The Ins and Outs of D&D Initiative

The appeal of initiative in D&D

D&D is chaotic. Players do unexpected things, they talk over each other, and have different goals. Rolling for initiative seems to solve this. Suddenly everyone has their turn! But while the turn order gives us some measure of security, it also has a cost. From the players’ perspective, it slows down play and dampens the creative, collaborative atmosphere of the game flow. That’s why we need to pay careful attention to the timing of initiative. When we roll for initiative, and when we leave turn order again are crucial decisions for the flow of our D&D game.

When to roll for initiative

In my experience, a simple and effective rule for when to roll for initiative in D&D is this: We roll for initiative as soon as someone declares a combat action. Only after initiative is rolled are the actions resolved. The initiative roll determines who reacts first when a situation turns violent. Not the volume or speed at which someone shouts “I attack!” or “I cast fireball!”

We stick to this rule because it avoids building bad D&D habits. If, by declaring a combat action quickly, players get an extra round without actually surprising their opponents, they can quickly trivialize any encounter. If this proves to be an effective method, every hostile situation will revolve around shouting out combat actions as quickly as possible. That’s why resolve combat actions only after initiative is rolled.

When NOT to roll for initiative in D&D

Just as important as the timing of rolling initiative, is the decision when not to roll initiative. There are two situations in which initiative seems tempting but where it actually detracts from the D&D experience.

When both sides are negotiating or one side flees

When the players want to negotiate or flee instead of fight, going into turn-based resolution will slow down play and disrupt the natural flow of the game.

It might be tempting to roll for initiative in any hostile situation, whether it’s a combat, a chase or a negotiation. But in the latter two cases, we are better off sticking to the open conversation between DM and players instead of rolling for initiative. This allows us to ask players for their approach to the negotiation or escape attempt as a group. They can coordinate, let their characters help each other out and quickly jump in whenever they have an idea, instead of waiting for their turn.

When there’s no combat

It can seem to make things easier in exploration and social interaction scenes to roll initiative. Instead, initiative is only truly necessary for combat situations. In most other situations going into turn order slows things down, instead of allowing the natural flow of the game.

When to leave initiative in D&D

At some point in a combat, we have to leave the turn order again. At the latest when every combatant of one side is defeated. But there are a few other important combat situations in which leaving initiative order helps keep the game moving.

When the characters have clearly won

There comes a point in most combats when it’s obvious that the player characters have won. For example, when there are only a few monsters left, and there’s no chance for these foes to kill all of the characters.

In those situations, we can speed up the end of combat by leaving turn order and asking the players how they want to finish off the fight. To create an exciting end to the combat, go big with descriptions. Describe how the barbarian cleaves through the final monsters, while the wizard fries them with lightning energy, and the cleric bolsters both of their allies with holy light.

When one side flees

Chases are cinematic. But in my experience, they don’t really work in initiative (contrary to what the Dungeon Master’s Guide suggests). Therefore, when one side attempts to run from the fight, we can leave initiative and handle the chase via the normal flow of the game. We use Ability checks, saving throws, and interesting complications to play through the escape attempt.

When the characters or the monsters want to negotiate

When one side of the combat wants to negotiate an end to the fight, we can let everyone chime in by (temporarily) leaving initiative. Again, we use Ability checks, and the natural conversation between DM and players to run the negotiation.

One reason for leaving initiative in this situation is that players might feel bad about “wasting” their turn by doing nothing but talking. They have all their shiny toys on their character sheet, and they only get two or three turns per combat, so they feel pressured to use them. So even if a player knows that their character would rather negotiate, they might feel pressured to use their combat tools because they are in initiative. Remaining in turn order pushes players towards combat actions where a negotiation would often create a more interesting situation.

Use initiative carefully and flexibly in D&D

Initiative is made for running D&D combat. And it’s really good at doing this specific job. By keeping this purpose in mind, we can carefully decide when a clear turn order helps the flow of the game and when it doesn’t. Here are the basics: Combat actions like attacking or flinging spells at each other are best resolved in initiative. In my experience, most other situations aren’t.

We can remain flexible with our use of initiative. Use it when combat comes up, and don’t be afraid to quickly drop it in favor of the natural game flow when other situations arise.