INITIATIVE
of each other or 1” in any case. Melee is further subdivided into
BASIC RULES
Combat follows the following steps.
1 Determine if either or both parties are SURPRISED.
2 Determine distance, if unknown, between the parties.
3 If both parties are unsurprised or equally surprised, proceed to the next
step, otherwise resolve surprise.
4 A new combat round starts. The following phases are carried out in the
given order. The instructions to resolve one side before the other are,
of course, to be ignored in the case of tied initiative.
All actions permitted to members of a one side in a given phase other
than actual attacks are deemed to be simultaneous with actions by
other members of the same side in that phase.
A Any character with less than zero hit points who has not had their
wounds treated/bound, loses an additional hit point. If their total
is now -10 they are dead.
B Any actions which require preparation such as loading or aiming
a bow, setting weapons to receive a charge, using a magic item,
or casting a spell must be declared now.
C Each side rolls 1d6. The higher rolling side is said to have initiative.
This side will be referred hereafter as SIDE A, and its opponents as
SIDE B.
D Side B decides whether to a flee. Side A may then, knowing B’s
decision, decide whether it wishes to flee.
E Side B may attempt to parly or surrender. If not, then side A may
attempt to do so.
F Spell-casters are deemed to have begun casting at this point
and are thus now vulnerable to spell interruption.
G Crossbows of speed may fire once now. Side A fires before Side B.
H Bow and crossbow specialists who have declared their intent
above, loaded, and aimed their weapons before this round start-
ed may fire them at the target which was declared. Characters
with initiative attack before others, however dexterity bonuses
and penalties are applied on an individual basis in order to de-
termine the order of action in this phase.
I “Instant” actions take place: Gaze attacks occur.
Missile weapons which were readied but not aimed (or are not
being used by specialists) may fire now at a single target. If this
target is engaged in melee, the normal rules for which target is
struck apply.
Potions in hand may be drunk.
Breath weapons make their attacks.
Wands and other magical devices with no stated “casting time”
which were in-hand at the start of the round take effect simulta-
neously.
Clerical appeals to turn undead are resolved, first Side B, and
then Side A.
“Control” effects and similar from devices such as amulets occur,
first Side B and then Side A
J If side B declared that they were setting weapons for a charge,
they do so now.
K Side A may charge even if they declared that they were setting
weapons.
L Side B may charge if not setting weapons. If side A has not
charged, it may set weapons to receive the charge if it declared
the option to do so earlier.
1
M Melee is resolved if any opponents are within a weapon’s length
10 6 second segments. There is no need to decide what happens
in every segment, although there will be times when specific seg-
ment numbers need to be known to help ordering melee events
with non-melee events such as spells completing. Rules for those
occasions are given afterwards.
Melee order is explained below under ‘Melee Sequencing’.
N Crossbows of speed may fire again. Side A fires before Side B.
O Swords of Answering strike now. If by chance two such weapons
are in combat, the one which won initiative strikes last.
P The DM marks off 1 minute of time passing, possibly declaring
ongoing spells or other effects to have ended. Multiple-round
casting time spells still being cast should be noted also.
Q If any opposing creatures remain, a new round starts from step 4.
5 Repeat from step 2 if required.
MELEE SEQUENCING
The basic method of sequencing attacks within a melee round is to take
the combatant with the most attacks and interweave those with fewer at-
tacks into the middle of the faster’s sequence. For example, a character A
with three attacks against a monster B with two attacks would lead to a
sequence of:
ABABA
If two combatants have an even, or both have an odd, number of attacks
then the inner attacks will be simultaneous, so that a creature such as a
hydra with six attacks in a combat involving a fighter with two attacks would
be sequenced as follows (note that only 4 of the attacks can actually target
the fighter as per THE MONSTER MANUAL):
HHHHHH
FF
If a Cleric with a single attack and a second fighter with three attacks (’S’)
were to join in the basic sequence would look like this:
HHSHSHSHH
FCF
Thus, the hydra strikes twice, then the high-level fighter, then the hydra and
the lower level fighter use the initiative dice to determine which of them
gets the next attack in first, if either, then the high level fighter and the
cleric attack together, then the low level fighter and the hydra use initiative
to resolve their attack order again, then the high level fighter has his final
attack followed by the hydra’s two trailing attacks.
A spell being cast into melee is treated as an attack by a combatant with
a single attack, i.e., the same as the cleric above. This can be modified as
laid out below in special cases.
Initiative and Weapon speeds
As mentioned above, when two attacks are scheduled to occur at the
exact same time, initiative is used to break the tie. If initiative is itself tied
then the weapon with the lower speed takes priority. When one of the
combatants in such a case is not using a weapon then weapon speed is
ignored.
In the case where two weapon-using creatures are tied for strike order and
initiative against each other then the one with the faster weapon is entitled
to a bonus attack if the difference in speed factors is 5 or more (or the dif-
ference is twice the faster weapon’s speed factor). Both the normal attack
and the bonus attack are resolved before the slower weapon’s attack.
If the difference in speed is 10 or more then a second bonus attack (i.e., for
a total of three attacks in total) is allowed with the faster weapon at the
same time as the slower one has its attack.
None of the above applies on a round of combat where some other factor
determines first strike (e.g., following a charge or a round spend closing
range).
In all cases where a missile weapon and any other actions are scheduled
together, the missile attack is resolved before any other actions by a given
side.
First strike
This basic order is modified by several possibilities which influence first (and
possibly second and later) strike order.
If any set of combatants fulfils one of the following conditions then it has its
attacks promoted to begin before any of the attacks of creatures which
match conditions with higher numbers.
1 Creatures using a magical weapon of speed such as a short sword of
quickness or scimitar of speed after a charge or a round spent closing
range.
