Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 SterlingRat Apr 08, 2015 11:31:56	When you take your action is important, mainly in the first round (later rounds are a much more confusing and fluid affair).   Aside from a few abilities that work specifically against enemies that have not yet acted and some static environmental factors that the happens once in each round (if your DM has any set up), I work from the general rule "Let the Spellcasters Go First".   They will generally either buff party members, disable enemy monsters or make a big BOOM that you don't want to get caught in. You need to understand the "Ready" action in order to give your wizard/Sorceror/Warlock/Bard/Cleric a chance to set the tone in the upcoming battle.   From the Basic Rules:  READY Sometimes you want to get the jump on a foe or wait for a particular circumstance before you act. To do so, you can take the Ready action on your turn so that you can act later in the round using your reaction. First, you decide what perceivable circumstance will trigger your reaction. Then, you choose the action you will take in response to that trigger, or you choose to move up to your speed in response to it. Examples include “If the cultist steps on the trapdoor, I’ll pull the lever that opens it,” and “If the goblin steps next to me, I move away.” When the trigger occurs, you can either take your reaction right after the trigger finishes or ignore the trigger. Remember that you can take only one reaction per round.   Both the examples in the description use a possible enemy action to trigger the readied action. Okay, that's one possibility... However, enemies are notoriously hard to predict and if the trigger doesn't happen, you get nothing.   It's much easier to predict that your ally will do something. The action you Ready could be "I'm going to run into melee range", or "I'll shoot the bad guys" and the trigger could be "after my wizard buddy casts his spell". That gives your wizard a clear conscience about casting a fireball to start things off with a bang and doesn't make him run his skinny wizard self into melee range if he wants to cast a touch spell on you (Greater Invisibility).    Remember that this is a group effort. Just because you *can* go first doesn't mean you *should* go first... Ready your action to be taken after the spellcaster starts things off.  ****Although there is no rule about this, many DMs will allow a character to move *down* in the initiative order as long as you remain at your new initiative spot in following rounds. This is not a readied action (discussed above) but an actual change in the order you will take your turn for the rest of the combat. If your DM allows it, simply slide your name to just after the spellcaster's name in the initiative order (provided you are both on the same side of the Monster's turn). That way you don't use up your reaction and you don't have to decide on what your action will be before the spellcaster's turn.
#2 BoldItalic Apr 08, 2015 12:41:26	Okay, but what if the Wizard rolls low on the initiative, and the Barbarian rolls high, compared to the monsters?   By your scheme, it goes: Barbarian readies Monster kills Wizard Barbarian wastes his reaction   A better scheme is Barbarian kills monster Wizard saves his spell slot for next time
#3 SterlingRat Apr 08, 2015 12:47:36	Right... well, the part about "(provided you are both on the same side of the Monster's turn)." that I put in the bottom can also be applied to the top.
(Reply to #3) vanadium322	SterlingRat wrote:
#5 lall Apr 10, 2015 18:20:39	My thief has places to go and things to do. Wizard has to earn it.