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<blockquote data-quote="pming" data-source="post: 6677668" data-attributes="member: 45197">Hiya!Easy for me. I roll Initiative when someone decides to do something that would actually require knowing if they can do that before someone who would oppose them.If the PC's see orcs 200' away, and the orcs see them, and the orcs start to charge...then the wizard says &quot;I'll cast Wall of Fire in front of them&quot;. Do I roll initiative? Nope. Why? The orcs can't do anything to oppose this action. Oh, wait...there's a half-dozen orcs with longbows who are drawing arrows to shoot? OK then...roll initiative.The KEY thing to remember with the Initiative system is this: It's only useful when it's needed. If you and your group see someone or something as happening &quot;before&quot; or &quot;after&quot; something else going on in the scene...then the DM should just put on his big-boy pants and just say &quot;The orcs can shoot first, sorry. They saw you first because it's night time and can see in the dark...you guys can't. After that, we'll roll some Initiative.&quot; It makes sense, is logical, and, as long as the DM is consistent (e.g., say the reverse... with it being noon and sunny against some drow in stead of orcs), use the &quot;rules&quot; as they are needed. And by &quot;rules&quot; I really mean &quot;rough guidelines on how to play a fun game based on imagination&quot;. But, if the PC's and orcs could have seen each other at roughly the same time, go ahead and roll Initiative. Just because a rule is in the book does NOT mean you have to use it!^_^Paul L. Ming</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pming, post: 6677668, member: 45197"] Hiya! Easy for me. I roll Initiative when someone decides to do something that would actually require knowing if they can do that before someone who would oppose them. If the PC's see orcs 200' away, and the orcs see them, and the orcs start to charge...then the wizard says "I'll cast Wall of Fire in front of them". Do I roll initiative? Nope. Why? The orcs can't do anything to oppose this action. Oh, wait...there's a half-dozen orcs with longbows who are drawing arrows to shoot? OK then...roll initiative. The KEY thing to remember with the Initiative system is this: It's only useful when it's needed. If you and your group see someone or something as happening "before" or "after" something else going on in the scene...then the DM should just put on his big-boy pants and just say "The orcs can shoot first, sorry. They saw you first because it's night time and can see in the dark...you guys can't. After that, we'll roll some Initiative." It makes sense, is logical, and, as long as the DM is consistent (e.g., say the reverse... with it being noon and sunny against some drow in stead of orcs), use the "rules" as they are needed. And by "rules" I really mean "rough guidelines on how to play a fun game based on imagination". But, if the PC's and orcs could have seen each other at roughly the same time, go ahead and roll Initiative. Just because a rule is in the book [I]does NOT[/I] mean you have to use it! ^_^ Paul L. Ming [/QUOTE]

Verification