established order to keep to (i.e. "I go after Mark" is easier to remember, and to get ready for your turn because Mark is taking his, than to constantly switch which person you are using as your "I'm next" cue).
Other RPGs uses an initiative roll at the beginning of each round, but they also tend to focus on combat more as something extremely dangerous and chaotic which should be avoided if at all possible (Shadowrun and The World of Darkness, for example) which doesn't really mesh well with the typical D&D campaign.
Thank you very much for your replies! This clarifies it a lot 
Yikes, in my games initiative is the most time-consuming part of combat, and we only do it at the beginning of combat. Repeating that process every round would take much longer than I would like to deal with. But if it floats your boat, I don't think it would cause any huge problems.
I've been playing rolling initiative each round. It's not so time consuming, but not sure which option is the best one in terms of realism
"Realism"? Neither's good for Realism. Realistically combat doesn't occur in rounds of six seconds where everyone has, at most, 3 actions. Realistically combat is a flowing thing.
Now that we've established neither are realistic, which is more realistic? Well an entire round occurs within the same six seconds, so within that six seconds everyone acts and reacts. So from a realism point of view, since everyone acts within that six seconds a turn, both cases are equally realistic.
Which just leaves us with simplicity. Which is simplier? Rolling initiative once, or every round?
Conclusion: Roll once each, at the start of combat.
If you use technology, rerolling initiative every round would take no time at all. If you are doing it by hand, it would probably be too time consuming to be worth it. The effect it would have on the game (in addition to slightly modifying durations and the like, as others have mentioned) would be to decrease the luck factor slightly, since your 'average initiative' count for a battle will be taken from several rolls, and so, e.g., those with higher initiative scores are less likely to be at the bottom every round than they are when a single roll determines all rounds. But does that make it more realistic? I don't think 'realism' applies at all to these kinds of abstractions. It does give players something to do every round in between their turns, and I could see it being exciting in certain situations where someone is dying and about to be the victim of a coup de grace -- but most of the time, it would just be more bookkeeping.
IIRC, earlier editions had initiative rolled each round, but I believe it was group initiative, so either all the players went first or all the monsters went first. And there was another 2e variant in which all actions had a speed, and they were resolved according to their speed, so very fast actions went first, then fast, etc. Some spells took a long time to assemble, and swinging a halberd took longer than stabbing with a dagger. Initiative was rolled each round to determine which side went first on ties. If ever an initiative system was more 'realistic,' I suppose that was, but even still it is an abstraction.
As I remember it, in 2e you'd set what you were going to do before initiative was rolled which would set the modifier to your roll (casting time, weapon speed, etc.). When your turn was up, you perform the stated action if you could.
tarilonte wrote:
iserith wrote:
This is less an issue of book-keeping and more a "balance" issue to me. Regardless of the time expended to re-roll and track initiative, re-rolling initiative creates a very unstable and unpredictable encounter, and unpredictability almost always hurts the PCs more than it helps them.
Keeping the same initiative for an entire combat means that every (usual) combatant has exactly "one round" between turns.
This has already been touched-upon, but re-rolling initiative each round creates situations where someone gets their turn "twice in a row" (low roll, then high roll) or gets "skipped" for two enemy turns (high roll, then low roll). Again, it also complicates spells or abilities that last for "one round" ("until the start/end of your/its next turn").
I'd like to stress again that initiative only matters at the beginning of a fight in 5e: If your initiative is lower than a dragon's initiative, you aren't "going after" the dragon in perpetuity - the dragon acts first in the first round, then you act - after that, the dragon acts after you act, and you act after the dragon acts. It's a continuous cycle where nobody really "has the drop" on anyone after the first round.
It's like losing or winning a coin flip to go first in a card game: it's important to go first, but everyone gets the same number of turns, one after each other.
Yeah, I've never really understood the idea that having a low initiative means you are always going last. No one at my table even pays attention to what round it is after round 1. There is no first and last, there is just back and forth. That's exactly right.
2Chlorobutanal wrote:
I don't go with continuous initiative, but I don't actually have the players roll initiative. I have the players describe what their characters are going to do, then I decide who goes first based on how quick the actions they described are. For example, a character with a loaded crossbow who wants to shoot and then move is probably going to beat most other people to the punch. Only when I can't decide between which of two or more combatants would go first do I call for an initiative check among them.
Really helpful comments...thanks again! We have already played about 10 5th edition games rolling initiavtive in every round, but I will try rolling just once in the next one. Keeping in mind what I have read, there are more pros than cons.
My tables have recently adopted the AngryGM's popcorn initiatve and are having lots of fun with it.
Link is the popcorn in my signature.
Rolling each round should not take much time at all.... there are several ways to keep track that make the entire process take only a few seconds. Not saying it is better or worse... just saying it isn't the time sink being described.
If you do decide to go with 'each round', the spell issue should also be pretty easy to fix, just determine if it makes sense for each spell if it should last until the next bad guy turn, or next player turn. 90% of the time it should be pretty obvious.
(That said, we are using the continuous init... and I think it works just fine.)
So, if you use group initiative instead individual, which initiative bonus do you use? The highest one in the group? I say this because in our group there is an assassin with a very high dexterity bonus. That could end up wining initiative in almost al combats.
Thanks
tarilonte wrote:
Historically I have always had players roll each round, however with so many abilities that begin when you cast them and end at the beginning of your next turn, I feel as though changing the a player's initiative position from round to round may futz with the intent and value of many of these abilities.