Quote Originally Posted by chaincomplex View Post
So unless someone vehemently prefers it another way I'm going to do block initiative for the PCs only.
Block initiative's literally the single best thing one can go with in PbP.

I offer you two ways to do it: (i) you all roll initiative, I average rolls (rounding up); (ii) one initiative roll is made with the average initiative bonus (rounding up).

The expected initiative roll for the PCs' block is the same with both methods naturally, but (i) has a higher variance while (ii) is more controlled.

I prefer (i) so you all still do something when time comes to roll for initiative, but I expect (ii) is better for the PCs because it's not common for monsters to beat the PCs in initiative, which lower variance will enforce more strictly.
My vote's likewise in favour of option no. 1.