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.
Initiative is your DEX modifier plus your roll for initiative. So, if you have a DEX modifier of +3 and roll a 20, then you have an initiative of 23 for that battle.
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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.
Thank you. This is very helpful!
Initiative is your DEX modifier plus your roll for initiative. So, if you have a DEX modifier of +3 and roll a 20, then you have an initiative of 23 for that battle.