Post/Author/DateTime	Post
ancalimohtar 05-06-07, 04:36 AM	This happened once before, in a real-life game, but luckily I convinced that DM of his folly. Unfortunately, this time around, it's a play-by-post campaign, and so I don't actually have a +10 circumstance bonus to Diplomacy due to being friends with the DM. This is how combat works with the DM's houserules: Encounter begins. I state what the baddies are going to do, and then wait for everyone to say what they are going to do(this can be as detailed or as simple as you want). We do this every round, and every round I roll initiative to see which actions occur first in that round. More: I feel this helps to simulate the chaos that is combat. Re-rolling initiative each round would be hell in a tabletop game, so I don't, but for a pbp game, I think it will work fine. It also avoids the issue of "Well, I don't want to declare my action until after I find out what X is going to do"I don't mind the initiative re-rolling; I think that's a pretty good idea for PbP. However, his express intent is to do away with strategic planning. I don't even think it's harder for PCs to win battles this way--it's the fact that we pretty much have no control over what goes on, which might be more "realistic" but isn't the strategic combat of D&D. I also don't want to know what the monsters are going to do. It breaks immersion and gives us an unfair advantage. Should I just suck it up, or ask him to reconsider? If the latter, how? Edit: Oh, and we can give contingency plans if the situation is drastically different from what we envision. But I mean, how many contingency plans would i have to give to capture all the possible positions of the enemies? For example, right now, we're in our first battle, where an ettin and his brown bear pet is approaching the party. The street is only about 20 ft wide, and so I cast a Legion of Sentinels (PHBII, bunch of dudes pop up and get AoOs but no regular attacks) in between the ettin and us. Problem is, it's not going to do anything if the ettin gets to move to us first. So now I have to figure out what I want to do if the ettin is close by. But the positioning of a Minor Image of a troll or whatever is going to depend on where the ettin ends up. And so I said screw it, I'm just going to Curse of the Putrid Husk him. Stupid.
draco1119 05-06-07, 04:49 AM	Actually, he's (pretty much) correct. Under 2E rules. :P
Thor_axe_impaler 05-06-07, 07:43 AM	Even if he is correct via the rules, who says that counts? Maybe you guys supplement some rules, but from what I hear you could run into some serious problems. For example, What if, say, more than one player wanted to rush into combat and hitthe first closest guy. The first player to do so rushes in and scores a crit! Now what is the other guy to do, the target of his attack very well could be in pieces for all I know. Does he move to where this monster used to be and just stand there to the dismay of the player, or can the players make any adjustments as battle progresses?
polt 05-06-07, 09:31 AM	I actually think it sounds like his way of doing things makes combat much more realistic, much more chaotic, much more fun. It kind of removes the stupid board-game feel D&D sometimes have, and make it feel more like a movie or something. I say thumbs up.
Matthew77 05-06-07, 09:45 AM	I'd suggest playing the game for a couple sessions and see how it works out.. it might not be as difficult as you expect. Also, have any of the other players played with these rules before? You could ask them for tips, see what worked and what didn't. Your character type (illusionist?) might be extra complex with these rules compared to a melee type, you could ask the DM to give you a little slack because your character has so many options.. maybe a Concentration check to change spells in an emergency? Also, try talking to your fellow characters in-game and working out some unified tactics with code words or something. "When I shout Formation H, everyone fire missile weapons instead of charging because I'm doing an area effect spell." I don't think you're going to get the DM to change his mind, unless this is a new experiment he's never tried before, so your best bet is to be optimistic and give it your best try. If you really hate the system after giving it a shot, then you can reconsider your options.
sambudak 05-06-07, 09:48 AM	It's not as if he arbitrarily decided to just do it. He has reasons, and it's a PbP so getting the jist of things right at the start of the round would seem to be fine. Both the party and the baddies are under the same constraints, and if a round of action is lost on a defunct contingency it's too bad.
Raven Bloodmoon 05-06-07, 10:15 AM	Really, that sounds like the old style 2e initiative, except that each combatant gets his or her own initiative count. Personally, I prefer that method as it is more realistic. You ask what happens when two people go after the same opponent? What happens in volley ball when two people go after the ball at teh same time? If one gets there first, he hits it adn the other has to find soemthign else to do. If they're not careful, they collide. That's life, really. In fact, I'll likely give this a testrun on an MSN game I'm currently running. I'm sure my players will test drive it for at lesat one encounter, and they love it when everything gets chaotic.
Otto the Bugbear 05-06-07, 10:18 AM	Edit: Oh, and we can give contingency plans if the situation is drastically different from what we envision. But I mean, how many contingency plans would i have to give to capture all the possible positions of the enemies? For example, right now, we're in our first battle, where an ettin and his brown bear pet is approaching the party. The street is only about 20 ft wide, and so I cast a Legion of Sentinels (PHBII, bunch of dudes pop up and get AoOs but no regular attacks) in between the ettin and us. Problem is, it's not going to do anything if the ettin gets to move to us first. So now I have to figure out what I want to do if the ettin is close by. But the positioning of a Minor Image of a troll or whatever is going to depend on where the ettin ends up. And so I said screw it, I'm just going to Curse of the Putrid Husk him. Cast the Legion of Sentinels. If the ettin and bear move before the spell goes off, say "Ok :D " and don't let your frustration show. Next round, pick a spell (or tactic) based on current positioning, and stick to that, regardless if the positions change or better tactics present themselves. Do this over and over and over and overandoverandoverandoverandoverandover. .. When he asks what the hell you're doing, mention that the tactics and spells you're choosing are perfectly valid when you choose them, and certainly better (to you) than. "I cast damage spell X on it." "I cast damage spell X on it." "I cast damage spell X on it." "I cast damage spell X on it." If he wishes you to change and contribute more than "Oops, now that they've moved, that Legion of Sentinels is useless", just switch to "I cast damage spell X on it." "I cast damage spell X on it." :schemes:
kelvinaw273 05-06-07, 10:28 AM	The only thing I would take umbrage with is the idea that actions are declared before initiative. I would roll initiative, then declare actions in turn, in initiative order. In fact, I prefer rolling it once because that makes life easier, and is just as realistic - if you get the initiative in combat you tend to keep it so long as you don't allow your foe breathing space.
Saytr 05-06-07, 04:34 PM	Elf sees murderous Dwarf. Elf starts to run, he is faster than the Dwarf. Dwarf sees the Elf run away. Dwarf runs after Elf even though he is slower. Dwarf wins initiative next round Dwarf catches Elf before Elf gets a turn. Dwarf outruns the Elf to catch him???? How does that happen? :confused: