Initiative order & multiple attacks.

[STARP_Social_Officer]

A basic one, but it needs clearing up.
I'm in combat against four orcs. I have two attacks. The orcs each have just one.
Now, say I win initiative. I go first in the round.
Am I supposed to make both my attacks at once, or make one, then the orcs make theirs, then I make my next one. What if one of the orcs (orc 1) also has two attacks, and he comes next in initiative order. Does it go me, me, orc 1, orc 1, orc 2, orc 3, orc 4? Or does it go me, orc 1, orc 2, orc 3, orc 4, me, orc 1?
I know it's not as complicated as it used to be (hence the joke: "No, no, I attack you, then you attack me, then I attack you twice...) but I think it needs a bit of clarification.

 

[shilsen]

You take all the attacks available to you on your turn, before going on to the next person in initiative. So, in your example, it would go - me, me, orc 1, orc 1, orc 2, orc 3, orc 4.

 

[Goolpsy]

Easy: its turn based, you do what YOU want to do on YOUR turn. Hence, you make all your attacks when its your time to do so.
After you are done, the initiative moves on and the orcs do whatever they want to do on their turn.

Ones actions are NOT split up over the round, like you seem to imply they could be.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I think you're getting yourself confused with the good ol' 2E rules of you attack, I attack and then you attack again. You get all of your attacks before your opponents. If your BAB allows you to make 4 attacks and you win initiative then you get all 4 attacks before your opponents even get 1.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Arkhandus]

Yeah, you take all of your attacks on your turn in the initiative order. The orcs will act after you're finished, assuming they survive.

D&D initiative isn't like Shadowrun initiative, so you don't take just a short action in each initiative pass; there's just a single initiative pass in each round of combat.

 

[doosler]

So if you get 4 attacks in a round, and you hit an opponent with all 4 attacks, doing enough damage to drop him below 0 HP, then he doesn't get to attack you at all in that round? That doesn't make sense to me. I thought that a round of combat equated to 6 seconds, and EVERYONE's turn for that round happens during that 6 second span. If you are skilled enough to make 4 attacks during those 6 seconds, they happen at a rate that is more or less evenly distributed throughout that span, meaning that your 4th attack would come around the 5th or 6th second. In that case, if you have better initiative, you should strike first, but your opponent should also be able to strike during the round and before you make all of your attacks, assuming your 1st attack doesn't kill him.

 

[Khuxan]

So if you get 4 attacks in a round, and you hit an opponent with all 4 attacks, doing enough damage to drop him below 0 HP, then he doesn't get to attack you at all in that round? That doesn't make sense to me. I thought that a round of combat equated to 6 seconds, and EVERYONE's turn for that round happens during that 6 second span. If you are skilled enough to make 4 attacks during those 6 seconds, they happen at a rate that is more or less evenly distributed throughout that span, meaning that your 4th attack would come around the 5th or 6th second. In that case, if you have better initiative, you should strike first, but your opponent should also be able to strike during the round and before you make all of your attacks, assuming your 1st attack doesn't kill him.

Most players are willing to sacrifice some (lots of!) realism in return for ease of play. The way rounds work in D&D is one of its biggest 'gamey' elements.

I for one would not want to keep track of when each attack is made in a round.

 

[the Jester]

If you are skilled enough to make 4 attacks during those 6 seconds, they happen at a rate that is more or less evenly distributed throughout that span, meaning that your 4th attack would come around the 5th or 6th second.

Or maybe you are so skilled that you can cut an enemy into pieces in but 1 second- with four attacks.

 

[doosler]

Or maybe you are so skilled that you can cut an enemy into pieces in but 1 second- with four attacks.

Then aren't you also so skilled that, assuming you're surrounded by enough weak opponents, you should be able to make 24 attacks within 6 seconds?

 

[frankthedm]

So if you get 4 attacks in a round, and you hit an opponent with all 4 attacks, doing enough damage to drop him below 0 HP, then he doesn't get to attack you at all in that round? That doesn't make sense to me.

BIG thing number one: You can almost never get that full round of attacks without suffering a foe attacking you first. If you have to move to your foe, he will be the first to get a full attack on you. If your foe gets to you, presumably he has already attacked you.