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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 2199108" data-attributes="member: 4937">Being 'in combat' is a gamist/rules term.  It has nothing at all to do with PC actions.  In theory, we could run EVERYTHING in terms of combat rounds.  The only reason we don't do so is that level of detail would get to be tedious in situations that don't require it.Err... they don't?   Are you saying that the rules are flawed or that the way people apply the rules is flawed?They can.Generally speaking, they can.  I just outlined to you how under the rules, if the PC's have a higher initiative bonus than the Hobo, they always go first in this situation.   Now, if the PC's don't have a higher initiative bonus than the Hobo, that implies a very special Hobo.  One of my rules is that NPC's and PC's are on a level playing field.  What applies to one applies to the other.   If my quick reflexed PC rogue is in the hobo's position, he has a reasonable expectation of being able to do what protagonist heroes always do in the movies (and sometimes do in real life) and that is get the jump on his captors even though he's disadvantaged.  Sure, it would be a difficult thing to attempt, but the PC rogue has a reasonable expectation that there is some possibility of success both for cinematic and realistic reasons.   In real life, people blink.  They are taken by surprise.  In real life, it does often take a momment to consciously go, "Oh no, he moved, I better do something, release the string finger!" unless you have been trained again and again how to respond under pressure to the point that it is a reflex.  If you don't believe that, then I doubt you've ever really been in a fight.He doesn't have to be.  All he needs to be is faster than the PC's, and since the PC's are in D&D superpowered heroes, that certainly implies a degree of superpowered quickness.No, it isn't.  There is no pretending involved.   PC's can ask for the DM to begin resolving things in terms of combat rounds at any time they feel like they need that level of detail, even if it is merely a friendly conversation.   If they did it too often when I didn't feel it was warranted, I would get annoyed and have OOC conversation about what thier concerns are, but there is no bending of the rules involved in letting PC's take whatever action they want during thier suprise round.  In fact, I'd go so far as to say it was railroad DMing to limit the types of actions a PC can take in a suprise round.  Surprise round is after all a gamist/rule mechanic, and not a real and discrete thing.I just told you how I feel.</blockquote>

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