2 If one side charged on this round or closed to combat distance on
the previous round, the being(s) with the longest weapon reach have
strike priority.
3 The being with the most attack routines.
4 Hasted creatures.
5 Creatures which have not been slowed
Among creatures that match none of the above—or who all match the
same—criteria, initiative will determine order and if initiative is equal then
weapon speed will be used to determine order in cases where opponents
are using weapons.
Thus, if in the above fight between the hydra, the two fighters and the cleric,
the lower level fighter was using a scimitar of speed, the attack sequence
would look like this:
FHFHSHSHSHH
C
And if a fighter armed with a spear (S) charged a fighter armed with a
longsword (L) (both are specialised), the order, on the first round only, would
be:
SLSL
On subsequent rounds initiative would decide the order and when initiative
is tied the fighter’s faster weapon means that the sequence would be:
LSLS
Attack routines: Creatures with attack routines sequence those routines as
single events in the melee sequence. Thus a fighter with two attacks com-
bating a tiger with a claw/claw/bite routine would be scheduled as:
F ccb F
Notice that initiative has no effect on situations like this - the sequence is
always the same.
Missile Weapons which did not fire in the pre-melee phases or which did so
but are eligible for more than one attack per round may fire into melee and
are sequenced in the same way as any other combatant with a number of
attacks equal to the remaining shots allowed to the weapon. For example,
7th level bow specialist gets 3 shots per round. If s/he fired one during phase H
or phase I, s/he is still able to fire two arrows off during phase M, sequenced
in exactly the same way as two sword attacks.
2
Non-melee actions during melee (e.g., spell casting)
It will often occur that some actions are taking place during melee which
may nevertheless influence melee. One example is spell casting, of course,
but others include winding drawbridges up or down, looking for magic items
in backpacks, and picking locks.
Interruption of actions by attacks is determined in two ways. In either case
the DM must determine which segment of the round the action will be
completed on (if it will not be completed during the current round then of
course it will automatically be interrupted). In the case of a spell, this will be
the segment indicated by its casting time.
1. If the attack has a specified speed then it comes on the segment equal
to the difference between the losing initiative die and the weapon’s speed
(if initiative is tied, the weapon’s base speed indicates the segment of the
attack). A segment of zero represents an attack which comes before the
completion of the first segment and therefore is able to interrupt even 1
segment spells.
2. If the attack has no weapon speed associated with it (such as when nat-
ural weapons are used) and is not a missile weapon which needs reloading,
then the attack comes on the segment indicated by the target of the at-
tack’s initiative die. Weapons which need reloaded are assumed for this rule
10
only to require firerate segments, rounded up. If this would result in the
next attack coming on a segment number higher than 10, then the attack
against the non-melee figure must be abandoned.
Ordering of non-melee actions is simply determined by the duration of those
actions, so a 2 seg. spell will always take effect after a 1 seg. spell and before
any other action which takes more than 12 seconds to perform. In the case
of two actions of the same duration (such as two spells with the same casting
time) then initiative determines which actually completes slightly earlier than
the other.
NOTES/JUSTIFICATIONS
The rules above are my best attempt to translate what is in the DUNGEON
MASTERS GUIDE into a coherent combat resolution system. The primary point
is that I reject the outline on page 61 of the DMG as a garbled description
of a real system rather than being correct and complete. In particular, the
idea that all of step 4 (in the DMG) is carried out before any of step 5 is plain
nonsense and contradicted by many other parts of the DMG’s combat
section.
The order I have laid out above is simply what I think of as a sensible system
which takes the idea of initiative and combines it with the general order from
the DMG but interwoven rather than being a simplistic “I do everything, then
you do everything” affair suitable only for a fancy game of chess.
Within this I’ve stuck to the principle that the side with initiative should have
the advantage in each phase, even if this means that they act later. So,
side A waits until side B has decided whether to surrender or not before
declaring their intent in that area. Thus, the side with initiative will not find
itself in the position of surrendering to an opponent who was just about to
do likewise.
This principle is what is behind phases J, K, and L, which are one area where
I think my system diverges from the DMG. The intent of these three phases
is to allow the side with initiative more flexibility than the side without it.
Side A is effectively allowed to change their minds depending on what
side B chooses.
The order of melee itself is just an extended version of what is discussed in the
DMG, the only real bone of contention for me being the definition of “attack
routine”. I have assumed that any creature in the MM which is described
as being able to attack separate targets is actually using separate routines
much as a high-level fighter does. Other creatures are using routines which
come in the middle of combat and must all be resolved against the same
target. There really is no clear guidance in the DMG on this and nothing is
said about routines in the MM at all.
The ordering of non-combat actions, in particular spell casting, has been
prompted by taking the phrase “segment indicator” on p. 66 and running
with it. Taken as a literal description of what the difference between the
initiative rolled and the weapon speed actually is, the end result is surprisingly
logical and, I think, workable.
As a result, the description on page 65 of the DMG is interpreted as the
general system for determining the chance of interrupting spell casting,
while the more detailed system on the following two pages are special rules
for when the magic-user’s attacker is using a hand weapon rather than a
natural weapon.
The traditional interpretation of the rules which delays spell commencement
by entire segments based on the initiative roll has been rejected by myself
due to the large number of supporting rules required. These are nowhere
to be seen in the rule books and have to be made up from whole cloth to
make such a system work. On the other hand, there is some evidence that
this really was what was supposed to go into the rules but it simply did not
make it through the editing phase.

