Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
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If you hit a creature with an attack roll, the creature takes an extra 2d6 damage if it hasn’t taken a turn yet in the current combat.
I have had some people say that this happens every round, but I think it's only in the first round. What's correct?
The answer is different depending on which version of the Bugbear species you're using.
For the version from Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse, which is the one you quoted, it's usually only going to happen in the first round, because that's generally when you're going to be fighting creatures that haven't taken a turn yet. ("In this combat" means in this combat, not in this round.)
However, it is theoretically possible for it to happen again if, in a subsequent round, you attack someone who still hasn't taken a turn in this combat. That might happen, for instance, if your enemies summon reinforcements who don't arrive until the second round (or later).
For the older version from Volo's Guide to Monsters, the feature is worded differently such that it explicitly only applies on your first turn and you can only use it once per combat.
pronouns: he/she/they
Yeah, I did take it to mean that "any" enemy has not taken an action applies. Thanks
I feel I should add that "not taken an action" is not the same thing as "not taken a turn". As it's written, you're not able to use this against someone who has taken a turn but wasn't able to do anything on that turn (due to being Paralyzed or whatever).
pronouns: he/she/they
It probably could if you are dealing with multiple opponents, and some haven't taken (or been able to) a turn yet for any number of reasons.
Note that, if a creature hasn't taken a turn yet and it's past the first round of combat, the ONLY answer is that they joined later, after initiative had already begun.
I used it a few times this week, as new enemies entered the room we were in.
The undead were turned and I assume we will chase them down. So, I guess that "not" if initiative continues, but if the DM restarts it, will they be "new"?
I think technically if you're rolling new Initiative, it's not "this combat" anymore, and it would apply again. But a DM might quite reasonably say that conceptually it's still effectively the same engagement, and since the idea is that it's a "surprise attack" against an unprepared enemy, it shouldn't apply anymore. Check with your DM.
pronouns: he/she/they
Okay,
I guess the other thing, is that if I lose sight of the enemy, I don't even know if I've seen it before; specially with undead.
Unfortunately this is an area that isn't super well defined in the rules, as the combat rules are mostly designed around the assumption that combat continues until one side is defeated and you don't drop in and out of initiative with the same enemies repeatedly. In practice it's something individual DMs have to adjudicate on their own.
pronouns: he/she/they
I actually just jumped into the game, because they were down a couple of players. I probably won't even be playing again next week, or even for months. The DM does things quite differently. Sometimes the party goes for days with just short rests, but we don't exhaust. We also don't get our spells slots back either.
That...sounds like a DM I would very much not want to play with, but to each their own.
pronouns: he/she/they
Yeah, it's weird. I think he's stuck in 1st ed. :)