My New Initiative Tracking System for Draw Steel

After considering a few options, I get crafty and find an excellent way to track initiative in Draw Steel. I share how I made it, so you can too!

Initiative Approaches Matter

As you may know, I take initiative very seriously in RPGs! The right approach to an RPG’s system can greatly speed up player engagement and awareness. We ideally want everyone to be prepared to take their turn, know who has gone and who has yet to go, and be ready to jump into the action. I’ve previously shared Paul Lauper Ellison’s technique for D&D initiative here and on YouTube. This approach has worked well for me for most of the RPGs I play. Alas, a few new RPGs call for a different approach!

Enjoy a video version of this blog, if you are so inclined!

How Initiative Works in Draw Steel

When battle starts, the Director (GM) decides if there is a clear side that should initiate combat. If not, either the Director or a player rolls a d10. On a 6+, that side goes first.

The side that goes first decides who should take a turn. Then, we switch to the other side and so on. In the case of heroes, one hero will act. In the case of monsters, a set of similar creatures is often grouped together (4 minions, a squad of three goblins, etc.). Groups act on the same initiative.

This is a great system for Draw Steel’s tactical play. The caster can go first to drop that big AoE fire spell, then the tank can go in and lock down the trolls, and then the archer and rogue can dart around to pick off the goblins. It also really helps support classes assist when needed. You want to do that cool thing or need health, so I will take my turn to use my ability that boosts or heals you. Story-wise, it means characters can also have a bit more control over when they would jump into the action. I really care about this thing, so I want to act now.

There is a big disadvantage to this system: analysis paralysis. Draw Steel characters can do cool things… so… who should go first? We can spend a lot of time with “you go,” “no, you go!” Hilariously, this can even happen when there is just one player left, and they don’t realize everyone else has acted. The Director also has to look over their monsters and figure out which to activate and remember which has gone.

Early Attempts

The first game, I gave everyone a two-sided card. Flip it over when you have taken your turn. The idea was, everyone could see who had not yet gone. But, the cards being down on the table meant it didn’t stand out visually, the way initiative tents do. And, players forgot to flip the card, and I felt weird reminding them every turn.

We talked about it and considered a few approaches. One of my players even bought a few. (Thanks, Kevin!)

There was the idea of using a small stand to elevate the card, maybe even printed to look like the character, and then put the stand on its side. Or, how about these cool chalkboard-like tents, with a pen you can use to write the character’s name, or something like Act and Done?

But it didn’t take long to realize this didn’t help solve the issue of players remembering, or the system working for several GM-controlled monsters. So, I began to consider something I could flip down as each group/hero acted, and maybe it could go on top of my DM screen?

Flip Initiative!

I’m encouraged to share my new approach because it both works amazingly well and wasn’t hard to make. It required no second trips to the hardware store and worked on the first try. It’s also fairly flexible. You can modify the approach and it will work.

The core concept is to take small plastic hinges. One side of the hinge has paper or cardstock affixed to it with the name of a hero or a number of a monster group. The other side has a magnet, so one flap of the hinge can be affixed to a metal band, the band either put down on the table or atop your DM screen. These hinges when flipped one way form about a 45-to-75 degree angle, and so you can read what is on the paper/cardstock from both front and back.

The result is a set of initiative trackers you can flip during play. Because they are magnetic, you can arrange them the way you want and place exactly the ones you need in any given combat. Put one out for each hero or monster group, so everyone can see the options. As each takes a turn, you as Director flip it down.

Because players will often look at the Director, they see the state of battle. This worked really well in play. It helped all of us have a better grasp of who was left and decide who should go.

Make Your Own

Start by deciding whether you want this to rest on a table or on top of a wooden DM screen. If you have a wooden DM screen, measure the top of each segment of the screen and the width. If it will go on the table, you will want either a wider metal bar or to affix the metal strip to a slightly wider piece of wood so it won’t fall over.

My wooden DM screen is ¾” wide and has two segments that are 9” long and one that is 18” long. My hardware store had a flat steel bar that was ½” x 36” (as well as various other sizes). I cut the bar with a hacksaw and then affixed the bar with simple two-sided tape, in case I want to remove the bars later. I could also have used wood glue.

Next, you need some cheap small plastic hinges. I went with clear plastic hinges that were 1.34 x .98 inch (the width is about an inch). I chose this size based on how many I wanted to fit atop the main part of my DM screen. If I were placing it directly on my table, I might go with wider hinges to fit more text on them. You could go with different types of hinges or even something else that can flip up and down.

To affix the hinges to the metal bar, I decided to use magnets. This gives great flexibility. I picked up a 10’x1/2” roll of magnetic tape. It’s not a strong magnetic force, but plenty when these light hinges are placed on a steel flat surface. In my case, I cut the tape to be the width of the hinge (just under an inch) and one side is adhesive, sticking to the hinge. This lets the hinges stick to the bar based on what is in the encounter and remove them as they die.

An alternative is to glue or affix something metallic to each hinge and then attach the magnetic strip to the metal surface. This does put a bit more weight on the hinges, making it a bit easier to fall off/over if you knock into them. But, it is a great choice if you already have a bunch of metal parts, such as a ton of small metal washers that you could affix to the hinges. I didn’t and buying washers was more expensive, so I went with the metal bar.

The last step is to print out the labels. I made a table in a Word document, and used Word’s ability to flip text so it is sideways. This made it so I could print the sheet and cut them out and fold them, legible from both sides. I made specific ones for each hero and then numbers for monster groups, plus some extra options for NPCs and events.

Yet another alternative is to not go with a magnetic technique and instead use small stands you knock over. This could be like the table stands pictured above, or something like small game piece stands. I liked the neat look of having everything magnetically arranged and not falling over in front of my DM screen or taking up additional table space.

Levi Mote noted on YouTube: “If you use a thinner DM Screen, you could also stick the magnetic tape along the top of either side (make sure you cut it for the “hinges” of the screen) of your screen or double stick tape the metal strip in a similar way.” And my friend Kevin noted that you could also use binder clips attached to a normal DM screen, and on the silver part of the clip (the handles) you could tape the names/numbers (just make sure it won’t damage your screen, maybe by wrapping something over the edge of the screen or draping a bit of cloth?).

There it is! I hope you like my technique. It’s really been great in play. If you have a different technique, share it in the comments. Or maybe you have a technique you like for the other games I am pondering… Daggerheart (which lets a PC go multiple times until they roll fear or fail) and Free League Games (which tend to use cards and allow swapping cards).