Rolling for Initiative

“Danger always strikes when everything seems fine.”
--Kambei Shimada, from Seven Samurai by Akira Kurosawa

I was not drunk. Lissie says I was, but I wasn’t. The watered-down piss that passes for beer at the Wyvern’s Wing isn’t strong enough to make me happy, much less drunk.

However, I was a little lost--I’ll admit to that. It was me, Lissie, and Gurran, and we were on our way back to the flophouse after supper at her favorite dive. Dannika was at the temple, of course. No way she’d be caught dead in that part of town, especially not leading up to the Moonswatch Festival.

Now, the Wyvern is on Via Luminae Rubrae, which is always crowded at the end of the week; but whatever road I picked to get out on was... not. It was plain dead, in fact, and we made it almost halfway down the second block before any of us paid attention.

Gurran stopped and turned around slowly and said, in that dragon voice of his, “Rathnar. There is something amiss.”

“I told you, I wasn’t trying to hit--” I began, but then I saw the frown on his face and the lightning in his eyes and I got his drift.

Okay, maybe I was a little drunk.

Eight dark forms slid out of the alleys around us. Light from the guttering oil lantern on a nearby building glinted off something short and sharp in one shadow’s hand. The one in front of us lowered his hood, revealing the tawny widow’s peak and the long nose of my old friend from the Silent Hounds.

“Draw steel, traitor,” he demanded coldly. “I’ll let you die with a sword in your hand.”

I belched and reached for my belt before I remembered I’d left my weapons back at Dawnward Flats. I had to kneel down to retrieve the darkblade dirk I kept in my boot. It’s always an uncomfortable thing, kneeling down in front of an enemy, but Vann just waited, lips curled up in a disgusted sneer. Meanwhile, my grey dagger trembled like a wet virgin and hummed a little as I slipped her from her sheath.

I eased into a knife fighter’s crouch as I rose to face my former colleagues. Beside me, little Lissie already had her buckler strapped on and the cords on her twin balta axes looped around her wrists. Gurran wouldn’t have time to work any proper enchantments, of course, but he unsnapped the pouches on his belt and drew his long hands up like vipers in front of him, ready to draw charms and wonders from his arsenal at a moment’s notice.

I grinned a savage grin at my former partner.

“Should’ve gone for the ambush, Vann. You always were too damned noble for your own good.”

“Roll initiative!”

It’s one of the most exciting parts of any run, isn’t it? The thrill of danger, the challenge of the unexpected, the promise of blood. One good combat can make a fair session great or a boring session fun.

And how does combat always start? <Evil GM Grin> Initiative. If you don’t believe me, just read any roleplaying book.

Is that true, though? What is initiative? What does it represent and why is it so important? Why are there so many different types of initiative? Speed Factors, Action Modifiers, Wound Penalties, Skill Rolls. Every one of these considerations will flavor your decision, as GM, on when--and whether--to roll initiative for a particular situation. Let’s take a look.

WHAT IS INITIATIVE?

“Rapidity is the essence of war: take advantage of your enemy’s unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots.”
--Sun Tzu, The Art of War

On the battlefield, ‘Initiative’ just means the ability to drive the action in a particular moment of combat. One team will seize the initiative by making a coherent attack, mounting a strong counter, or shifting the field with a cunning tactic that forces the other team off the offensive in order to react to the maneuver. If you seize the initiative, that means you get to set the tone for the next phase of combat and your opponent does not. With a little luck, it may mean that you win the combat.

In wargames and RPGs, we abstract this concept into a mechanic that allows one player to either see the other player’s actions first, as in most wargames and some RPG systems like Mechwarrior, 2nd edition; or else the player can resolve hir actions first, as in most RPGs. It’s not the same thing as real-life initiative, but it does represent the same thing, and it allows faster or more tactically-minded characters to set the focus of combat by acting before their slower opponents.

Is the party going to seize the high ground, or will they have to meet their enemies on a level field? Will the PCs flank the vanguard and hit the enemy archers at close range, or will they get bogged down by the infantry? Can the heroes make it to their horses before the goblins catch them, or will they face a pitched battle on foot?

Only initiative will tell.

WHAT DETERMINES INITIATIVE?

In simple systems, very little goes into what determines initiative: maybe a bonus based on speed, wits, or skill. More complicated systems may add in other factors like circumstantial modifiers, weapon or action ratings, or wound penalties. Some systems add bonuses from magical or technological enhancements. The GM may choose to impose a penalty or add a bonus based on the specific situation the party faces. Most of the time, though, a large part of Initiative is based on random luck. That’s intentional, because the one constant on the battlefield is that conditions beyond anyone’s control are always changing.

In an ambush, of course, most of these factors go out the window because one side is unaware of the other. Unless one of the victims has a special ability that allows hir to react in ambush rounds, the victims just don’t get to act. Easy!

In most cases, though, a fair GM should have a good grasp on the various factors the players face in making their roll(s). Going by the system, that’s fairly easy to do--but if you were just going by the system, you would make everybody roll and it wouldn’t require a judgment call. So here are a few basic, situational considerations when it comes to initiative:

• At a distance, fighters with ranged weapons almost always have the initiative over hand-to-hand fighters, even if there’s cover.

• In close quarters, hand-to-hand fighters usually have the initiative over ranged attackers, although ranged attackers with thrown weapons may be an exception.

• In an open field, quick, light fighters have an advantage over heavier, slower fighters; and fighters with longer weapons have an advantage over fighters with smaller weapons.

• In cramped or crowded environments, how fast you are doesn’t make as much difference to initiative, but fighters with shorter weapons tend to have an advantage over fighters with longer weapons as they can move and react more freely.

