Initiative & Starting Hostile Action

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virgil
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Initiative & Starting Hostile Action

Post by virgil »

Party A walks by a set of monsters, their weapons drawn, but do not initiate hostile actions. The monsters do not want to start a fight unless they prove to be a threat. If the archer looses an arrow at them, does this count as a surprise round, or does it require an initiative round - resulting the real case of the party initiating combat and getting attacked before they can act?
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angelfromanotherpin
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

In 3e, that's not a surprise round, because all people involved are aware of all other people involved.
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virgil
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Post by virgil »

So...
resulting (in) the real case of the party initiating combat and getting attacked before they can act?
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Jason
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Post by Jason »

virgil wrote:So...
resulting (in) the real case of the party initiating combat and getting attacked before they can act?
If they roll the higher initiative, yes. Both parties were suspicious of each other, both parties expected combat but wanted to avoid it.

The monent the monsters see the archer draw they act. And yes, they might very well be faster.

In any case, mechanically it's just a matter of rolling initiative.
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deaddmwalking
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Post by deaddmwalking »

However, you could rule that the monsters were holding from the moment they became aware. If it was in the round before the arrow, they take their turn - if they did not, everyone rolls initiative but everybody who beat the archer held, so you declare actions immediately after.
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Zaranthan
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Post by Zaranthan »

You don't need to mind caulk the "held action before initiative" thing. A round is six seconds, that's short enough for the archer to decide to shoot before he notices the monsters charging. That's exactly the sort of split second reaction initiative is supposed to represent.
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