D&D General I Do Declare! Do you? (POLL)

[DND_Reborn]

As it was my thread/poll, I, personally, don't mind the necro.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I didn't know there was a declaration phase, and wouldn't have used it if I had.

 

[Harzel]

I didn't know there was a declaration phase, and wouldn't have used it if I had.

RAW there is not, but some, I among them, are not content with the RAW combat process. Unfortunately, I haven't found anything that I am willing to say is definitively better.

 

[Umbran]

RAW there is not

RAW 5e, there is not. I do believe this was RAW 1e, IIRC.

 

[DND_Reborn]

RAW 5e, there is not. I do believe this was RAW 1e, IIRC.

There wasn't technically a "declaration phase" as such in 1e, but since actions affected initiative (charging, weapon speeds and multiple attacks, weapon attacks vs casting spells, etc.) deciding what you were doing was part of rolling. If you were going to cast fireball, for example, whether your spell was completed prior to being attacked, or if you were attacked while casting, or even if you were attacked before you stared your spell, all depended on your initiative roll and the fact you were casting fireball.

In 2e, the declaration phase was definitely made concrete and done before initiative was rolled.

 

[Big J Money]

I do the unpopular thing, and although new players (to my table) at first gripe about it, they later tell me they love it. Brand new players to D&D don't gripe:

Each player has 10 seconds (there is a timer) to tell me what they do for the round, at the beginning of the round. I call each player out. Before I do this though, I describe what their foes are doing so they know.

With regard to the action economy, I tell players not to worry about it in that 10 seconds, but give a few tips:

1) Know you special class abilities. If you know the action economy you're capable of, you'll be ready to say the right thing
2) Don't think too hard. Feel free to ignore action economy completely and just blurt out all the things you want to be able to do. If you don't have enough actions for all of it, we'll work it out when we resolve your turn. Just make sure you prioritize what's most important by listing if first (ex: I fire off an arrow at the orc, then I move away as far as I can)

With regard to targeting: if any character specifically targets another character, and that character dies, their attack is wasted. This applies equally to NPCs and PCs, and yes ammunition and spells can be lost this way. However, if they target "the closest enemy", I use whatever enemy is closest when their attack goes off.

Also, I do not use standard initiative. I use a system of "range initiative" where folks using weapons at their ideal range go before those who are at the disadvantage. The ranges are typically: ranged weapon, long melee weapon, standard melee weapon, close quarters weapon. Most often this results in all ranged attackers going first (and at the same time), and all melee attackers going next (and at the same time). But obviously this changes when a melee attackers comes after a ranged attacker, and when spears, daggers or fists are involved.

 

[Umbran]

I suppose it depends on how rigid and detailed your declarations have to be and the table you are at...

The archetype of lost action is declaring you are attacking a creature who then dies before your action comes around. It is about as common as dirt. I suppose your group allowed declaration that didn't specify targets?

 

[Stormonu]

Back in 1E, my group was large enough we used a CALLER who would relay all the party’s actions for the round to me before each round. In 2E, no caller, but actions were declared before initiative was rolled each round. By 3E, everyone was just waiting until their action to declare what they were doing.

I don’t think I’d go back to the old way even if I were to play an old version these days.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I've played a few RPGs with declaration phases, and never did it improve the game in any way (in some cases I think it was mechanically necessary but still annoying). 5E is totally maladapted to such a system, it's way outside the scope of the system assumptions, and I couldn't see it do anything but cause problems, really.

Even in 2E we largely abandoned declaration because it just lead to weird artifacts and nonsense actions.

 

[mach1.9pants]

I would declare for games that specifiy it, sometimes, but even then I often don't - mostly OS games that use it as a balance for spellcasters and interuptions