[b]Combat House Rule: Initiative[/b]
One thing I've been mulling over is how to deal with the hopefully-not-inevitable disappearance of players. With a turn based system, a player dropping off the face of the earth in a play-by-post setting without informing the group can cause the game to grind to a halt (see Lost Realms of Arann: Northmarch). I very much hope we don't lose anyone, but to deal with that in the event we do, I'm instituting a house rule borrowed from Final Fantasy Games's Star Wars: Edge of the Empire role playing system.

When rolling for initiative, rather than players going in the order they roll, we will instead be using Player Slots. In essence, each player's initiative roll unlocks a Player Slot at that initiative value. There is no obligation for players to act on the Player Slot their initiative roll produced. So, to demonstrate, consider the following scenario.

A Fighter, a Wizard, and a Rogue are engaged in combat against the Voice of Vaul and his bodyguard. The Fighter, Wizard, and Rogue roll a 12, a 7, and an 18 on their initiative rolls, respectively, and the Voice of Vaul and his bodyguard roll a 13 and a 3, respectively. The order of combat is as follows:

18 - Player Slot
13 - Enemy Slot
12 - Player Slot
7 - Player Slot
3 - Enemy Slot

Any one of the players can choose to take that first initiative slot. Rather than the Rogue going first, the Wizard may choose to act during that first Player Slot instead, or the Fighter. 

I'm not sure what the ramifications will be for the game with this system, so if it breaks it entirely I apologize, but I think this should combat the danger of the game grinding to a halt if someone leaves unexpectedly. Rather than waiting for that person to show up, we can have the fight continue smoothly.

Let me know if you have any comments or concerns on this house rule.

[hr]

Torack has put forward another idea I rather like.

[quote]TorackToday at 4:05 PM
I remember this one system that was employed on the DnDBeyond forums similar to this, but essentially what would happen is that everyone rolled for initiative and posted in random order despite the initiative and the DM would summarize everything that happened after a single round[/quote]

I would couple this with a time limit to post, say 48 or 72 hours, to be adjusted as needed. If you guys are quick and responsive, we can resolve things more quickly, if not we can take a longer window. The point would be that only people who have dropped out of the RP would be skipped.

I am open to either one, please post here with your vote, either Option 1 (Player Slots) or Option 2 (Torack's Simultaneous Resolution).