@Dread Knight Thats where I misunderstood the rule. I didn't realize the rules state you only role it when combat starts.
And using it to signal the start of combat is metagaming. You should make that decision using the information your character has, not by the dice rolls your making as a player.
Initiative is defined as 'start of combat'. You can use it to signal a need for more careful play as with the above haunted house situation, which is perfectly fine... but you need to have a precedent for this because it is not RAW and your players have no reason to believe anything but 'start of combat'.
I don't see it as metagaming.
I interpret rolling for initiative as: your opponent is obviously attacking you and we need to see who is faster. So I don't think that it is metagaming because characters are actually trying to react as fast as they can to the threat. So I think that it is information your character actually has.initiative is not character knowledge
So I disagree with this.
The group is manhandling the AP, so I thought it a good time to make a point, which I also happened to think was pretty funny. What do you guys think? Was I reasonable, or do they have good reason to complain?
GMs make mistakes, players make mistakes... not a big deal.
Just agree how you are going to handle initiative in the future and continue playing.I bet you are good gm. You obviously listen what your players are saying and you think these things.
I don't see you GMing an empty table. No need to make big drama out of minor incident.
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A kitten enters the room from a hole in the north wall.
ROLL INITIATIVE.
Initiative is not character knowledge. Your argument uses it to determine character actions, which is not how the game works.
I don't blame them for killing the demon outright, nor are they penalized in any way. In fact, I thought it showing up with a sword in it's hand was a great reason to immediately kill it. So did they, until they found out ooc that it wanted to help them. Then they thought it was unfair. So to sum it up, they made a decision using ooc knowledge, then acted as if they should have been able to act differently based on more ooc knowledge. I find the absurdity of that to be pretty funny.
How Combat Works
Combat is cyclical; everybody acts in turn in a regular cycle of rounds. Combat follows this sequence:
1. When combat begins, all combatants roll initiative.
2. Determine which characters are aware of their opponents. These characters can act during a surprise round. If all the characters are aware of their opponents, proceed with normal rounds. See the surprise section for more information.
3. After the surprise round (if any), all combatants are ready to being the first normal round of combat.
4. Combatants act in initiative order (highest to lowest).
5. When everyone has had a turn, the next round begins with the combatant with the highest initiative, and steps 4 and 5 repeat until combat ends.
You keep claiming player knowledge, but initiative is both player and character knowledge. Telling players to roll initiative is explicitly telling them a combat has begun, as that is the only time initiative is rolled. You are telling them the creature has begun attacking them, as that is what an initiative check means in pathfinder. Initiative is literally the measure of how fast the characters react to the attack.
This. You aren't supposed to roll initiative unless combat has begun. Them's the rules.