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<blockquote data-quote="Ridley's Cohort" data-source="post: 282829" data-attributes="member: 545">There are a number of interrelated issues:(1) The PCs could delay actions in order to ensure coordinated moves.&nbsp; That is a useful item to have in your playbook.&nbsp; Maybe your group needs to reconsider this tactic?(2) Rolling once for the initiative for a group is unfair to the PCs.&nbsp; Really the group of 12 monsters should have 12 initiatives rolled and pick the lowest.&nbsp; Implicitly they are delaying for the slowest member of their group.(3) We prefer individual initiatives for monsters.&nbsp; Otherwise you can get groups of monsters entering in later rounds and suddenly surrounding a single PC much too easily.&nbsp; Doesn't feel right (even if it is consistent with the rules).(4) The &quot;swarm&quot; tactics argument does make some sense.&nbsp; But I would limit that to 2-4 critters in a group.&nbsp; Do you have any idea how tough it is to coordinate larger groups closely?&nbsp; Any one individual hesitates two tenths of a second and the group starts tripping over each other.(5) If you naively apply the delay rules, all that happens is you get simple sequences of &quot;PCs go, monsters go&quot;.&nbsp; That is not exactly an improvement.We like the individual initiatives for monsters, as much as is practical.&nbsp; This can be a real bear for the DM, BTW.&nbsp; We are investigating computer resources to help out.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ridley's Cohort, post: 282829, member: 545"] There are a number of interrelated issues: (1) The PCs could delay actions in order to ensure coordinated moves. That is a useful item to have in your playbook. Maybe your group needs to reconsider this tactic? (2) Rolling once for the initiative for a group is unfair to the PCs. Really the group of 12 monsters should have 12 initiatives rolled and pick the lowest. Implicitly they are delaying for the slowest member of their group. (3) We prefer individual initiatives for monsters. Otherwise you can get groups of monsters entering in later rounds and suddenly surrounding a single PC much too easily. Doesn't feel right (even if it is consistent with the rules). (4) The "swarm" tactics argument does make some sense. But I would limit that to 2-4 critters in a group. Do you have any idea how tough it is to coordinate larger groups closely? Any one individual hesitates two tenths of a second and the group starts tripping over each other. (5) If you naively apply the delay rules, all that happens is you get simple sequences of "PCs go, monsters go". That is not exactly an improvement. We like the individual initiatives for monsters, as much as is practical. This can be a real bear for the DM, BTW. We are investigating computer resources to help out. [/QUOTE]

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