Pool Initiative

This is what I am doing for 5E initiative rolls these days. I will have one sheet of paper with my PC's initiative modifiers to the side: +3, +2, +1, +0, etc. I will note the monsters' initiative modifiers the same way for the combat, just in a list.

Then I will roll a bunch of d20s, one blue for every PC and one red for every monster.

Then the players and I start picking dice out of the pool and going from the highest to the lowest. In this case, we have two 19 dice (one red and one blue), and I know my goblins are a +1 modifier, so the players need to pick one and have something higher than a 20 to go first. When a die in the pool is used, it is put to the side (preferably on the character sheet that just went, so it is easier to keep track of who went during a turn.

We don't assign dice to characters; we pick them out of the pool and go with the next highest. The party can decide who goes when and in what order. If they want their fighter to rush in first with that 19 and a +2 modifier, go for it. If they want to give the 3 to the cleric and have them hold back, OK. I mostly play solo, which is easier and faster for me to manage.

Yes, you can "game" this system and always have one character go first, but that feels more like a party strategy and tactical play. The party looks at the pool and picks who they want to go first. The entire party may be going last this round, or only one goes first, and the rest need to wait - those are the breaks and chaotic nature of combat. Someone goes one at the end of the turn and first the next turn for a double hit.

As a solo DM, this lets me play my monsters smarter too. The players do not know which monster left in the unused pool is going next, so they must think about defense. Let's say this order happens:

1. 1 Player
2. 4 Monsters
3. 3 Players

If you rush a fighter out there, he is getting swarmed. You should hang back, position the fighter, and be ready for a charge. Next turn, things will change.

With list-based initiatives, players know who is going next. Let's say everyone knows goblin #1 is going next, and they can focus their firepower on that monster, effectively playing a turn-denial game on the enemy side. With a pool, if I had a monster in the back that could throw buffs, I could make them go first and give my front line extra protection.

This system lets players use their modifiers creatively, like that PC with a +2 could elect to use the die that rolled a 10, creating a 12 that goes before the two goblins that rolled 10 (modified to 11). The highest modifier does not need to go to the highest roll, creating some play and strategy in the middle of the initiative track.

There is a potential for a "nuh-uh" situation where a player with a +2 picks up a 10 and modifies to twelve, and a DM right after that with a monster with +4 and a roll of 9 right after that gets a 13. Thus, the DM jumps ahead of a player choosing a die and declaring an intention to go. This is not allowed. If you miss your chance, tough luck, and that is true in battle too. That DM needs to wait, the player declared first, and that is honored, and that monster with the +4 hesitated and went after.

Once fingers touch a die - the turn is taken - and a final total is declared. Give everyone a chance to think, and the DM says, "Next," and then the next die is selected and removed from the pool.

I am done with the sheets of scrap paper with the lists of names and numbers. With the old system, you roll once, set order, and are done - but I like rolling every turn and getting things mixed up. I like unexpected order changes and dealing with surges in enemy activity. I like players having to study the current state of the battlefield and manage who goes next.

The old lists of initiative feel like the "kings rules" of war, where sides line up and trade hits in some Napoleon-era recreation. Given everything we know about war today, with surges, tactical retreats, and the unpredictable ebb and flow of combat, a pool-based system seems more deadly, gritty, and realistic. It gives the party more options to strategize their turn order than a system set in a static list. Both sides will have to deal with the unpredicted shifts in battle, like the 1-4-3 order example above. Your modifiers can be gamed on the remaining pool track.