Initiative of poison

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RazanMG
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Initiative of poison

Post by RazanMG » Fri Aug 04, 2017 12:35 pm

So how do you guys play?
In a round, Poison works before character acts or after?

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Mataxes
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Re: Initiative of poison

Post by Mataxes » Fri Aug 04, 2017 12:51 pm

I see two options, really.

1) Roll your poison effect tests and such on the poisoner's turn. So, if a snake poisoned the adept, the poisoneffect rolls occur on the same initiative as the snake's other attacks. This makes them independent of the victim's actions and means you face some of the same unpredictability you encounter with normal initiative (in terms of possibly getting two turns of damage before the victim can act, etc).

2) Make those tests on the victim's turn. If going this way, I would allow the victim their actions first -- giving them a chance to use talents, down a potion, or do other things that might mitigate or neutralize the poison's effect. Much like ties in initiative, advantage to the PC. This results in a bit more predictability -- the victim always has a chance to act before the next poison roll.

(Assuming a poison that acts each round, rather than a delayed effect like some.)

Ultimately, like a lot of things, I don't think it makes a hug difference, as long as you choose something that makes sense and apply it consistently.
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Slimcreeper
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Re: Initiative of poison

Post by Slimcreeper » Fri Aug 04, 2017 1:09 pm

In the first case, what do you do if the poisoner dies?

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Mataxes
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Re: Initiative of poison

Post by Mataxes » Fri Aug 04, 2017 4:28 pm

Slimcreeper wrote:
Fri Aug 04, 2017 1:09 pm
In the first case, what do you do if the poisoner dies?
...

Switch to the second option, I guess? Which means you might as well have started there?

(I don't know. It was a thought dashed off while I sat at my desk eating breakfast. Not everything I post here is a finely considered jewel of rules balance. ;) )
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etherial
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Re: Initiative of poison

Post by etherial » Sun Aug 13, 2017 4:12 am

Slimcreeper wrote:
Fri Aug 04, 2017 1:09 pm
In the first case, what do you do if the poisoner dies?
The environment generally acts on Initiative Zero.

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Flowswithdrek
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Re: Initiative of poison

Post by Flowswithdrek » Sun Aug 13, 2017 8:35 am

If the poison is ongoing i would continue to use the poisoner's initiative regardless. Im not sure why it would it suddenly change. I would view the poison as an opponent even after the death of the poisoner.

Purplefixer
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Re: Initiative of poison

Post by Purplefixer » Mon Sep 18, 2017 9:27 am

Why aren't effects like these and spell durations counted off during the Declare step of initiative? Why isn't this portion of combat used more in order to deal with book-keeping and wrap-up of rounds?

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Mataxes
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Re: Initiative of poison

Post by Mataxes » Mon Sep 18, 2017 1:29 pm

Part of the issue is that due to the variable nature of initiative, it is possible to not end up being affected by different penalties.

In the original (ED1) version of Maneuver (which cost your action for the round), it determined your Physical Defense, and the attack bonus wouldn't happen if you were successfully hit before you had a chance to attack.

If you acted last in the round and used Maneuver, then acted first in the next round, you could avoid the risk that went with the talent and get your attack bonus. Likewise, if you knocked down an opponent at the end of the round and they happened to roll well and act first, you might not get the chance to take advantage of the defense penalty.

Some of this is just the way the game plays, but in some cases it can suck to not have your abilities (on which you might spend karma and/or Strain) actually benefit you.

For some stuff, yeah. Taking care of that stuff in the interstitial period works. But not everything does, or some things that do have knock-on effects. There's no perfect solution.
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