Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Sovereign110 03-06-08, 01:21 AM	Alright, I've been musing over the combat mechanics lately and trying to read through the PHB again to see if I've missed anything regarding the questions I have. But I figured I'd ask the ever-helpful community here for their input. Alright, let's say a fight begins and the initiative is as follows (Initiative score on the left): 17 Bob 16 Jane 11 Orc #1 8 Fred 3 Orc #2 Now, the first iteration of actions taken by each of the characters is considered the first round of combat, right? And all of it is occuring in the same 6-second time frame, correct? At least that's what I got out of the rulebooks. So, my first question: Let's say Bob attacks Orc #1. He scores a critical hit and drops the Orc to negative hitpoints in one attack. Bob's turn is over, and now it's Jane's turn. Is the Orc on the ground dying when Jane's turn arrives, or hasn't it "happened yet"? Because if the Orc is on the ground during Jane's turn, it assumes that 6 seconds passed of nothing happening except Bob attacking the orc. Up until now, my group and I have been playing as if the results of Bob's attack happened immediately after Bob's turn in the round. But shouldn't the results of each turn occur at the very end of the round instead, because they all occur at the same time? My second question kinda depends on the answer to this one, so I'll wait for responses before asking it. Thanks in advance!
Kouk 03-06-08, 04:53 AM	No, you resolve each action immediately unless there is a built-in delay (such as spells with long casting times). In a certain abstract sense of the game world, a combat round is a total of 6 seconds, yes. But for the purpose of running this as a game which can be handled in a turn-based manner, you have to do things as they happen. You can pretty much ignore that a round is 6 seconds, it almost never has a gameplay effect. The only exceptions are effects measured in minutes (1 minute equals 10 rounds). If you waited to the end of the entire round for things to happen, then people would just get confused as to which monsters were hurt/dead already, who is doing what, etc.
Sovereign110 03-06-08, 11:58 AM	Ok then, my next question deals with introducing new combatants in the initiative order. Let's say that Fred finishes off Orc #2, but then Orcs #3 and #4 show up and become aware of the party on Fred's turn. Currently when that happens, I roll iniative for them on Fred's turn and just insert them into the initiative order. This means that if one of the Orcs rolls higher than a 17, they will actually have their turn immediately. Similarly, if one of the Ocs scores below an 8, they will also be able to take a turn right away. This seems kinda goofy to me for some reason, is this a proper way to introduce new enemies in the initiative order? And what happens if the players are aware of their new enemies before their new enemies aware of them? Can one of the players try to strike at them first? But what if they're seen? When exactly are new combatants introduced into the initiative order?
toucanbuzz 03-06-08, 03:45 PM	Everyone acts in the same round. There is no such thing as "split rounds". If you are planning to introduce "reinforcements", then you should already have an initiative assigned to the new orcs before they enter the fray as they are using their movement to get to the battle site. In your case, you have arbitrarily assigned them an initiative because they are acting after Fred. If the monsters still have an action to take, they may do so. Otherwise, it's up to next round. Also, you don't get a "surprise" round if you're already in combat, so players don't get to bend space and time to get an extra attack against new creatures. They can get Attacks of Opportunity if the new orcs move out of a threatened square when joining the fray, as normal. I think perhaps you're wondering if the new orcs are flat-footed. Since flat-footed is a matter of having reacted to combat, you'd have to rule in your mind whether they just strolled into the field totally deaf, blind and unaware, or whether they heard the sounds of battle and saw fighting (at which point they are aware and no longer flat footed because, as stated earlier, they should already have an initiative roll and took an action by moving to the battlefield). So, here's how your numbers with Fred probably went: 8 Fred - kills off orc #2 {orcs' initiative numbers less than 8 because orcs are arriving after Fred goes} Orc #3 - if he still has a standard action, he attacks Orc #4 - if he still has a standard action, he attacks Next round Roll Initiative
iserith 03-06-08, 03:48 PM	I generally know in advance if more combatants will arrive in the middle of a given combat. Assuming the NPCs are of the same stats, I just assume they act on the initiative of their comrades who are already engaged in the fight. If they are different types of creatures, I roll and insert them accordingly or I put them at the end of the round.
Lord_Varos 03-10-08, 05:13 PM	What toucanbuzz said. It's impossible for the situation in your second question to happen, since entering the battlefield is a move action, which could only be taken on the creature's turn anyway. If, for some bizarre reason, it actually did come up, you'd just have them roll initiative before the start of the next round.