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2015-03-21, 11:31 PM (ISO 8601)
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Is there any reason to delay an action?
Originally Posted by SRDLast edited by With a box; 2015-03-21 at 11:34 PM.
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2015-03-21, 11:35 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2009
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2015-03-21, 11:37 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Oct 2006
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- Pittsburgh, PA
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Re: Is there any reason to delay an action?
- Wait for the casters to buff you before attacking
- Wait for the enemies to come into range before charging
- Waiting for the wizard to fire off his big area spell before entering melee
I could go on. Basically, there are lots of times when you'd prefer to go after another member of your party.Hill Giant Games
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2015-03-21, 11:42 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2015
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Re: Is there any reason to delay an action?
I've pretty often used delayed actions for ambush attacks as ranged characters.
If I say anything particularly rude, let me know! I can be an unintentionally terse person sometimes despite the walls of text.
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2015-03-21, 11:42 PM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2006
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- Sunnydale
Re: Is there any reason to use delay an action?
I think what Vizzerdrix means is waiting for one of your allies to engage an enemy in melee combat, then getting into a flanking position opposite that ally. Flanking enables sneak attack.
Lots of people keep suggesting Improved Initiative as a good feat for Rogues. I think it's a terrible feat, because you'll just end up Delaying longer waiting for your allies to get into position.
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2015-03-21, 11:44 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2009
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2015-03-21, 11:48 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2013
Re: Is there any reason to delay an action?
Any enemy that hasn't acted in the first round is considered flat-footed.
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2015-03-21, 11:53 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2004
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- Lincoln, RI
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Re: Is there any reason to delay an action?
Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.- Benjamin Franklin
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2015-03-22, 12:05 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2011
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- Dromund Kaas
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Re: Is there any reason to delay an action?
As a caster, to wait and see if you really need to cast that last spell or if your teammates are about to finish off your target anyways.
As a Warblade or Crusader, to use White Raven Tactics on someone you rolled higher initiative than.
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2015-03-22, 02:25 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2008
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2015-03-22, 03:07 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2015
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- Louisiana
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Re: Is there any reason to delay an action?
Well on the subject of Rogues and imp initiative vs holding an action,
Sure, a rogue with there often crazy dex with that feat will have something like +9-15 on there roll to see who goes first, but that means that the surprise round did not happen more often then not. That means that your rogue is now in the middle of enemy lines, maybe even surrounded, and in a very bad place since your casters cant aoe as well now as they may hit you. While ranged sneak attack is an option, (deepwood sniper comes to mind if I remember right) Rogues are often played best observing the situation and making tactical decisions to make "sure" the battle goes the parties way.
This play style at least involves a whole lot of action holding, or positioning, otherwise you will just be the corpse :P
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2015-03-22, 03:31 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2014
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Re: Is there any reason to delay an action?
There's also an oft not used method (Although I think this is holding action rather than delaying, but really they should be the same thing): waiting until your opponents declare an attack, or move. This way you can decide "Do I want to fight defensively, or strike with reckless abandon, because they aren't going to attack me?"
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2015-03-22, 03:32 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2012
Re: Is there any reason to delay an action?
Counterspelling does not work with delay action. You need ready action for that.
Delay action only lets you set your initiative check to a certain lower result. Delay action even explictly prohibits interrupting:Originally Posted by SRD
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2015-03-22, 01:35 PM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2006
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- Sunnydale
Re: Is there any reason to use delay an action?
OK, then, explain how Improved Initiative is good for a Rogue.
In the surprise round the Rogue isn't surprised because of maxed Spot skill. Wielding a bow, the Rogue gets to pick among various flat-footed opponents, and adds sneak attack damage to one ranged attack.
In the first regular round of combat the Rogue continues to choose among flat-footed opponents, adding sneak attack damage to every shot of their ranged full attack. Having good DEX boosts initiative some. It's not necessary to act particularly early; it's only necessary to act while there's at least one enemy still flat-footed.
In the second regular round of combat the Rogue no longer has flat-footed enemies, so it's time for flanking. If there's already an ally engaging an enemy in melee, the Rogue can move to a flanking position and get one melee attack with sneak attack damage added. If allies have worse initiative and haven't closed for melee combat yet the Rogue can Delay.
The difference in d20 rolls could be up to +/- 19, and +4 from Improved Initiative isn't nearly enough to offset really bad rolls. Nearly all of the time the Rogue gets to add sneak attack damage without needing Improved Initiative.
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2015-03-22, 03:18 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2009
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Re: Is there any reason to use delay an action?
If your goal is just "get Sneak Attack on someone, anyone," then sure, that works fine. If your goal is "get Sneak Attack on specific high-priority targets, hopefully focusing fire with the rest of the party," then the higher your initiative is, the better chance you have of being able to target the best possible enemy.
Rogues are feat-starved enough that I'm not going to argue that Improved Init is a fantastic use of a feat (it takes a very restrictive book environment for it to be the best possible use of a feat slot, more often than not—we're not in disagreement there), but it's still in your best interest to go as early as you can and therefore to get your pick of whatever target you like. This is usually handled better by init-boosting items than by init-boosting feats, but still, Improved Init does have enough of an effect that I wouldn't look down on a Rogue for taking it, even if I don't think it's necessarily the strongest choice for a feat.In the Beginning Was the Word, and the Word Was Suck: A Guide to Truenamers
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2015-03-22, 03:26 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Oct 2013
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Re: Is there any reason to delay an action?
