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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bullgrit" data-source="post: 4741833" data-attributes="member: 31216">In my nigh 30 years playing D&D, I have rarely seen another Player willingly do nothing or wait during their turn in combat.Personally, I have no problem with doing nothing for a round or three. I’ve even gone whole combats without taking a real action (maybe move) if my PC’s abilities were not needed. If I’m at the back of the party, and my initiative has me going first or early, I’ll usually just skip my turn or delay till the folks ahead of me have acted or moved.Now, if I’m the upfront meat shield, of course I’ll take my action and do my job. If I have a spell that fits the situation, I’ll of course cast it. I don’t skip my turn if I’m needed. But if my action is not needed, I have no over-powering urge to jump up and do something immediately as soon as I can.This “restraint” saves party resources and saves game time and DM effort. But over the years, with many different groups in multiple editions, I find that most Players can’t pass up the opportunity to act on their turn, as soon as they can. If a combat lasts 10 rounds, the wizard casts 10 spells. If a PC is at the back of the party on round 1, first initiative, he’ll run through the whole party and into the fight.I’ve seen a fighter that got separated from the fight by a wall start running down unexplored halls, opening doors, looking for something else to fight.I’ve seen an elf start looking for secret doors as their combat actions.I’ve seen a wizard blow their highest-level spells to finish opponents that the fighters could handle safely in a few more rounds.All and only because these Players had the apparently uncontrollable urge to *do something* on their turn – do something, anything, even if it’s unnecessary or wasteful (of resources).Now, I have a few times seen a Player specifically hold back or delay when they aren’t needed. But these times are so uncommon that they kind of jolt me when I see it happen.Do you ever see Players hold back or delay when their action or abilities aren’t needed? Do you, personally, hold back or delay when you aren’t really needed?Bullgrit</blockquote>

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