Love or Hate: Immediate Actions?

[Anguish]

Not a huge fan. They remind me too much of Magic: the Gathering. While they do have uses, and I concede that point, I generally don't like how they always came up in play:

ME: Alright, so the ogre raises his club, and brings it down upon your...
PLAYER: No he doesn't. I use an immediate action to jump ten feet away.
ME: Okay... so he takes a few steps forward...
PLAYER: He can't. He's already made his move.
ME: *sighs dramatically*

See, that's the point. You as a DM are getting annoyed that the monster you run is being foiled. In these cases, the power in the game is placed back in the hands of the player, which is kind of neat. Players and DMs have to come up with a cadence of action because of all the immediates and swifts ("is that everything?" before moving on to the next player in initiative).

In your illustrated example, you've got a great cinematic moment, where a (stupid) ogre tries its simplistic best to smush a foe. But player-characters are special, and heroic. The hero nimbly jumps aside, leaving the ogre completely puzzled. It's a good thing too; that was looking to be a nasty hit!

Players doing spectacular things is a Good Thing.

And the last bit, where the player reminds you of the rules (can't move before and after another action), is every bit as valid as when you (no doubt) do it to them.

 

[Woas]

I hate them because for me its just extra rules baggage.
Moving away from the ogre when it wasn't the characters turn could have been handled with a readied action to move away just as easily.

See, that's the point. You as a DM are getting annoyed that the monster you run is being foiled. In these cases, the power in the game is placed back in the hands of the player, which is kind of neat. Players and DMs have to come up with a cadence of action because of all the immediates and swifts ("is that everything?" before moving on to the next player in initiative).

 

[Glyfair]

As someone who as played several hundred hours of Champions, I have no problems with them. They are quite like the ability to abort and action in Champions. Since they fill a needed role within the game, I have to go down as loving them.

 

[Stalker0]

I love them, because they plug a hole that was in the game system.

1) They clean up mechanics that already existed. Feather fall is the classic example, we now have a single word that defines the few sentences we used before to describe mechanics like feather fall.

2) They are more elegant and efficient than readied actions. The readied action was the 1st attempt at such a system, and while it has its uses it suffers from a couple of major problems: It requires a player to give up their attack actions, making it a passive and often boring ability. Further, its often a waste of time if the required action comes about. No one in a game wants to waste their time.

Immediate actions solve both problems, but are limited enough to not become crazy.

3) They add only a slight amount of rules clutter, but add a huge array of character options. Sure, immediate actions add a bit of complication, but its really not much. If a player is used to seeing feather fall they already have a good idea of how immediate actions work. And in return, it allows WOTC to create a huge new suite of feats, spells, and powers for players to enjoy.

I think the good far outweighs the bad.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Indifferent: I think they are a good mechanic that can streamline the game, but as currently implemented they add confusion as we essentially ahve three types of "no time" actions -- free, swift, and immediate.

With some tweaking, immediate actions could be slightly redefined to encompass all of the "no time" actions and simplify mechanics for such things as AoOs ... which appears to be part of the design direction of 4E.

 

[WhatGravitas]

I hate them because for me its just extra rules baggage.
Moving away from the ogre when it wasn't the characters turn could have been handled with a readied action to move away just as easily.

The problem with readied actions was: More often than not, you were just throwing your action away. And in a system like D&D, where battles lasts about 5 rounds, you're potentially giving up 20% of your entire participation in a combat, if you're readying actions. And due to the high damage output in D&D, you are better on with just hitting as hard as possible to stop your enemy, before you need to ready actions.

In short: Readied actions are... only good for certain things (like waiting for an enemy to come out of a door). They're NOT representing reflexive actions a character can take.

Readied actions: Stuff you prepare for.
Immediate actions: Stuff you do in the spur of the moment, almost reflexive.

Cheers, LT.

 

[howandwhy99]

They've been in the game since withdrawal actions and the featherfall spell. I'm more worried about what they intend to add to the category.