You can delay so you can go sooner in the initiative order, you just pick where you want to be in the initiative order, but to delay to a spot earlier than your original one you effectively have to give up your turn and then you start your next turn at that new initiative position. You keep that place unless there's another change in initiative from someone delaying or whatnot. I don't know much utility you can get from that but it's always an option.
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2015-03-22, 03:27 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2011
Re: Is there any reason to delay an action?
* Waiting for the enemies to enter your threatened area and draw some AoOs, _then_ using your own action to full-attack these enemies.
Rather than spending half your turn to move into range, attack a single enemy once, then have the enemies attack you without drawing any AoOs.Last edited by Firechanter; 2015-03-22 at 03:28 PM.
Let me give you a brief rundown of an average Post-3E Era fight: You attack an enemy and start kicking his shins. He then starts kicking your shins, then you take it in turns kicking until one of you falls over. It basically comes down to who started the battle with the biggest boot, and the only strategy involved is realizing when things have gone tits up and legging it.
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2015-03-22, 03:31 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2004
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- Lincoln, RI
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Re: Is there any reason to delay an action?
Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.- Benjamin Franklin
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. -Evelyn Beatrice Hall
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2015-03-22, 03:41 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2011
Re: Is there any reason to delay an action?
Sure, but you know what I mean. ^^
Let me give you a brief rundown of an average Post-3E Era fight: You attack an enemy and start kicking his shins. He then starts kicking your shins, then you take it in turns kicking until one of you falls over. It basically comes down to who started the battle with the biggest boot, and the only strategy involved is realizing when things have gone tits up and legging it.
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2015-03-23, 08:03 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2015
Re: Is there any reason to delay an action?
I delay and ready actions (readying all of your actions is better than delaying, in my opinion, because you can interrupt enemies if you word it right) all the time. Standoffs lead to great readied actions.
What time is it?
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2015-03-24, 01:37 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2012
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2015-03-24, 09:54 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2014
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- Sovereign State of Denial
Re: Is there any reason to delay an action?
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2015-03-24, 09:57 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2012
Re: Is there any reason to delay an action?
It does not. The world is not divided into 5 ft squares.
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2015-03-24, 11:04 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2015
Re: Is there any reason to use delay an action?
You could charge or otherwise get sneak attack for attacking a flatfooted foe. For reasons other people mentioned (being surrounded by bad guys without the fighter types to distract them) this is often a bad idea. However, if you have Spring Attack, a reach weapon, or another mechanism of limiting your exposure to being swarmed, it can still be a good plan. That is even more true if you are a multiclassed rogue and your defenses are basically indistinguishable from the fighter or barbarian.
Another way that rogues can take advantage of high initiative/flatfooted foes without risking being surrounded is to get their high initiative start of combat sneak attacks on ranged attacks. A rogue with a shortbow (or a longbow+rapid shot if they took a two-level dip into ranger) in hand (or a dagger (returning if you want to use it in melee next round) can drop sneak attacks on flatfooted enemies from range then move into the flank with the fighter type on the next round.
Also, WRT Improved Initiative, while it doesn't necessarily mean you will win if you roll a 1 and the opponent rolls a 20 (1/400 chance), it is roughly similar to rolling twice and taking the better result if you and your opponent would otherwise have the same bonus. If I recall my D&D minis days correctly, I think they both work out to a 66-75% chance of winning initiative against that one foe. In ordinary D&D/Pathfinder, where (at least RAW) every foe rolls init separately, it will have a pretty significant impact on your chance of beating every foe on initiative too though there are too many variables (number of opponents, their initiative mods, your init mod, etc) to reduce it to a single number. Mathematically, however, your odds of beating everyone go down exponentially with the number of opponents so small numerical increases in your individual odds have a major impact on reducing that decrease. It should function much the same way that your odds of making all of your "make or break" saving throws (which you really want to do) go dramatically down when you start failing them on a 2 and each increment they decrease has an increasingly detrimental impact on your odds of making all your important saves.Last edited by Elder_Basilisk; 2015-03-24 at 11:15 AM.
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2015-03-24, 11:14 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2008
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2015-03-24, 04:07 PM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2006
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- Sunnydale
Re: Is there any reason to use delay an action?
Yes, that works. It also works without Improved Initiative. With the bonus from the feat (+4) much smaller than the dice variation (+/- 19), there's not much chance that II will make the difference to let you attack some particular foe when they're still flat-footed. Instead, you might get one random extra flat-footed target to choose among. Because you're not going to get ideal choices all the time, the feat (to my mind) isn't worth taking. You'll almost always get some choice of flat-footed foes with or without the feat, and dealing enough extra damage to kill some enemy muscle before they've got a chance to act (because you've got Craven instead of Improved Initiative) is better than a small increase in the chance of being able to damage (but probably not kill) the ideal target.
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2015-03-24, 06:58 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2010
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- London, EU
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Re: Is there any reason to delay an action?
It depends upon the game, or situation.
If encounters are ambushes (on the party), or simple meeting engagements, then delaying is rarely useful.
If encounters develop over a number of rounds then delaying may be useful since more information will be available if you wait before you act.π = 4
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