Question About Combat in 1e

[Lanefan]

I've always had it that if your initiative is poor and you're casting a spell with casting time of more segments than the round has left, that you resolve at the appropriate point next round; but that spell is still this round's action, so you have an action coming next round as well.

Example, using d6 initiatives re-rolled each round and with casting times converted to 6-segments rounds for simplicity:

Round 1, rolls 2 initiative; on 2, starts casting a 3-segment spell which runs off the end of the round.
Round 2, last round's spell resolves on 5 (assuming no interruption), caster rolls d4 initiative (as their action obviously can't happen on a 5 or 6), and rolls 3 for when this round's action occurs (or starts, if it's another spell).

It adds fluidity to the combat if things happen "across" rounds, rather than everything arbitrarily starting and stopping at regular points in time.

Lanefan

 

[PapersAndPaychecks]

1e initiative (including surprise) is the least elegant part of the ruleset by far, and one of the most widely-ignored.

 

[Corathon]

I think the intent in 1E is that a spell with a casting time of less than 1 round will go off the same round that it is cast, regardless of the throw of initiative.

In 1E AD&D, the initiative roll doesn't affect when a spell goes off. Casting, for example, a magic missile spell takes 1 segment to cast, and the will go off unless the magic user casting it takes damage in the 1st segment. If that magic user is being attacked by, say, a fighter with a longsword, the attack will come in the segment given by the difference between a longsword's speed factor (5) and the losing initiative die (considered to always be a positive number). So the losing initiative die would have to be a 4, 5, or 6 for a fighter in melee to get a chance to interrupt the magic missile spell in the example above. The losing initiative die tends to be a low number, so casting a magic missile (or other short spell) is a good risk, even in melee.

On the other hand, if the magic user was casting cone of cold (5 segment casting time), the spell will be interrupted if he is hit in segments 1-5. The same attacker with a longsword will alwaysalways get an attack at the magic user in this case, as the difference between 5 and the losing initiative die will always be a number between 0 and 5.

Of course, in either case, the attacker might miss, in which case the spell would go off anyway.

 

[billd91]

1e initiative (including surprise) is the least elegant part of the ruleset by far, and one of the most widely-ignored.

And that's even before the addition of races that brought in suprise rules that weren't even on the traditional d6 (Drow and Svirfneblin).
"So, the Drow, who suprises on a 7 in 8 tries to sneak up on the Svirfneblin who is surprised only 1 in 12. Normal surprise is 2 in 6, so that gnome is 3/12 less likely to be surprised, and the Drow's final chances are 7/8 - 3/12... uh.... <DM squits as he concentrates trying to do this in his head on the fly> 5 in 8. OK, roll the die."

Let's just say it was ugly.

 

[Hypersmurf]

If that magic user is being attacked by, say, a fighter with a longsword, the attack will come in the segment given by the difference between a longsword's speed factor (5) and the losing initiative die (considered to always be a positive number).

I love that calculation of 1E initiative includes an absolute value operation

-Hyp.

 

[MerricB]

And that's even before the addition of races that brought in suprise rules that weren't even on the traditional d6 (Drow and Svirfneblin).
"So, the Drow, who suprises on a 7 in 8 tries to sneak up on the Svirfneblin who is surprised only 1 in 12. Normal surprise is 2 in 6, so that gnome is 3/12 less likely to be surprised, and the Drow's final chances are 7/8 - 3/12... uh.... <DM squits as he concentrates trying to do this in his head on the fly> 5 in 8. OK, roll the die."

Let's just say it was ugly.

Monk and surprise. Nuff said.

Cheers!