[RPG] If I start combat by making an attack, does a high-initiative enethe see it coming

combatdnd-5einitiative

This is a follow-up question I had after reading the accepted answer in this related question.

A player is talking to an NPC and then decides to stab the NPC. Let's assume the tension is high enough that the NPC isn't "surprised" (they "noticed the threat").

The DM will ask for an initiative roll before the stabbing can take place, and the player will have to wait their turn in initiative before they can stab. At least that was the accepted (and most highly voted and undisputed) answer in the above linked question.

Let's say the NPC rolls a higher initiative than the player.

I can see two ways this could be ruled, but I don't know which is the "correct" one:

  • The NPC had the higher initiative, so they are first in combat. The DM narrates that the NPC saw the PC readying their weapon, so the NPC decides to act accordingly (dodge, attack first, disengage and run, whatever…)
  • The NPC had the higher initiative, so they are first in combat. However, they have no reason to be hostile yet, because the player has yet to attack. The NPC will use their turn resuming whatever they were doing before (most likely speaking to the PC)

Personally, I would tend to do the latter, seeing how in the other combat rounds we don't assume the characters can foresee the actions that happen in the round after their turn in initiative, but I'm not sure.

It might even get a bit more complicated even when the roles are reversed (as players are tipped of by the initiative roll, while the player character might not be)

Best Answer

Intent is not execution

I think the issue here is a disconnect between intent and execution. You might say "I'm done with this, Reynald pulls a dagger and stabs him, sneak attack." But that's not the execution of the action, that's only a declaration of what your character is going to try to do, and the dice rolls are going to determine whether it actually happens the way you said.

So how does that square with the enemy getting initiative and going first? Actually, it's simple: the shift from "argument" to "attempted murder" isn't necessarily caused by a dagger sliding between his ribs. Instead, that change in intent is as subtle or as telegraphed as the dice indicate. If the target wins initiative and gets to react before you attack, that's not reversing causality to react before the trigger; rather, that means something happened that tipped your hand too soon (or your opponent is just that fast).

You sort of skimmed past stating that the enemy isn't surprised, but that's a key point. If the transition from hostile argument to violence went unnoticed by the opponent, then you would have a surprise round, and you'd get your first strike even if your initiative was lagging. The fact that you didn't get a surprise round tells me that either something happened that let the other guy know you were going for your blade, or things were so tense already that he was prepared for you to throw down at any moment, and in either case that starts to explain the situation.

In any case, when the enemy wins initiative over you after you declare a sudden attack, it could mean your PC pulled a knife, but the target saw it before you could come in for the stab and got their weapon out faster (whether you were trying to be subtle and didn't realize you got spotted, or you were trying for speed and the target is just quicker than you, like a spaghetti western shootout). It could mean they saw your face change, or just sensed the surge of murderous intent like the hero in a Kung Fu movie, and knew instinctively that you had just decided to kill. It might mean that while your intent was an ambush, your character lost their cool and screamed, "THIS IS FOR MY FATHER!", which ruined the surprise.

As with many scenarios in D&D, the dice are telling you what actually happens, and it's up to your creativity to explain how that came about.

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