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<blockquote data-quote="TheCosmicKid" data-source="post: 7797624" data-attributes="member: 6683613">There is inherent advantage to deciding if and when the fight starts. If the elf hasn't already started it, it may be that he doesn't want to, and therefore the orc by starting it is forcing the elf into a situation he would prefer not to be in.Furthermore, the orc only has to decide her specific action when her turn comes around. So although the orc player can certainly say &quot;I attack with my axe&quot; if she wants to, she only has to say something like &quot;I'm starting this fight&quot;. And even if she does say &quot;I attack with my axe&quot;, if she then loses initiative and gets hit by the elf she could then append, &quot;When I see how quick the elf is, I check my swing and try to grapple him instead&quot;.But more broadly, concerns about information flow seem a little bit beside the point in a game as asymmetrical and noncompetitive as D&amp;D is. This ain't exactly poker. The DM has access to vastly more information than the players, and already has to compartmentalize that information so the NPCs act only according to what they know. Heck, if the DM wants to know the orc player's intended next action, he can always just ask.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="TheCosmicKid, post: 7797624, member: 6683613"] There is inherent advantage to deciding if and when the fight starts. If the elf hasn't already started it, it may be that he doesn't want to, and therefore the orc by starting it is forcing the elf into a situation he would prefer not to be in. Furthermore, the orc only has to decide her specific action when her turn comes around. So although the orc player can certainly say "I attack with my axe" if she wants to, she only [I]has[/I] to say something like "I'm starting this fight". And even if she does say "I attack with my axe", if she then loses initiative and gets hit by the elf she could then append, "When I see how quick the elf is, I check my swing and try to grapple him instead". But more broadly, concerns about information flow seem a little bit beside the point in a game as asymmetrical and noncompetitive as D&D is. This ain't exactly poker. The DM has access to vastly more information than the players, and already has to compartmentalize that information so the NPCs act only according to what [I]they[/I] know. Heck, if the DM wants to know the orc player's intended next action, he can always just ask. [/QUOTE]

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