Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Elder-Basilisk" data-source="post: 367634" data-attributes="member: 3146">Here's my suggestion. I tried allowing actions to be readied before combat and it reduced initiative to a flurry of readies. It also didn't make a lot of sense in a situation like when a door is kicked open. If both sides knew that the other was there, why should either of them necessarily put their plan into action more quickly when the situation changes (the door is opened and they can interact).This is what I do now: If a situation changes that allows two groups which previously could not interact to interact, I roll new initiative. (As suggested in the DMG for when situations change drastically as in the example of the invisible drow suddenly revealed by an invisibility purge). So the fighter kicks in the door and then everyone reacts to what they see--including the fighter. Everyone rolls initiative and the fighter is not denied part of his action by booting the door. After all, combat didn't start until the door opened.In a situation like your parley, I think there are two good options.1. Work the whole situation out in initiative order. The bad guy teleports in and says "let's negotiate." Roll initiative. Player 1. What do you do? I say "Don't even think about treachery. Surrender and your life will be spared." Do I have enough time to ready an attack if any of my party is attacked? Sure. It's the bad guy's initiative. He continues to speak, "You have no idea who you're dealing with. I am not some trifling apprentice necromancer to be so easily cowed." (EBG secretly readies a dimension door spell if any party members draw weapons or begin casting spells). . . .This would work for short negotiations and really builds tension but might not work for longer negotiations.2. Decide to use the optional rule that, despite the fact that nobody is really "surprised," combat will begin with a surprise round. Because he's not dumb, EBG insists that the PCs' parlay party keep their weapons in their sheathes as they approach him. Since it's a surprise round, no PC will be able to both draw a weapon and attack EBG unless they have quickdraw. This is probably why historically, people kept their weapons in their sheathes during negotiations. (And quite possibly also why King Arthur's legendary battle with Mordred started when a member of the parlay party drew his sword to kill the snake that was about to bite him. Everyone else knew that, now that his sword was drawn, if he beat them in initiative there would be nothing they could do to stop him from killing their leader.)Of course, the real question is this: If EBG wants bodyguards to protect him, why doesn't he have an invisible Shield Guardian or Devoted Defender standing next to him. . . .</blockquote>

Verification