Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Combat actions before combat?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="DracoSuave" data-source="post: 5139514" data-attributes="member: 71571"><p>Full defensive means being aware of what's attacking and concentrating on defending against that.</p><p></p><p></p><p>So.... let's say you're in a forest. Full Defensive time, right?</p><p></p><p>Right.</p><p></p><p>So, what do you do, do you stand firm, do you dodge left to right, do you raise your shield, do you use your runes of protection? Hmm. So you're dodging left to right, what if it's a fire-ball firing monster idol of death? Right, okay, so you raise your shield. What if it's a phasing ghost? Right, so you're holding still until the last second, and then dodging out of the way? What if it's a poison gas that slowly creeps up? Oh, you're holding your breath?</p><p></p><p>Full Defense implies some awareness of specific danger coming at you. It's hard to defend against something truly unknown. You're in a forest. All you can see are bushes, trees, and birds. Lots of birds.</p><p></p><p>Small, tiny birds.</p><p></p><p>Do you dodge, take cover, stand fast, gird your will, how -exactly- do you defend against something you have no awareness of? Every monster requires a different defensive trick. So the full defense option doesn't even really -make sense- until you've had a couple seconds to go 'Oh, goblins' or 'Oh, dragon' or 'Oh, tentacle-faced psionic braineater thing'</p><p></p><p></p><p>And if you've readied an action (which is perfectly fine) do understand that it requires an immediate reaction in order to activate. That means that whatever you plan, you cannot do until you've had a turn anyways, as before then, you cannot do -any- actions. (in a surprise round, which you might not get a shot, because while you're being cautious, you're not actually -aware- of the specific danger. Being on the look out for bandits in front of you doesn't help if they've attacked you from behind)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DracoSuave, post: 5139514, member: 71571"] Full defensive means being aware of what's attacking and concentrating on defending against that. So.... let's say you're in a forest. Full Defensive time, right? Right. So, what do you do, do you stand firm, do you dodge left to right, do you raise your shield, do you use your runes of protection? Hmm. So you're dodging left to right, what if it's a fire-ball firing monster idol of death? Right, okay, so you raise your shield. What if it's a phasing ghost? Right, so you're holding still until the last second, and then dodging out of the way? What if it's a poison gas that slowly creeps up? Oh, you're holding your breath? Full Defense implies some awareness of specific danger coming at you. It's hard to defend against something truly unknown. You're in a forest. All you can see are bushes, trees, and birds. Lots of birds. Small, tiny birds. Do you dodge, take cover, stand fast, gird your will, how -exactly- do you defend against something you have no awareness of? Every monster requires a different defensive trick. So the full defense option doesn't even really -make sense- until you've had a couple seconds to go 'Oh, goblins' or 'Oh, dragon' or 'Oh, tentacle-faced psionic braineater thing' And if you've readied an action (which is perfectly fine) do understand that it requires an immediate reaction in order to activate. That means that whatever you plan, you cannot do until you've had a turn anyways, as before then, you cannot do -any- actions. (in a surprise round, which you might not get a shot, because while you're being cautious, you're not actually -aware- of the specific danger. Being on the look out for bandits in front of you doesn't help if they've attacked you from behind) [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Combat actions before combat?
Top
