Alright, alright, ALRIGHT.
I get it.
Before you flood the comments with angry messages about how, “As a DM I NEVER mess with any rolls,” “The dice decide the story,” “You sir, are an idiot,” “Clickbait bullshit,” and all those incredibly hurtful/true criticisms, hear me out.
Fudging this roll is not that big of a deal. In fact, I’d say you don’t even have to worry about rolling the dice for it in the first place.
- See also:
I’m talking about initiative.
…But not necessarily in the way you’d think.
I don’t mean that you should be giving the big bad an automatic nat 20 on initiative, by any means. If you made them right (or if you’re using a published monsters of high enough CR) they’ll likely have a boost to Initiative that will help them in the first place.
Obviously you should respect if the rogue gets the jump on them in the initial roll-off — it would be criminal to fudge that initiative roll.
But all those shitty little minions who are just there to balance out the action economy? The NPCs that the party has along as guides? You bet like hell you should be picking and choosing exactly where those characters fall in initiative order.
Here’s the reason: A bad series of initiative rolls for those weaker fighters (on either side) can spell doom for the fun of the fight.
Think about it this way; imagine that your four party members all roll above 10. That’s great! They’re right up there with the main threat, some Pit Fiend or something. But then their NPC allies, along with all the Pit Fiend’s minions, roll under 10. Here’s what happens if you stand solidly by those behind-the-screen rolls.
The Rogue goes. The Pit Fiend fights back. The Monk goes. The Wizard goes. The Barbarian goes. Great! Things are super exciting, everyone is fighting, and then….
Well, then the DM is left to fight themselves with about half a dozen different monsters, and the players get a little bored, and the DM gets a little overwhelmed.
Now, imagine that you left maybe a handful of minions at the bottom of the order, but then sprinkled the rest of the DM-controlled monsters and NPCs in alongside the PCs.
Suddenly the tempo of the fight is looking a little different. Threats appear before a party member has a chance to heal. Minions can better assist the Big Bad. NPCs can better help the party. The fight — hell, the story — becomes better for everyone involved.
All because you decided to fudge the initiative order just a little.
Don’t believe me? Try it next time, and see if it makes combat a bit more exciting for the whole table.
But that’s just my two coppers.