COMBAT
Combat in DND 5e follows a very simple system. The rounds are 6 seconds and during those 6 seconds, each character has up to 4 things to do.
- Initiative is rolled then the players have the following actions.
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1 action : The action can be used to attack, dash, disengage from combat, cast a spell, help, etc.
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1 move : your character can move up to its move speed, one of the stats. The battle maps will have 5'X5' squares, so if your character has a move of 30, that's the amount of feet he can move in a round, so 6 squares. you don't need to take it all at once. For example your char could move out of cover for 10 feet, take an attack action shooting his bow, than still has 20 feet of movement to get out of the line of fire.
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1 bonus action : some spells and abilities require a bonus action to activate, like the polearm master secondary attack with the butt of his weapon. Some GM also allow swapping of weapons with a bonus action.
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1 free action : say a few words, drop a weapon or item held in hand, stop concentrating on a spell.
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1 Reaction : This one is not part of the action economy but activates in certain circumstances, for example casting the shield spell or attacking an enemy getting out of your zone of melee control with an opportunity attack.
You can take those actions in any order you like, as long as the 1+1+1+1 rule is respected. It is also not mandatory to use all of those in the round. Remember that the round is only 6 seconds!
How does that translate in PBP? Let's look at another example, this time, from my gnome fighter, Frilia. She was trained in magic so has a magical creature as a companion, called a familiar, named Yukiko.
quote:
She was certain that her arrow had hit, but how could it have come from that angle? Frilia then saw what had happened, just as the rain picked up, reducing even more the visibility... and she almost missed the monstrous half spider/half drow that appeared feet away from her. The spider on top of the barn was still moving but now a new priority had popped up.
Kill that spider on the roof! Hannah, Rain, Big 'sak, Felix, Minho, we have a big one right here!
Swapping weapons with practiced ease, she ran to the big monster, trying to cut off one leg, using her agility to move out of the way of those wicked scimitars.
Yukiko, I need you here!
I can't Frilia, this rain is impeding my flight!
I see, protect yourself, I don't want to lose you!
You won't.
Frilia
Free Action : warn the others of the drider, Wis save passed with 13.
Bonus action : swap weapons to shield and rapier
Move : partial move to reach the drider (20 feet) and attack, then retreat 15 feet, ending at K22. No opportunity attack possible due to Mobile feat
Action : attack Drider, 15 to hit for 8 damage
Today: Frilia Silverstring rolled 15,8 using 1d20+6,1d8+6 with rolls of 9,2. rapier attack+damage.
12:51, Today: Frilia Silverstring rolled 13 using 1d20+1 with rolls of 12. wis save.
Yukiko
Move somewhere to hide on the roof, from the spider and the rain.
Action : Hide
Today: Secret Roll: Frilia Silverstring rolled 8 using 1d20-4 with rolls of 12. yukiko str save.
Today: Frilia Silverstring rolled 12 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 8. Yukiko stealth.
- I have her react to what happened in the previous round, with her shot missing and another enemy arriving in her field of vision.
- She uses a free action to warn her companions
- She uses a bonus action to switch from her shortbow to her sword and shield.
- She moves up to the monster but doesn't use her entire movement speed
- She attacks
- She moves out of the way of the monster without provoking an opportunity attack, due to an ability she has, with the rest of her movement.
- The telepathic conversation with Yukiko occurs at the speed of thought.
- Yukiko also has her own action and movement.
- Again, we separate the IC from the OOC with the < hr> tag
- All the dice rolls are made in the RPOL dice roller and are copied in the post for the GM convenience. The GM sees everything so no cheating!
- I detailed all my action in their respective categories, transferring the appropriate dice rolls in the action, again for the GM convenience.
It is a little more work but not that much and it makes combat go smooth and fast (for PBP)
You do NOT need to post in order of initiative, as the GM will take the posts and sort them out himself, creating a synopsis post for each round, from there the Player Characters (PC) (you guys!) evaluate/reacts to what has happened and decides what your PC is going to do this turn.
What if the monster you are targeting dies before you act?
In that case, you can either plan a secondary action in your post (if this happens then I do this, if something else happens, this I do this instead). Or the GM will redirect your action in the most logical way.