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Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
How do you handle someone who is not surprised but is unaware of any threats?
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<blockquote data-quote="NotAYakk" data-source="post: 8033042" data-attributes="member: 72555"><p>The cut between non-combat and combat doesn't happen on an action break. It happens <strong>anywhere</strong>.</p><p></p><p>Combat starts when it starts. Whatever happens outside of combat, happens, but it <strong>might not finish</strong>.</p><p></p><p>So suppose you are chatting, and suddenly one character draws a knife. They might be able to draw that knife and attack in one action, but combat starts with them grabbing the knife and starting to draw it.</p><p></p><p>Or they already have the knife, and they are bluffing they aren't going to attack. They attack, with a successful deception roll. Combat starts as they push the knife towards the target.</p><p></p><p>Or they cast a subtle hold person. Combat starts as the target feels their muscles lock up, but <strong>before the spell finishes</strong>. They might not know who is casting hold person.</p><p></p><p>Combat can start with arrows <strong>in the air</strong>, combat can start with a flames licking out of someone's hands from a burning hands spell, combat can start with a knife being drawn, a fist being pulled back to punch.</p><p></p><p>The non-surprised person can get a full set of actions in that fraction of a second between the arrow being in the air and it hitting.</p><p></p><p>Remember, the "bob acts, then alice acts" of 5e combat is an abstraction. If bob moves with the arrow in the air behind cover, then the arrow misses because of cover, that means bob ducked behind cover. If it hits, it means the arrow could have hit <strong>as bob was moving</strong>, but maybe didn't explode or kill bob until after he got behind cover.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="NotAYakk, post: 8033042, member: 72555"] The cut between non-combat and combat doesn't happen on an action break. It happens [b]anywhere[/b]. Combat starts when it starts. Whatever happens outside of combat, happens, but it [b]might not finish[/b]. So suppose you are chatting, and suddenly one character draws a knife. They might be able to draw that knife and attack in one action, but combat starts with them grabbing the knife and starting to draw it. Or they already have the knife, and they are bluffing they aren't going to attack. They attack, with a successful deception roll. Combat starts as they push the knife towards the target. Or they cast a subtle hold person. Combat starts as the target feels their muscles lock up, but [b]before the spell finishes[/b]. They might not know who is casting hold person. Combat can start with arrows [b]in the air[/b], combat can start with a flames licking out of someone's hands from a burning hands spell, combat can start with a knife being drawn, a fist being pulled back to punch. The non-surprised person can get a full set of actions in that fraction of a second between the arrow being in the air and it hitting. Remember, the "bob acts, then alice acts" of 5e combat is an abstraction. If bob moves with the arrow in the air behind cover, then the arrow misses because of cover, that means bob ducked behind cover. If it hits, it means the arrow could have hit [b]as bob was moving[/b], but maybe didn't explode or kill bob until after he got behind cover. [/QUOTE]
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Community
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How do you handle someone who is not surprised but is unaware of any threats?
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