Half the combat scenes in a D&D session stall waiting on initiative — someone forgot their roll, someone else lost track of HP, and the round counter is a smudge on a napkin. A good initiative tracker fixes that. This guide compares the best free digital tools alongside Minva's printed Initiative Notepad and Initiative Tracker Cards, with a decision matrix at the end so you can pick the one that fits how your table actually plays.
If you're prepping the encounter itself, our free encounter calculator pairs nicely with any tracker here.
Top Digital Initiative Trackers
dm.tools
Free web app with drag-and-drop initiative order and HP tracking, plus a shared link mode so players can watch turn order update live. Best for online play where everyone's already in front of a screen. The catch: it's online-only — flaky Wi-Fi or a power blip can interrupt combat mid-round, and there's no offline fallback.
improvedinitiative.app
Free web app with granular condition tracking and a saved encounter library, so a DM can pre-build the next four sessions and load them in seconds. Best for prep-heavy campaigns where the DM wants statblocks and conditions one click away. The UI is dated and there's no shared-link mode, so players don't see the tracker — only the DM does.
dndbattletracker.com
Free web app with an encounter timeline and lair-action reminders baked in. Best for solo prep and DMs running boss fights with multi-stage mechanics. Collaboration is limited — it's a DM-facing tool, not a table-shared one.
Top Paper Initiative Trackers
Initiative Notepad (Minva)
Our tear-off Initiative Notepad gives you one row per combatant with columns for name, initiative, HP, AC, and conditions — the four things you actually update during a fight. Each session gets its own sheet: roll initiative, fill in the rows, tear off and toss when the encounter ends. The paper is heavy enough to dry-erase friendly for HP edits if you write in pencil, and the layout is wide enough to fit a full party plus 8–10 monsters without crowding. Best for: in-person play where you want zero screens at the table and don't mind tearing through a pad over the course of a campaign. Most DMs go through a sheet every 1–2 sessions.
Initiative Tracker Cards (Minva)
The Initiative Tracker Cards are the reusable counterpart to the notepad. One dry-erase card per combatant — write the name, initiative roll, HP, and conditions, then shuffle the deck into initiative order and stand the active card up. When combat ends, wipe the cards and they're ready for the next session. No paper waste, no tearing through a pad. Best for: DMs who want the same physical objects to follow them across a whole campaign, or anyone who runs frequent combat-heavy sessions and would rather not refill a notepad every month.
DIY index cards
If you don't want to buy either, index cards + a Sharpie work fine for one-shots — it's how a lot of us started.
Which Should You Pick?
Quick decision matrix:
- Online play, want shared visibility → dm.tools. Everyone's already on a screen; the shared-link mode does the work.
- Heavy prep + solo DMing → improvedinitiative.app or dndbattletracker.com. Saved encounter libraries pay off when you're building out a campaign.
- In-person play, single campaign → Initiative Notepad. Tear-off, low commitment, fast to set up.
- In-person play, repeat use across campaigns → Initiative Tracker Cards. Reusable, more durable, no refill cost.
- Lots of party-vs-party combats or one-shots → DIY index cards. You'll mix-and-match the deck anyway.
Once you've picked a tracker, the next bottleneck is usually building the encounter itself — that's what the encounter calculator is for.
Our Pick: Initiative Notepad or Tracker Cards
- Notepad: tear-off sheets, one row per combatant — low commitment
- Cards: reusable, dry-erase, shuffle to set initiative order
- Both are 5e-compatible and keep zero screens at the table
FAQ
What is the best D&D initiative tracker?▼
For in-person play, a paper initiative tracker like Minva's Initiative Notepad keeps the table focused without screens. For online play, free web apps like dm.tools or improvedinitiative.app share a single live tracker across the group. The right choice depends on whether your table is in-person or remote.
Do I need a separate initiative tracker, or can I use my character sheet?▼
You can scratch initiative order in the margin of your character sheet, but a dedicated tracker keeps the turn order visible to the whole table, captures conditions and HP in one place, and frees your sheet for actual character information. Most DMs find a dedicated tracker pays for itself in saved table-time.
What's the difference between an initiative tracker and a combat tracker?▼
An initiative tracker focuses specifically on turn order, hit points, and conditions for the combatants in a single encounter. A combat tracker usually adds round counters, lair action timers, and broader encounter management. The Initiative Notepad and Initiative Tracker Cards are deliberately scoped to the initiative side — anything more becomes a session journal.
Are there free initiative trackers for D&D 5e?▼
Yes — dm.tools, improvedinitiative.app, and dndbattletracker.com are all free web-based 5e initiative trackers. They're great for online play. For in-person play, a printed pad or set of cards usually wins because it doesn't require a laptop or phone at the table.
Related DM Tools
Pair your initiative tracker with the encounter calculator for balancing fights, the Lorekeeper Notion Template for campaign organization, or How to Prep D&D Fast when session prep is closing in on you. Browse all 5e tools for generators, journals, and more.