Roll for Initiative!

Initiative is the first roll of any combat encounter, setting the stage for the entire encounter to follow. You “Roll for Initiative” to establish the order of the monsters’ and players’ actions. Everyone involved in the combat has an initiative score that, moving from highest to lowest, tells them the order in which they get to make their action.

When a Game Master has determined that combat has begun — either because a player intends to attack a monster or a monster is attempting to attack a player — they announce, “Roll for Initiative.” Each player should roll a d20 and add their dexterity bonus. That is their number in the initiative order. The highest number goes first.

The Game Master should write down the names of each character in descending order, starting with the character with the highest initiative. Then the Game Master should roll for the monsters by rolling a d20 and adding the monster’s dexterity bonus. For simplicity’s sake, just roll once for all the monsters.

This becomes the initiative order. The Game Master announces each player in turn, lets them propose their action, and then resolves the outcome. The Game Master then moves to the next character or monster in the initiative order. At the bottom of the initiative order, jump back up to the top of the list. Continue until combat ends, the monsters are all unconscious, or — gulp — the players are all knocked out.