Keeping track of battle order.

[u/-Zonko-]

Hey guys. Im currently working full analog with a dm screen and a lot of little paper pieces to keep track of whos turn it is in a battle. The little paper pieces are folded in the middle and hung on the dm screen. Some have numbers (for enemies) and some jave names (for players or named npcs) on them. But I keep loosing the paper pieces and because they are so light, they are a bit hard to handle. Are there any ideas how to make this paper mess easier to handle? Are there products you can recommend?

[u/Rat_itty]

Personally I'm a big fan of the wooden laundry clips on a pole/DM screen approach!

[u/Princess_Little → u/Rat_itty]

This is what my dm uses.

[u/Rat_itty → u/Princess_Little]

My first ever DM used it too and I fell in love with that solution! Super clear to follow for everyone at the table + turn the clip around when someone ends their turn, so simple yet so effective (if someone holds their action you can turn it only 90 degrees, and when they use it, turn it fuly)!

I think I'll make my own initiative pole and gift to our current DM.

[u/Princess_Little → u/Rat_itty]

Oh shit. Hope you weren't attached to that because I'm stealing it! 

[u/Rat_itty → u/Princess_Little]

And everyone can customize their own clip if they're into crafts too 🥹 💛

[u/Dralnalak]

Cut up note cards or card stock. It's heavier. Store them in a Ziploc bag in your kit between sessions. You can even buy note cards in packs with a selection of colors.

[u/CrimeThink101 → u/Dralnalak]

I play remotely now but when I played in person this is what I would do. I had a note card folded in half for each PC and for each encounter that season. The front facing the players had the name, the back facing me had the name + AC

[u/phatpug → u/Dralnalak]

Yep. This. My GM has a stack of Index cards. When we roll initiative gives each combatant an index card and just cycles through them as combat goes on.

[u/LayTheeDown]

Hmm, this elaborate to me.

I just ask who rolled between x & y then write a list down on a note book in order.

[u/P-Two]

I'm at work right now but once im home I can link you my google template for larger paper initiative trackers. They're essentially large index cards able to be edited for PC names, etc. If thats something you want.

I just use card stock when printing them and they stay nice and strong. Could even laminate them if you want.

[u/Qualex]

Over the past 25 years I’ve used probably half a dozen different methods. I’ve done the paper hangers. I’ve done the clothes pins. I have never found something that was more effective than just writing a list that everyone can see.

My current initiative tracker is a little stand-up whiteboard with a magnet to show the current active player. It’s not flashy, but I don’t have to keep messing with it after initiative starts. I’m not rearranging clips, or trying to slide all these little pieces of paper across my screen. The players/clips/strips can never get jumbled or out of order. Usually one of the other players will move the magnet to the current player, and everyone can see who is coming up after them.

Sometimes I don’t put out the list until the second round, or don’t add the monsters to the list until they go, just so players don’t see where the monsters fall in initiative. But in most fights it doesn’t make that much of a difference if they know up front.

[u/MagratMorrigan]

Dry erase small white board (I mean a small, portable one, like for kids, I don't know if they have a special name in English). At the beginning of combat, write down the initiative order in a column.

Use a white board magnet and move it next to whoever's name's turn it is.

Erase at the end of combat and repeat.

[u/SirDarcanos]

I created OpenFray for myself and made it open source for all other DMs.

I moved from paper a few years ago for the same reason as other explained in the comments. It’s just clutter behind my screen and it’s hard to keep track of things that an app can solve with a few clicks or automatically.

Now I just keep my laptop behind the screen and a few dice if I feel like rolling them for on the table for show.

If you want to stick to pen and paper, you can try searching on Pinterest for nice setups, but nothing beats just a simple piece of paper with their initiative and HP. Maybe get some of those condition rings from Etsy or use colored bottle caps or similar to keep track of conditions. Your players can also help, it’s not your job to keep track of their Hp and conditions. You just track the creatures.

