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Am I Being a Jerk DM?
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<blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 5906280" data-attributes="member: 22424"><p>Hmm, interesting. My gut feeling on reading your OP was to side with the player... but then the later posts corrected that misconception. The bottom line: per the rules, you are right.</p><p></p><p>(You're also right because, as DM, it is within your remit to make appropriate rulings when running the game. But in a discussion about the rules, that's an aside.)</p><p></p><p>It's worth noting, of course, that <em>in D&D's turn-based combat</em>, each PC and monster has its own discrete turn that are resolved in sequence but that, <em>in the 'real' situation that the rules are supposed to be modelling</em> that is a nonsense. That is, on the gameboard Thief1 moves and attacks and then Thief2 moves and attacks... in a real situation, they would both move concurrently.</p><p></p><p>(I would also note that you should, of course, play monsters in a manner consistent with the intelligence/wisdom. So, having the thieves, or the wolf-pack, operate in this manner is entirely appropriate. Having a band of zombies to the same is not so appropriate. Although even then, I would argue that it is the "seeking combat advantage via flanking" that is the issue there, not the "attacking all at once" thing.)</p><p></p><p>Oh yes, one more thing: IME, players have no qualms about using the rules and/or the tactical situation to extract maximum advantage for themselves and their allies. If they can scrape up a +1 bonus from somewhere, you can bet they will, <em>especially</em> if that +1 bonus is the difference between a near-miss and a hit. (Unfortunately, they seem less rigorous about making sure they don't forget, or in the worst cases 'forget', every -1 penalty... Odd, that.)</p><p></p><p>That being the case, I see absolutely no reason the DM should do otherwise on behalf of the monsters. You absolutely should be fair, but in a life-or-death struggle, you should be damn sure to have your monsters fight as hard as they can to stay alive!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="delericho, post: 5906280, member: 22424"] Hmm, interesting. My gut feeling on reading your OP was to side with the player... but then the later posts corrected that misconception. The bottom line: per the rules, you are right. (You're also right because, as DM, it is within your remit to make appropriate rulings when running the game. But in a discussion about the rules, that's an aside.) It's worth noting, of course, that [i]in D&D's turn-based combat[/i], each PC and monster has its own discrete turn that are resolved in sequence but that, [i]in the 'real' situation that the rules are supposed to be modelling[/i] that is a nonsense. That is, on the gameboard Thief1 moves and attacks and then Thief2 moves and attacks... in a real situation, they would both move concurrently. (I would also note that you should, of course, play monsters in a manner consistent with the intelligence/wisdom. So, having the thieves, or the wolf-pack, operate in this manner is entirely appropriate. Having a band of zombies to the same is not so appropriate. Although even then, I would argue that it is the "seeking combat advantage via flanking" that is the issue there, not the "attacking all at once" thing.) Oh yes, one more thing: IME, players have no qualms about using the rules and/or the tactical situation to extract maximum advantage for themselves and their allies. If they can scrape up a +1 bonus from somewhere, you can bet they will, [i]especially[/i] if that +1 bonus is the difference between a near-miss and a hit. (Unfortunately, they seem less rigorous about making sure they don't forget, or in the worst cases 'forget', every -1 penalty... Odd, that.) That being the case, I see absolutely no reason the DM should do otherwise on behalf of the monsters. You absolutely should be fair, but in a life-or-death struggle, you should be damn sure to have your monsters fight as hard as they can to stay alive! [/QUOTE]
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