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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kenada" data-source="post: 8107930" data-attributes="member: 70468">I agree there’s a balancing effect (same reasoning as to why group initiative is problematic), but I think one could argue that it was also an attempt at simplification. The idea seems to be that you just switch to encounter mode when two opposing sides come in contact and then continue resolving things round-by-round. If you successfully Avoid Notice, then you are hidden (or undetected on a crit), and creatures have to come Seek you out. Your “surprise” then becomes what you make of that situation rather than getting a free half turn to beat up the opposing side. This is in contrast to other systems where you start the encounter after the surprise is sprung.At least, that’s the theory. I’m still getting the hang of timing when to drop into encounter mode. My natural tendency is to do it like other games instead of as soon as the two sides come in contact. The problem I see with the presumedly intended approach is switching to encounter mode is a big flag to players that a fight is coming. Instead of continuing along as they were doing, they’re going to start looking for the enemies that have to be around somewhere.I’ve noticed this with using Avoid Notice to roll Stealth instead of Perception for initiative. Because of the automatic progression of Perception, it’s almost always the better skill to roll unless you’ve been investing in Stealth to keep it boosted (and no one but the “sneaky” characters really bothers to do that).Dexterity is usually a really good ability score already in D&D-likes, so separating Initiative from it was a good change. I think just making it use Wisdom with a note the GM can change it if the situation calls for it (e.g., Charisma in a social situation or Dexterity for a chase) would have been enough. It’s not like you even avoid rolling Stealth twice in the Avoid Notice case. You have one roll for your initiative and another to determine your condition (because the latter is a secret check, presumably)!</blockquote>

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