Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Iorwerth Aug 24, 2014 11:38:59	In previous additions of D&D, if you scored highly on the intiative you could hold/wait on your action, to see what others do, before deciding what you wanted to do. If you did decide to act later in the round, then your turn in the order initiative would change next turn to the position you used in the turn you used your held action (sorry, probably didn'tput that in the simplest terms, but hopefully you all know what I am talking about!). This version of D&D does not seem to allow that action, instead only having the ready action, where you have to specify conditions on which you will act.   Have I got that right? Has the option to hold/wait wqith your action gone?
#2 AaronOfBarbaria Aug 24, 2014 12:05:58	You are right, the option to simply wait until later to take your entire turn (wait, delay, or whatever you might call it) has been intentionally left out of the default rules for D&D 5th edition.
#3 alienux Aug 24, 2014 12:15:20	Yes, that is correct. If you are first in initiative, you go first. That could mean using the Ready action for later, but then, as you said, you need to specify a trigger, which could be caused by an enemy or a friend, but you'll need to know or at least have a good idea of what could happen when you do that.
#4 Iorwerth Aug 25, 2014 8:24:04	Anyone know what the reason for leaving it out was?  From experience, I know with my players one of the advantages of having high init is that it can give you time to observe what others are doing before acting yourself, by delaying or whatever it was called. Seems a strange thing to get rid of.
#5 AaronOfBarbaria Aug 25, 2014 9:07:54	My opinion, which has not been confirmed as being shared by the developers, is that there are two reasons why it was left out.   1) Simplicity of play. Not having the option means not having to introduce the otherwise completely absent concept of changing your initiative score/order.   2) Delay being an option makes Ready a punishment - if you actually commit to a particular readied action you might find your trigger not occuring, or be commited to a less than optimal course of action... but if you can delay you can always do exactly the right thing once all of the unknown variables interjecting uncertainty in your course of action become known.
#6 Chimerasame Aug 25, 2014 9:30:16	I agree with #1 but I disagree with #2. Delay and Ready both existing at once doesn't make Ready automatically worse; if both existed, they would each have their niche to fill. Ready allows you to do something *at any time*, even in the middle of someone else's turn, even in the middle of someone else's action, but it limits you to a trigger and a single action, and also lets you act on your original initiative on subsequent rounds. Delay allows you to take your whole turn, but only between other turns -- and makes you act later on every round thereafter, as well.   If both existed: If you don't know what to do, you can delay. If you know what to do, but it's not time yet, you can either delay or ready depending on the particular circumstance. (How important is the *exact* timing of what you do? Versus, How much stuff do you need to do at a later time?)   However, Delay does not officially exist in 5th ed. A DM could allow it as a houserule.   (I would be inclined to allow it on the first round, but not other rounds. This solves the problem where, without it, winning initiative can somehow bizarrely be a *detriment*, but it doesn't allow for any more confusion than necessary, by curtailing it past the first round.)
#7 2Chlorobutanal Aug 26, 2014 2:50:42	If I were worried about winning initiative and wanting to "wait and see," I'd just skip my turn and then act first on the next round.  If there were truly no situation I would want to ready for, I'd just take a Dodge action or something.
#8 Diceman65 Aug 27, 2014 8:08:59	Chimerasame wrote:
#9 shivafang Aug 27, 2014 11:22:48	I believe the reason for omitting it is so you don't have to reshuffle the initiative for any reason.  Even the 'Ready' action dosn't change your initiative order.
#10 Timborama Aug 27, 2014 11:36:36	I also believe it's to simplify the game, and thus initiative. It will always be the same round-to-round until things die or combat ends.   That said, though, I'm still probably going to use Delay and Ready actions. Delay actions basically waiting to act until a person (or monster's) ENTIRE turn is over until you get your turn. Which then resets you at after that person's initiative.
#11 Chimerasame Aug 27, 2014 17:56:17	Diceman65 wrote:
#12 Chimerasame Aug 27, 2014 17:59:19	Timborama wrote:
#13 BoldItalic Aug 28, 2014 0:08:29	"I wait to see what the goblin does" "The goblin waits to see what you do" "I wait some more" "400 years pass" "This isn't fun"
#14 Chimerasame Aug 28, 2014 10:41:27	If other combatants are taking actions, it's the player/goblin's own faults for not acting, really. Same issue could happen with simply "do nothing" rather than "delay".   If it's *all* combatants... has that ever come up in game? I don't think I've ever seen that happen, but I can imagine it -- if it did while I was running it, I'd probably drop out of combat and just treat it like a roleplaying thing. Or, I'd make the goblin do something. Again, you don't need "delay" to make that outcome, the same can occur by simply not acting.   Or, for that matter, both people readying for the other person to act.
#15 shivafang Aug 28, 2014 10:50:11	BoldItalic wrote:
#16 alienux Aug 28, 2014 11:30:38	BoldItalic wrote: