Enemy Turns ?

[Istar]

The DM is asking about enemy turns.

Say we have 3 class's of enemy in the encounter.

Those class's have there "Turn" to act in the battle, does the class of enemy have a turn or each individual creature ?

Or just that class have a turn.

We think each creature has its turn and that seems to be backed up with some of the manual texts that I see, but we just want some confirmation.

That we are right

 

[Tsukiyomi]

Unless something has been added to 4e about this that I don't know about, it's entirely up to the DM.

If there are orcs and goblins, you might roll one initiative for the orcs and one for the goblins because it would be a pain to keep track of initiative for 6 orcs and 8 goblins. On the other hand, if the party is fighting a pair of dragons, you'd probably want a separate initiative for each dragon even though they are both dragons.

Group them together (or not) based on what makes the most sense for you.

 

[DracoSuave]

Each individual monster has their own distinct turn, but using readied actions and delays and all that you can easily get them acting in concert.

Groups of monsters usually share the same initiative count, each monster still has their own distinct turn.

 

[Istar]

Each individual monster has their own distinct turn, but using readied actions and delays and all that you can easily get them acting in concert.

Groups of monsters usually share the same initiative count, each monster still has their own distinct turn.

As I though JB man but any manual fluff to point him to ?

 

[OnlineDM]

As I though JB man but any manual fluff to point him to ?

Page 38 of the Dungeon Master's Guide:

Individual monsters can delay and ready actions just like other monsters [I think they mean like player characters] so it's possible you'll end up with the two orc raiders acting at different times by the time the encounter is over. Monsters can also ready within their turn without shifting their place in the initiative order. For example, the orc raiders can both move into a flanking position and then both attack with combat advantage. Tehcnically, the first one to move would have to ready its attack until the other one moved into position, but it all works out the same in the end.

 

[MarkB]

Basically, you can (and often should) have multiple monsters of the same type acting on the same initiative count, and most of the time (unless one of them readies or delays), it'll be indistinguishable from having them all act on the same turn.

You just need to remember that they are, in fact, each acting on their own turn - so for things like Opportunity Attacks, which can be made once per turn, you effectively get one per monster if multiple monsters are moving past you.

 

[Prestidigitalis]

Has anyone ever seen this? Several monsters share the same turn; the DM moves them all into advantageous positions; then the DM has them attack, taking the positions into account when they provide flanking. Doesn't seem quite fair...

 

[Truename]

Has anyone ever seen this? Several monsters share the same turn; the DM moves them all into advantageous positions; then the DM has them attack, taking the positions into account when they provide flanking. Doesn't seem quite fair...

I do this, and once one of my players used an immediate interrupt to shift away. Lost all of those monsters' attacks. Seems fair to me.

 

[MarkB]

Has anyone ever seen this? Several monsters share the same turn; the DM moves them all into advantageous positions; then the DM has them attack, taking the positions into account when they provide flanking. Doesn't seem quite fair...

See OnlineDM's quote from the DMG above - it's usually easily accomplished using readied actions, and something the players can do just as handily if they co-ordinate.

 

[The Human Target]

Running seperate initiatives for each monster can bog down the game IMO, especially in 4e where you can have lots of monsters via minions.

We do them like I assume most people do, in groups based on type. Where of course each monsters has its own turn.