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Originally Posted by Simon Atavax  Are enemies in fact allowed to do this? I don't have my DMG handy, but I thought I read there that Gygax instructs DM's not to change the action of the monsters based on what the characters decide to do. So, in other words, if the characters tell the DM "We're gonna set our spears hard in case they charge," and the DM had already (privately) decided the monsters would charge, he should have the monsters charge, regardless of what the PCs have declared.
But I could be wrong. I'm reading the books for the first "serious" time since the early 80s.  |
Could well be. I'm currently reading the books for the first serious time ever. In any event, they certainly couldn't change their action to something else. If cancelling a monster action is allowed, it would defeinitely mean giving up their actions for the entire round.
Edit to add: I'd generally be inclined to charge any monsters that had intended to do so. I'd be most inclined to cancel a charge in a situation where the PCs were hoping to parley, and seeing weapons set against them might be enough to convince them to give it a try. Which, now that I think of it, is a situation where the DM is definitely expected to alter monster actions from their declaration -- if a monster that has declared an aggressive action has to follow through, success parleying becomes nearly impossible when you don't have surprise.
Further edit: Although, I suppose you could consider a successful parley to be a PC action that cancels a monster's planned action.
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