D&D 5E An Argument for Why Paladins are the Strongest Class in 5E D&D

[fearsomepirate]

It's fairly easy to resolve things simultaneously, much like two Samurai launching at each other and both of them falling down dead.

5e has no rules for two Samurai Fighters to fight simultaneously. They fight sequentially, and whoever reaches 0 hp first dies.

In any case, you are free to do it however you like at your own table. But the book really does say they go at the same time.

It doesn't say all of their movements and actions are synchronized. "Everyone in the family eats dinner at the same time" does not mean everyone at the table eats in perfect synchronicity, with everyone grabbing their forks at the same moment, cutting the food with identical, exactly timed knife slices, chewing and swallowing at the same moment, etc.

 

[Helldritch]

I think it is safe to assume that even with exactly the same initiative number, the characters and their nemesis do not act simultaneously. You have to make a decision at some point. Personnaly, If a player and a group of monster share the same initiative result, I go:"
1) Highest dexterity score
then if 1 is a tie.
2) Players always win ties.

If two (or more) players share the same initiative result...
1) Highest dexterity score.
Or if it is a tie...
2) Each round the players decide between themselves who goes first.

If a pack (or two or whatever) of monsters get the same initiative result...
1) Highest dexterity score
Or if it is a tie...
2) I get to pick up which monster goes first, second, third and yaddi yadda.

I hope you all see the pattern here.

Edit: Added "the" in case two, point two between round and players. Damn the autocorrector...

 

[FrogReaver]

Also, what happens when 2 players tie for initiative?

 

[Ashrym]

Also, what happens when 2 players tie for initiative?

Whoever controls the characters decides. If there's a conflict roll off or DM decides.

With two players they get to pick.

 

[Helldritch]

Also, what happens when 2 players tie for initiative?

See case two
If two (or more) players share the same initiative result...
1) Highest dexterity score.
Or if it is a tie...
2) Each round the players decide between themselves who goes first.

Problem solved.

 

[Seramus]

5e has no rules for two Samurai Fighters to fight simultaneously. They fight sequentially, and whoever reaches 0 hp first dies.

What rules do you need? They both take their actions and resolve them at the same time.

It doesn't say all of their movements and actions are synchronized. "Everyone in the family eats dinner at the same time" does not mean everyone at the table eats in perfect synchronicity, with everyone grabbing their forks at the same moment, cutting the food with identical, exactly timed knife slices, chewing and swallowing at the same moment, etc.

Cut it out with the strawman. Even in the cinematic case of two samurai killing each other, neither are moving in perfect synchronicity. Or to use Magic: the Gathering as an example, two Tims can ping each other for damage and both die. I've been doing it this way for years and the only issue I've ever had is with counterspell.

 

[Ashrym]

Here is the rule for initiative:

Initiative determines the order of turns during combat. When combat starts, every participant makes a Dexterity check to determine their place in the initiative order. The DM makes one roll for an entire group of identical creatures, so each member of the group acts at the same time.

The DM ranks the combatants in order from the one with the highest Dexterity check total to the one with the lowest. This is the order (called the initiative order) in which they act during each round. The initiative order remains the same from round to round.

If a tie occurs, the DM decides the order among tied DM-controlled creatures, and the players decide the order among their tied characters. The DM can decide the order if the tie is between a monster and a player character. Optionally, the DM can have the tied characters and monsters each roll a d20 to determine the order, highest roll going first.

That's the default rule.

 

[Seramus]

That's the default rule.

Exactly! Identical creatures have a single roll and go at the same time.

 

[Ashrym]

Exactly! Identical creatures have a single roll and go at the same time.

It does say that, but if a person continues then they are also tied for that initiative within the group and the DM just decides in which order each acts. That's how I experience it in practice, at any rate.

 

[Seramus]

It does say that, but if a person continues then they are also tied for that initiative within the group and the DM just decides in which order each acts. That's how I experience it in practice, at any rate.

Here's the thing. There is no highest dexterity among them because they are identical creatures. There is no tie because there was only a single roll for the entire group. So when do they go? At the same time.

This can only happen with DM controlled creatures, though, so it neatly avoids confusion between player characters since they always invoke a tie breaker (their choice or die rolls).