• At the beginning of an exchange, when two combatants are approaching each other, the fighter with the longer weapon or reach has the advantage.
  

Obviously, some players design their characters to have a strong edge in initiative contests, and you should always take those characters’ abilities into consideration. However, in some situations (e.g., when the combatants are closing on the battlefield) personal skills just don’t make that much difference.

WHEN SHOULD WE ROLL?

If we were playing a wargame, we would always roll initiative and always follow the prescribed turn order. Since we’re playing an RPG, though, there are other considerations at stake.

But before we dive in, Why does it matter?

Because every roleplaying session has a flow, and because initiative rolls take time and slow down that flow. Everybody has to roll. The GM has to roll, usually more than once. The players have to tell the GM what they got. The GM has to write down the results or track them in some way. Even when this process moves along quickly, it still takes time and breaks the action.

Sometimes, keeping the action flowing is more important than injecting random chance into the story. So here are a few things to consider:

First, always first, what makes the most sense in the ongoing narrative? Based on the situation, is there a question about who acts when? If it’s clear who should go first, just make a judgment call and put off initiative until when (and if) it matters. If it’s not so clear, maybe go ahead and call for an initiative roll.  (Remember, we used to roll for initiative every turn. Then the D&D designers decided it took too long to roll every turn, so we started rolling once per combat. Waiting to roll until it’s important is really just a logical extension of that progression.)

If the PCs walk into a room in a dungeon and there are a bunch of orcs waiting for them, don’t roll for initiative. The PCs are ready, their weapons are drawn--it’s clearly not a surprise round. However, the PCs just opened the door. That was their action; now it’s the orcs’ turn to react. Let them attack the PC in the front before the party has a chance to move into the room. Then let the PCs have their turn. If one of the players was holding an attack to shoot an arrow through the door, let hir take hir attack before the NPCs. If one of the PCs was holding an action to charge through the door and make a melee attack, let hir take hir attack and then the NPCs can all attack the brave sod that charged them.

In this case, rolling for initiative doesn’t make sense because the orcs are waiting for the PCs. It makes more sense to let the orcs do their thing, then let the players respond.

Second, what’s more exciting? Fictional combat is all about excitement, and if something is slow and boring, it shouldn’t have a place in your combat. Read the mood. If the players aren’t really worried about who goes first, don’t make a big deal out of it. Just decide who goes and move on. If they’re biting their nails to see whether they get to go before the ogre stomps them flat, though, roll for it! The suspense the roll adds makes it worth the time.

Let’s say you roll an overland forest encounter and the PCs face a gnoll raiding party. Both sides have ranged weapons, and you decide because of the trees the two sides are starting off 100’ away from each other. Do you roll initiative?

I mean, you can. There’s nothing stopping you. It doesn’t make much difference if you do or not in this case. The gnolls aren’t going to kill the PCs with a single javelin attack. The PCs may pick off one gnoll early if they concentrate their fire, but just as likely not.

You may as well roll?

But that’s exactly the point. If it makes no difference one way or another, why waste the time? Unless your players really, really enjoy rolling initiative for some reason, (it takes all kinds?) don’t even bother. Let the PCs make their attack rolls. Have the gnolls respond with their own attack rolls. Anybody that wants can close distance and probably get there after a round of running.

Third, does rolling add to the game? If rolling may add an interesting or unexpected twist to the game, good. Roll. If rolling will challenge the PCs in some meaningful way or offer them a chance to do something awesome, good. Roll. If rolling the dice will not make the situation more interesting, more unexpected, or more awesome, then don’t bother rolling. In these situations, rolling would be a waste of time.

What if the party comes across a gang of thugs in the street? You know there’s a sneak hiding on the nearby roof with a poisoned arrow, but the PCs haven’t spotted hir yet. As far as they’re concerned, they’re just facing off against a group of criminals. Do you roll initiative?

In this case, no. Let the PCs act. The thugs will respond. If your group is cool with it, you can have the fast characters act and the slow characters respond. Whenever it’s dramatically appropriate, regardless of the initiative order, have the archer butt in with a sneak attack. Unless you let hir make some kind of perception save, the PC will still be caught by surprise by the attack, whether hir Initiative total is higher than the archer or not, because the archer is hiding.

On the other hand, if the halfling rogue is dueling against Selene the Jackal, who’s renowned for her speed and agility, rolling initiative will challenge the PC as ze tries to outmaneuver the nimble opponent. In this case, rolling initiative (every round, if you like) adds to the drama as the PC tries to beat hir opponent through speed as much as through combat skill. (“Did you see that? She’s supposed to be all fast and stuff, but I showed her the meaning of haste!”)

Always remember: Initiative is not an integral system to roleplaying; it’s an artificial construct created to simulate battlefield conditions for wargamers. It’s not a necessity!, and if you can think of it as a rules option instead of a rules imperative, it will give you another spanner in your GM toolbox for conveying action and setting the mood in your game.

On the other hand, it’s equally important to use initiative fairly, even when you choose not to roll it. Some players will leverage the initiative roll in order to make their characters more effective in combat, and you should never undermine that without a strong story reason to do so. (That applies equally whether you’re rolling initiative or not.) If a player spent a feat to take Improved Initiative, you should at least give hir a fair chance to go first in a combat, if not just giving hir the first move by default. Otherwise, you’ll frustrate your players and make them feel like their choices don’t matter.

CONCLUSION

Every group is different, and as the GM it’s up to you to figure out the best balance between story and game mechanics for your group. Don’t roll initiative “because it’s combat”. Roll initiative or not because it adds to the fun of your game.

In roleplaying, the rules are yours. Own them!

What are your favorite initiative techniques to make combat in your games that much more exciting? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Game well, my friends.

Jonathan