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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Amaroq" data-source="post: 5180262" data-attributes="member: 15470">Same thing applies, basically. You want to give each player a "turn".For example, as DM I recently had the party stuck in a non-lethal trap, that they were having a hard time getting out of. The bard, being a naturally exuberant player, had multiple ideas she wanted to try. After she tried one, and failed, she wanted to try another; I had to tell her "I'll come back to you," and asked the rest of the party what they were doing as she tried her complicated plan.A very good DM I used to play for would take that one step further: he'd ask everybody at the table "What do you do?", and only after he had all of the answers would he let people know what happened. So, if the rogue is picking a lock, and I'm exploring the rags in the corner, and somebody else is opening a door ... well, all of those are happening almost simultaneously, with the possibility of, say, me finding something and not sharing it with the party, or a trap on the chest exploding and catching me and the rogue, or there being a monster behind the door and we're all out of position for it.There isn't a "right way" and a "wrong way" here: find a system that works for you and for your players, and run with it.Yep. If its time to roll initiative, its time to break out the tiles, the minis, and call it an encounter.Each of these is their own case.The rogue trying to pick a chest in an inn? I'd say that's not an encounter .. but every time he "fails", there's a chance that somebody wanders into the room and discovers him, leaving him with a sticky situation to explain. That way, there's risk, there's reward (if he can get it open) and there's a consequence for failure.If he were trying to pick a chest in a long-deserted dungeon, in which nothing was living .. hey, he's got all day, no need to make him roll a bunch.Someone wants to attack an NPC in the inn? Okay, they want to start combat. Lay out the tiles and minis. Roll an Insight check for the target to see if they "see it coming". If not, let the 'attacker' have a Surprise round, then roll initiative for everybody in the room. I mean, this could become a classic bar brawl with improvised weapons ... or it could turn out that the patrons aren't minions, they're another group of adventurers ... maybe the bartender is really tough and has it out for the PC who started it ... who knows how it'll end!Remember that a Surprise round only includes one action, and "I draw my sword" is a Minor action, ending that players' Surprise round.Want to cast a spell? No problem, that's fine outside of combat. Just remember that spells have a duration (usually no more than 5 minutes), and even Encounter powers won't regenerate until the character takes a short rest (5+ minutes of doing very little). I play a low-magic world, so anybody who starts an incantation (either a Ritual or a Spell) in public is asking for trouble, much the same as drawing a gun would be in the modern world.My druid player wants to disappear into the woods to run a ritual that takes 4 hours to cast? Okay, fine ... but as a DM, several things are important to keep in mind.Time keeps passing - the other players don't stop to wait for the druid unless they tell me they want to sit somewhere for four hours ... and even if they do, my NPC's don't stop for four hours. The BBEG's plot keeps advancing (and usually I have a fairly tight timeline which the PC's need to beat). If the rest of the party get involved in a fight during those four hours, the druid is sitting it out. Also, there's always the chance of a "wandering monster" interrupting the ritual. Old-school D&D included all sorts of wandering monster charts and chances of getting encountered depending on where you were. So, our druid casting a spell in the wilderness might scare off a bobcat, or get surprised by a wandering band of orcs, or ... hey, you're the DM, its up to you!</blockquote>

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