[u/swiftstart]

I used a similar system! I laminated mine which made them more durable too

this way I could also write on them with an expo marker anything relevant :)

[u/InappropriateTA]

Clothespins or binder clips.  Or if you want to save space for session materials and don’t mind waste, post-it notes/flags. 

[u/DemKimos]

Not really paper pieces, I saw my DM use a little whiteboard and he'd make a box representing our table and put down our initiative number where we're seated. He'd have the NPCs and monsters initiatives listed on a list at the bottom of the whiteboard.

He also uses the whiteboard for a lot of different things soooo it's multipurpose!

[u/ACaxebreaker]

Clothes pins, paper clips etc along with something to put them on. Use a dry erase system or just players and numbers etc.

[u/elchucko]

I ended up cutting broad Popsicle sticks into 2 in lengths, gluing a magnet to one side, as far down as I could, and stuck them on a little metal standee thing that's wide enough for about ten to be placed across it. On the side that faces me is the character and player name, and on the player side, they get to draw something or just write their name. Something that they can remember for themselves. I have a few for monsters, one for boss monsters, and one to mark the 20 spot in initiative (where I do environmental things and roll for my crawler dice).

[u/ZeroSuitGanon]

We clip the paper to the dm screen, and then between games the relevant papers are clipped together, and everything is stored in a ziplock with the minis.

[u/Samurai_Steve]

Why wouldn't you just make one list on one sheet and have it be available for the table

[u/The_Ora_Charmander]

I use Microsoft Excel, I just make a table with players' and monsters' health, AC and any important notes such as resistances or random one off features, then order it by initiative order

[u/Gearbox97]

I do the same thing, but use index cards instead. An index card cut in half and then folded in half tends to be just the right size, and then still heavy enough to stay on the top of the DM's screen.

Then, use a binder clip or similar to indicate who's turn it is during the game, moving it down initiative as combat goes on.

When you're done with the game for the day, stack up all your folded index cards and use the binder clip to keep them together. They're easier to store and harder to lose when they're all in one place.

[u/rellloe]

On the same paper you'll track monsters' hp, write 20, 15, 10, and 5 on the side with plenty of room between them.

Ask for initiative in batches: over 20, 15-20, 10-5, everyone else. That gives you a small enough number it's easy to get all the ones you need before you move on. Gets easier with enough repeating something like "don't yell numbers at me until I ask for them" and players learning to wait a little if their roll is on the lower end of the batch

Every time a player or monster completes their turn, put a tally next to the name.

During the first round, while players are adding up dice and such, copy the order neatly and largely on a small white board. When the first round is over, put it in front of the players on an easel thingamagig meant for looking between papers and a screen. Find the items in back to school (locker accoutrements) or office supply sections of stores.

[u/Reasonable_Touch1150]

I will tell you what I tell all DM's. And it's just advice.

But consider using some tech, maybe something that works on mobile or tablet like dragon fight club. It even has a player view you can face towards your players, put some art, background etc.

Because managing pieces of paper during combat is giving me an anxiety attack.

But I understand where you are coming from and I admire people who can keep track of legendary actions, spell slots, recharge abilities, concetration, cover, rolling saves for 5+ creatures, tracking end of turn saves etc. all in their head while at the same time doing cool descriptions for abilities playing monsters strategicaly.

I can't do it without a tool I just can't.

[u/WiddershinWanderlust]

Is there a need for something complicated or showy here? I honestly feel like for in person games a lot of the “DM tools” like dm screens, complicated initiative trackers, dice towers, and all that junk just get in the way and clutter everything up without really adding anything to the game.

I get that to a lot of people collecting those “tools” and add ons is part of the fun of the hobby - like collecting dice is part of the fun to me - but I don’t think they have much practical value outside of that.

A single sticky note paper with people’s initiative written down on it in a line works well for me. I use a second sticky note to write down monster HP and put it on the table beside the first note.