Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon 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 Next
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
*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!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
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
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Concurrent initiative variant; Everybody declares/Everybody resolves [WAS Simultaneous Initiative]
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="FormerlyHemlock" data-source="post: 7023012" data-attributes="member: 6787650"><p>Yes! It's fascinating to see a Shadow Monk 8/Druid 6 spend one and a half ASIs raising his Int from 9 to 12 because he's tired of "feeling like a dummy" (I think those were his words when I asked him), even though Int has no mechanical effect on his character's abilities. (Int is a so-called "dump stat" for both Shadow Monks and Druids.) That PC was one of the first ones in my 5E campaign, so I think when he first created him he didn't fully understand the implications of Int for the game--it's possible that I hadn't event invented this initiative variant at that point. Subsequent PCs have tended to be more intelligent.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Here's how I'd rule it. I'll assume the secondary ally is capable of disabling the target in one blow because otherwise there would be no reason for him <em>not</em> to coordinate with Hold Person:</p><p></p><p><strong>Round 1:</strong></p><p>DM: "The hobgoblin warlord is attacking Alice."</p><p>Alice: "I'll cast Hold Person on the hobgoblin warlord."</p><p>Bob: "When her Hold Person goes off, I'm going to hit the warlord."</p><p>Charlie: "I'm going to attack the warlord too. Stunning Strike."</p><p>DM: "Are you coordinating with Alice too?"</p><p>Charlie: "No, I'm just going to try to hit him first and stun him so he can't hit Alice. I don't care so much about the damage."</p><p></p><p>[rolls happen. Warlord hits Alice for 22 HP of damage, Warlord fails his save, Bob hits him and auto-crits for 30 damage, Charlie hits the warlord for 9 points of damage, and the warlord fails his save against Stunning Strike.]</p><p></p><p>DM: "Okay, I think we need to know the sequence of events here. All three of you roll initiative against the warlord's [roll] 15 init."</p><p>Bob: "23!"</p><p>Alice: "11. Too slow."</p><p>Bob: "Aw, shucks."</p><p>Charlie: "7."</p><p>DM: "The hobgoblin warlord grins a nasty grin and drives his shiny bronze spear right into Alice's lower torso. Alice, you feel metal twist inside you, and when the spear comes out it's covered in black blood. Take 22 HP of damage! Then you gasp out the right Words and the warlord freezes, and Bob hits him right in the throat. Now it's his turn to spurt blood from his jugular! 30 points of damage to the hobgoblin. Then Charlie takes the opening to also hit him--Charlie, he's paralyzed now, so add crit damage."</p><p>Charlie: "[rolls another 4] 11 points total."</p><p>DM: "Okay, he takes 11 points of damage, and he's now paralyzed AND stunned. You'd probably see his eyes widen a little bit and roll upwards except that he can't move his eyelids right now. In fact I'm kind of surprised he hasn't fallen over."</p><p></p><p>[table talk occurs for a few seconds]</p><p></p><p>DM: "You're still fighting a paralyzed, stunned hobgobliin warlord with a shiny bronze spear and plate armor. What do you do?"</p><p></p><p>In practice most fights are not this complicated, but that's how I'd rule it for this one. Bob's action occurs at the lower of his own or Alice's initiative; Charlie's action occurs on his own initiative; and their actions were complex enough (because we wanted a complicated example) that it was easier to just have everybody roll initiatives up front.</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Note:</strong> that I'm not completely happy with the interaction between concentration and initiative here. It's weird to me that Alice's Hold Person is immune to interruption despite her being stabbed while casting it. I am considering a more AD&D-like rule where being damaged as you're still casting a spell can also interrupt the spell, including if it's not a concentration spell.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="FormerlyHemlock, post: 7023012, member: 6787650"] Yes! It's fascinating to see a Shadow Monk 8/Druid 6 spend one and a half ASIs raising his Int from 9 to 12 because he's tired of "feeling like a dummy" (I think those were his words when I asked him), even though Int has no mechanical effect on his character's abilities. (Int is a so-called "dump stat" for both Shadow Monks and Druids.) That PC was one of the first ones in my 5E campaign, so I think when he first created him he didn't fully understand the implications of Int for the game--it's possible that I hadn't event invented this initiative variant at that point. Subsequent PCs have tended to be more intelligent. Here's how I'd rule it. I'll assume the secondary ally is capable of disabling the target in one blow because otherwise there would be no reason for him [I]not[/I] to coordinate with Hold Person: [B]Round 1:[/B] DM: "The hobgoblin warlord is attacking Alice." Alice: "I'll cast Hold Person on the hobgoblin warlord." Bob: "When her Hold Person goes off, I'm going to hit the warlord." Charlie: "I'm going to attack the warlord too. Stunning Strike." DM: "Are you coordinating with Alice too?" Charlie: "No, I'm just going to try to hit him first and stun him so he can't hit Alice. I don't care so much about the damage." [rolls happen. Warlord hits Alice for 22 HP of damage, Warlord fails his save, Bob hits him and auto-crits for 30 damage, Charlie hits the warlord for 9 points of damage, and the warlord fails his save against Stunning Strike.] DM: "Okay, I think we need to know the sequence of events here. All three of you roll initiative against the warlord's [roll] 15 init." Bob: "23!" Alice: "11. Too slow." Bob: "Aw, shucks." Charlie: "7." DM: "The hobgoblin warlord grins a nasty grin and drives his shiny bronze spear right into Alice's lower torso. Alice, you feel metal twist inside you, and when the spear comes out it's covered in black blood. Take 22 HP of damage! Then you gasp out the right Words and the warlord freezes, and Bob hits him right in the throat. Now it's his turn to spurt blood from his jugular! 30 points of damage to the hobgoblin. Then Charlie takes the opening to also hit him--Charlie, he's paralyzed now, so add crit damage." Charlie: "[rolls another 4] 11 points total." DM: "Okay, he takes 11 points of damage, and he's now paralyzed AND stunned. You'd probably see his eyes widen a little bit and roll upwards except that he can't move his eyelids right now. In fact I'm kind of surprised he hasn't fallen over." [table talk occurs for a few seconds] DM: "You're still fighting a paralyzed, stunned hobgobliin warlord with a shiny bronze spear and plate armor. What do you do?" In practice most fights are not this complicated, but that's how I'd rule it for this one. Bob's action occurs at the lower of his own or Alice's initiative; Charlie's action occurs on his own initiative; and their actions were complex enough (because we wanted a complicated example) that it was easier to just have everybody roll initiatives up front. [B]Note:[/B] that I'm not completely happy with the interaction between concentration and initiative here. It's weird to me that Alice's Hold Person is immune to interruption despite her being stabbed while casting it. I am considering a more AD&D-like rule where being damaged as you're still casting a spell can also interrupt the spell, including if it's not a concentration spell. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Concurrent initiative variant; Everybody declares/Everybody resolves [WAS Simultaneous Initiative]
Top