HOUSERULES

The following are some modifications I use to the above system.

Multiple attacks on non-meleeing characters

If the attacker is due multiple attacks then, unless another character is able
to intervene, subsequent attacks will come in consecutive segments.

If the attacker has to actively defend themselves against a third party, then
each subsequent attack against the non-meleeing figure is delayed by their
own weapons speed, if known, or the defender’s initiative roll if no weapon
speed is applicable/available.

Nudges

The side which wins initiative receives a nudge to the left in its combat
sequences. This is best illustrated by an example.

A 3rd level fighter (2 attacks on first round) fighting a 13th level ranger (3
attacks per round) normally sequences as RFRFR on the first round. If the
fighter wins initiative then the sequence becomes

R R R
F F

instead, with the fighter being able to attack first if he has a faster weapon.

Likewise, if the ranger wins initiative then the sequence becomes

R R R
F F

Persistent Length Advantage

Until the shorter weapon in a duel actually makes a successful hit on the
bearer of the longer weapon, weapon length determines initiative as for
closing/charging.

The user of a longer weapon may regain this advantage by, on a round
where s/he has initiative, falling back a distance at least equal to 1” or
the weapon length, whichever is higher. This rule should only be used with
miniatures.

Cantrips

An initial cantrip is cast in less than the time required for even a 1 segment
spell and counts as ‘segment 0’. A weapon with the same segment indicator
is treated as striking a number of seconds into the first segment shown on
the caster’s initiative die. The cantrip, on the other hand is completed on
the second indicated by the attacker’s die. Any damage suffered before
spell completion disrupts the cantrip even if the caster has not progressed
beyond selecting the spell mentally (i.e., they have declared the cantrip to
be cast).

Once a cantrip has been cast the caster must immediately state what their
second cantrip is to be, if any, and is once more venerable from that point
on to spell disruption.

Attack Sequences

Attack routines are treated as multiple attacks in the same way as a fighter’s
multiple attacks with a weapon. The parts of the routine (claw, bite, etc.)
must still be aimed at the same target and should it be killed before the
routine is complete, the remaining attacks are lost. In the case of most
carnivores, the remaining attacks will still be carried out and do damage,
probably drastically reducing the character’s chance of being returned to
health by magic.