5E: Change Initiative, Update Effects

[celestian]

If you roll initiative every round instead of once an "encounter" then you probably want this.

This tiny little extension will update the "initiative" value on a effect when the pc/npc's initiative changes.



And then I rolled again:



GitHub if you care for that sorta thing.

Initial version: 1.0

Download here:

[rob2e]

YES! I'ma try and blow this up.

[Bonkon]

Good Day All
We do roll initiative every round in my game.
I thought that number was there so if you have an effect that lasts longer than instantaneous it would end on the initiative it was cast instead of ending too soon or late depending on initiatives rolled after casting.

[celestian]

Good Day All
We do roll initiative every round in my game.
I thought that number was there so if you have an effect that lasts longer than instantaneous it would end on the initiative it was cast instead of ending too soon or late depending on initiatives rolled after casting.

I'm not a 5e guy but I think the way spells work for some of them is they end on the casters initiative in some cases. If you roll initiative every round then that changes. Meaning the spell might not end on the casters turn.

Using this extension will change the effect to end on the player's turn.

[Zacchaeus]

Good Day All
We do roll initiative every round in my game.
I thought that number was there so if you have an effect that lasts longer than instantaneous it would end on the initiative it was cast instead of ending too soon or late depending on initiatives rolled after casting.

I think I agree with you. If a character casts a spell which lasts until the character's next turn Fantasy Grounds notes the initiative that the spell was cast on and decrements the length of time when that number comes back around. Even if the initiative changes every round the 'initiative to end on' counter doesn't change. So, if a player in the first round on initiative count 10 casts a spell which lasts until its next turn then the spell will end on the next turn on initiative count 10 even if the character's initiative has changed to 5 or 25. Technically that means that the spell is not ending during the character's turn but on what would appear to be an arbitrary time. However the spell will last the correct length of time (in my view).

By changing the initiative count when a spell ends then in some cases the character will get a much greater benefit from the spell and in others they'll get no benefit at all. If we imagine a character in the first round casting a spell on an NPC which allows for all attacks against it to be rolled with advantage until the end of the caster's next turn. If the caster in the first round has initiative of 25 and in the second has initiative of 1 and the initiative to adjust on is changed to mirror the caster's initiative then the spell will effectively last two rounds making the spell much more powerful than is intended.

However on the other side of the coin if the player goes last in the first turn and first in the next the spell will effectively be wasted since it will come off immediately.

But some people like that kind of randomness.

[LordEntrails]

It's an interesting discussion. And I don't think their is a single right answer.

Another thing to think about, Initiative is a construct, a way to help us resolve things in a coordinated way that our minds can comprehend without the chaos or reality, and in a way that generally can be accepted as "fair". Even if a character's initiative changes, their actions still take an entire turn to happen.

What does that mean for spells? depends on your views. Heck, one could argue that spell effects shouldn't start on the initiative count, but rather at the end of the round, and then always end at the end of a round as well. But, such would increase booking and discontinuities with non-spell actions.

Options are good, thanks for the extension

[Pepor]

Thanks Celestian!

I am going to try it for sure because we roll initiative every round in my games and we have to be paying attention to the effects duration and to that little number in the combat tracker. As Zacchaeus says, we like that kind of randomness XD.

[Smoltok]

Thanks for this extension !

Very useful to be sure taht some effect will really end at the next round !

[skj310]

All things aside ... its nice to have an effect stay in the CT past round turnover with the auto-init in effect. Nicely done!

[Eldarc]

Awesome! I asked for this in this very forum some weeks ago. I don't know if you read my post or not, but THANK YOU!