I keep seeing "on initiative count 20, losing initiative ties" for lair actions and similar - but what does that actually mean? Does that mean that the creature has to get a 20 or higher on it's initial initiative roll to do a lair actions?
Yup. Think of each round as like a countdown, starting at the highest initiative. A character acts when the initiative "countdown" hits the number they rolled.
There is more. Rogue (Thief) at level 17 or higher get a second full turn during their first round (if they are not surprised). They go at their normal init and again at -10.
Rogues are likely to have a 20 or higher Dex at that time, along with a feat like Alert which gets +5 init. It is not uncommon for a Rogue Thief to roll a natural 20, going once on init 30 and again on init 20.
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I keep seeing "on initiative count 20, losing initiative ties" for lair actions and similar - but what does that actually mean? Does that mean that the creature has to get a 20 or higher on it's initial initiative roll to do a lair actions?
It means that the Initiative for the lair action is 20. There is no roll.
If a character gets a 23 and a monster a 19 as the Initiative, the order goes like this:
23 - Character
20 - Lair action
19 - Monster
Ohhhhh. That makes a lot more sense. Thanks!
Yup. Think of each round as like a countdown, starting at the highest initiative. A character acts when the initiative "countdown" hits the number they rolled.
What does the losing initiative ties mean?
It means if a creature (PC or NPC, monster, whatever) also rolls a 20 for its initiative, that creature takes its turn before the lair action occurs.
Thank you so much i never knew what that meant but now i do
thankksss
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how do you get higher than 20 on initiative?
Your dexterity or a magic item.
You could have a bad dexterity and roll a 1 and in the end have a negative initiative.
Which doesn't mean much because your still just rolling for the order during the round/turn. Highest first lowest last.
This has in fact happened to one of my players...! Thank you all so much for the informative post. My dragons are going to be a lot more OP now... ;)
There is more. Rogue (Thief) at level 17 or higher get a second full turn during their first round (if they are not surprised). They go at their normal init and again at -10.
Rogues are likely to have a 20 or higher Dex at that time, along with a feat like Alert which gets +5 init. It is not uncommon for a Rogue Thief to roll a natural 20, going once on init 30 and again on init 20.