Initiative

[Dungeon Master]

Initiative
The initiative roll determines who acts first in any given combat round. Initiative is not set, but changes from round to round (combat being an uncertain thing, at best). A character never knows for certain if he will get to act before another.
Initiative is normally determined with a single roll for each side in a conflict. This tells whether all the members of the group get to act before or after those of the other side(s).
There are also two optional methods that can be used to determine initiative. Each of these optional methods breaks the group action down into more individual initiatives. However, the general method of determining initiative remains the same in all cases.

Standard Initiative Procedure
To determine the initiative order for a round of combat, roll 1d10 for each side in the battle. Normally, this means the DM rolls for the monsters (or NPCs), while one of the players rolls for the PC party. Low roll wins initiative. If more than two sides are involved in combat, the remaining sides act in ascending order of initiative.
If both (or all) sides roll the same number for initiative, everything happens simultaneously--all attack rolls, damage, spells, and other actions are completed before any results are applied. It is possible for a wizard to be slain by goblins who collapse from his sleep spell at the end of the round.

Initiative Modifiers
Situational factors can affect who has initiative. To reflect this, modifiers are added to or subtracted from the initiative die roll.

Table 55:
Standard Modifiers to Initiative

Specific Situation Modifier
Hasted -2
Slowed +2
On higher ground -1
Set to receive a charge -2
Wading or slippery footing +2
Wading in deep water +4
Foreign environment* +6
Hindered (tangled, climbing, held) +3
Waiting (see p. 112) +1

*This applies to situations in which the party is in a completely different environment (swimming underwater without the aid of a ring of free action, for example).
Everyone in the party who will be involved in the round's action must qualify for the modifier. For example, all members of a party must be on higher ground than the opposition in order to get the higher ground modifier. The DM will probably ask each player where his character is standing in order to clarify this.
The side with the lowest modified roll on 1d10 has the initiative and acts first.

[Dungeon Master]

Spellcasting and Initiative
Casting times for spells can modify initiative rolls, creating a realistic delay for the spellcaster. When a spell's "Casting Time" parameter is given as a number without any units (for example, rounds or turns), then that number is added to the caster's initiative roll to determine his modified initiative. When a spell requires a round or more to cast, a normal initiative roll is not made--a spell requiring one round to cast takes effect at the end of the current round, after all other actions are completed.
Spells that require more than one round to cast involve some bookkeeping. The DM or one of the players must keep track of the rounds spent in casting. If the spellcasting character is disturbed during this time, the spell is lost. If all goes well, the spell takes effect at the very end of the last round of the required casting time. Thus, a spell requiring 10 minutes to cast would require 10 combat rounds, and wouldn't take effect until the very end of the 10th round.

Weapon Speed and Initiative (Optional Rule)
Each time a character swings a weapon, he places himself out of position to make his next attack. Swinging a hammer is not as simple as tapping in a nail. A war hammer is heavy. Swing it in one direction and it pulls in that direction. It has to be brought under control and repositioned before it can be swung again. The user must regain his balance and plant his feet firmly. Only after doing all this is he ready for his next attack.
Compare how quickly someone can throw a punch to the amount of time required to swing a chair to get a good idea of what weapon speed factors are about.
Weapon speed factors slow the speed of a character's attack. The higher the weapon speed factor, the heavier, clumsier, or more limited the weapon is. For the most part, weapon speed factors apply to all creatures using manufactured weapons. The speed factor of a weapon is added to the initiative roll of the character to get his modified initiative roll.
Thus, if the DM decides to use weapon speed factors for player characters, they should also be used for giants, orcs, centaurs, and the like. Otherwise the DM isn't being fair to the players. However, creatures with natural weapons are not affected by weapon speed. Their attacks are natural extensions of their bodies, giving them much faster recovery and reaction times.

Magical Weapon Speeds
Magical weapons are easier to wield in combat than ordinary ones. Maybe the weapon is lighter or better balanced than normal; maybe it just pulls the character into the proper position of its own volition. Whatever the cause, each bonus point conferred by a magical weapon reduces the speed factor of that weapon by 1. (A sword +3 reduces the weapon speed factor by 3, for example.) When a weapon has two bonuses, the lesser one is used. No weapon can have a speed factor of less than 0.

Attacking with Two Weapons
A tricky fighting style available only to warriors and rogues is that of fighting with two weapons simultaneously. The character chooses not to use a shield in favor of another weapon, granting him a greater number of attacks, with a penalty to his attack rolls (rangers are exempt from the attack roll penalty).
When using a second weapon in his off-hand, a character is limited in his weapon choice. His principal weapon can be whatever he chooses, provided it can be wielded with one hand. The second weapon must be smaller in size and weight than the character's main weapon (though a dagger can always be used as a second weapon, even if the primary weapon is also a dagger). A fighter can use a long sword and a short sword, or a long sword and a dagger, but he cannot use two long swords. Nor can the character use a shield, unless it is kept strapped onto his back.
When attacking, all characters but rangers suffer penalties to their attack rolls. Attacks made with the main weapon suffer a -2 penalty, and attacks made with the second weapon suffer a -4 penalty. The character's Reaction Adjustment (based on his Dexterity, see Table 2) modifies this penalty. A low Dexterity score will worsen the character's chance to hit with each attack. A high Dexterity can negate this particular penalty, although it cannot result in a positive modifier on the attack rolls for either weapon (i.e., the Reaction Adjustment can, at best, raise the attack roll penalties to 0).
The use of two weapons enables the character to make one additional attack each combat round, with the second weapon. The character gains only one additional attack each round, regardless of the number of attacks he may normally be allowed. Thus, a warrior able to attack 3/2 (once in the first round and twice in the second) can attack 5/2 (twice in the first round and three times in the second).