Today we are talking a look at a product from the DM’s Guild called, Improved Round Table Initiative by a guest poster on this blog. Let’s call her “IDGAF” for now….. until she decides on a name, which I am sure she will.
I’ll admit to having done some things to make combat go quicker. I DM a big group, and some of the players can get a bit distracted on their turns. We’ve implemented time limits with a default Dodge action, I plan on having initiative tracker cards at our next session. Even with those, sometimes I feel like the turns go a bit long on some players, but we’re working on it. For those DM’s that are having problems keeping track of initiative and want to streamline combat a bit more, Improved Round Table Initiative could be one of those options.
It revolves around a seating order based on permanent initiative bonuses and initiative either proceeding clockwise or counterclockwise around the table from a specific player based on initiative rolls by the players against an Initiative DC. It even has some helpful examples of scenarios on the second page of the pdf.
However, not sure that it would work for my group. We often start before everyone is there, we play in a rather restricted space (always a problem for a big group), and I like being able to show my players pictures of the monsters they’re fighting, which is going to be something made easier by the initiative tracker cards I’ve been working on.
Altogether, it could be an interesting system, but not one that I think will work for me.
Evil DM Note: Want to guest post or want something reviewed? Please message me on Twitter @TheEvilDM