When exactly should players announce their actions?

[caudor]

A very newbie question, but I've never been certain about this:

When exactly are players supposed to announce what they intend to do in a particular round?

Do all players announce what they plan to do at the beginning of the round or after a surprize round? (i.e. everyone declares actions at same time then waits for turn)

Or, can players wait to to see what happens before announcing actions immediately before their turn in the initiative cycle?

I'm thinking the latter is the correct way, but am I right about that?

 

[Thanee]

Only when their turn in the combat round comes up, right before the actions are executed.
In fact, you don't even need to state all actions (i.e. standard, move, free) immediately. Just one by one; declare - exectute - declare - execute.

As an example:

A's turn comes up. A is in melee with some monster.

A declares an attack against the monster. The first hit of A fells the monster. A then has only performed an attack action (not a full attack action) and can now declare what to do with the movement portion of the turn, i.e. move or sheathe the weapon and make a 5-foot step.

Bye
Thanee

 

[caudor]

I am uncertain no more....thank you Thanee!