D&D 5E Group Iniative Order

Telvin · Apr 9, 2019

New to 5e, in fact this happened in my first ever session I attended. So I am wondering if this was done correctly, It seemed kind of questionable to me.

In the initiative order a group of 8 conjured Blood Hawks all went at the same time. That part I get. But the DM would move them all. After he moved them all, he had them take their attack actions. This resulted in every Blood Hawk having advantage attacks against the party members (5 first level characters) using the pack attack. This actually resulted in a TPK when the two conjured hippogriffs were added into the mix.

Now I would have thought that the a single Blood Hawk would move and take it's attack action. Then the next one would go and so forth. Am I wrong.

iserith · Apr 9, 2019

In some situations, the DM may effectively be having some monsters move and take the Ready action to ready an attack when certain triggers are met (e.g. when some number of blood hawks surround the target). So it's rules legal as long as the movement, Ready action, and trigger are all faithfully applied and resolved. Whether or not you find the outcome satisfying even though it's rules legal is another matter though.

Telvin · Apr 9, 2019

Okay, so that makes sense to me now. I had not considered the ready action option.

5ekyu · Apr 9, 2019

i saw a Gm doing the same thing in a game once.
but the Gm forgot they allowed this crazy UA feat that gave unlimited attacks as folks moved into range. So essentially a half dozen "pack" somethings all moved in at once and all got struck with free glaive strikes and got cut to ribbons.

if the Gm had moved one, saw it get struck etc then they could have moved to other targets instead of rushing into the meat grinder after the first two got slaughtered.

unless the attackers are particularly smart or dumb, i tend to rush one in and it attacks, but the others coming in can get the advantage. trading off one attack's bonus for a de facto sort of "test for landmines" turns out fine and often can save the entire pack - so it makes sense as a survival trait.

jasper · Apr 9, 2019

Telvin said:
New to 5e, in fact this happened in my first ever session I attended. So I am wondering if this was done correctly, It seemed kind of questionable to me.

In the initiative order a group of 8 conjured Blood Hawks all went at the same time. That part I get. But the DM would move them all. After he moved them all, he had them take their attack actions. This resulted in every Blood Hawk having advantage attacks against the party members (5 first level characters) using the pack attack. This actually resulted in a TPK when the two conjured hippogriffs were added into the mix.

Now I would have thought that the a single Blood Hawk would move and take it's attack action. Then the next one would go and so forth. Am I wrong.

Legal but I think conjured hippogriffs were a bit much. Homebrew or a purchased adventure.

Telvin · Apr 9, 2019

jasper said:
Legal but I think conjured hippogriffs were a bit much. Homebrew or a purchased adventure.

Adventure League scenario I would presume, as it was at one of their sessions. It was a tough fight considering four of the five players were brand new to the game.

jasper · Apr 9, 2019

Ok, that would be ddex02-01 Mission 1. That is a deadly fight. I generally only do 4 blood hawks, and have the hippogriff not attack unless it attacked. But I had to learn when to lighten the encounter up. And hint the pcs can retreat down stairs.

Oofta · Apr 9, 2019

What the DM did was legal, but I tend to split up groups of more than 4 or so and give them their own initiative. Of course half the time I do that they seem to go next to each other anyway, but if you focus fire with everything you have on one PC it can be easy to take them out at lower levels.

jasper · Apr 10, 2019

Was the dm new?

Morrus · Apr 10, 2019

Hmmmm. What *is* the rule for simultaneous initiative? Having them all move then all attack creates a massive tactical advantage over having them each move then attack.