When I first started DMing I did one initiative roll for all of combat, but later realized it was boring, and initiative order made a much larger difference when it changed round to round, winning initiative in a losing battle really can turn the tide. Plus it give initiative some importance.
I do something similar when it comes to PC’s Saving Throws. As part of the game setup, I have each of them make various dice rolls ahead of time & write them down in the order they were rolled.
Saving Throws, Surprise Checks, & other such things that the characters might not know about immediately, I just look at the list, use the next number rolled for that die-type & tell them the results.
Let’s face it, when a DM says, "Roll a Save against (something that’s not immediately seen by players), "that puts them on edge before they even know that they *should be* on edge. The players should only know what their characters would know at certain moments. For example, if something subtle happens to one character & no other character would have noticed, then why should the whole party know something is happening?
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rolling inititive every round is stupid
start of combat inititive all the way my friends
Stupid? No. It was very exciting to occasionally win initiative.
to each there own i suppose
Yeah, and winning a round in the middle can change things from a win to a loss… wait, is that a good thing?
When I first started DMing I did one initiative roll for all of combat, but later realized it was boring, and initiative order made a much larger difference when it changed round to round, winning initiative in a losing battle really can turn the tide. Plus it give initiative some importance.
but rolling it every round makes combat so slooooow.
Indeed. It’s why I’m quite willing to let a computer do it for me behind the scenes. My D&D experience has been mainly digital.
I do something similar when it comes to PC’s Saving Throws. As part of the game setup, I have each of them make various dice rolls ahead of time & write them down in the order they were rolled.
Saving Throws, Surprise Checks, & other such things that the characters might not know about immediately, I just look at the list, use the next number rolled for that die-type & tell them the results.
Let’s face it, when a DM says, "Roll a Save against (something that’s not immediately seen by players), "that puts them on edge before they even know that they *should be* on edge. The players should only know what their characters would know at certain moments. For example, if something subtle happens to one character & no other character would have noticed, then why should the whole party know something is happening?