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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ywain" data-source="post: 150693" data-attributes="member: 1420">Well, I haven't read the entire thread.  Mea culpa if this has been covered before.The 3e combat system is not a concrete description of the actions taken, it is an abstract resolution system for determining the results of actions taken.  6 seconds always transpire between initiative counts, but that does not mean (nor is it implied) that each roll of the dice or casting of a spell takes 6 seconds.  What it does mean is that it takes 6 seconds *at most*.If a single attack roll, for example, were actually equivalent to one swing of the sword then there would be a near-concrete temporal aspect to actions.  But there isn't.  A standard action isn't a measurement of time it is a classification of "things-done" you can do these things (move, set, block and get one good chance at hitting your opponent) in no more than 6 seconds.  It actually might only take 5 or even 4 seconds, but you don't have time to complete (i.e. resolve with a die roll or other "action") another activity.  The combat that is being modeled is fluid and does not start and stop in 6 second increments.So in fact, in the *abstract* system, you may well be banking a few seconds at the end of round 3 to set up your extra attacks from a full attack action in round 4.  This is just as actual within the system as if you are feinting, parrying and dodging throughout, even though these actions (in the vernacular) don't seem to take any time within the system.  What you gain on the hobby horse you lose on the swings -- as it were.  Anything more concrete than these approximations is simply flavor text.Man you must have just been squirming with 1e's 1 minute combat round -- the amount of flavor text needed to fill in the blanks around a 60 foot move taking 1 minute is rather astounding.<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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