A question about turns and rounds

[Etinfall]

Ok, I have read about this in many places, some info was absorbed and some lost to me. So here goes:
   A round is about 6 seconds, a turn has 10 rounds. This question is not about the time of a round or whatnot though. When in combat what rolls are made? Or what is my character and his enemy doing. example-I click on an enemy to attack, First I roll an inititiave check? Say I roll a high number, then I roll an attack roll then a damage roll? this is where I get lost. As you can see I have almost nil pnp experience and I am graphically orientated so I am trying to get a clear picture of what is is happening behind the scenes. What actions are made in a turn by each side?
 
  Thanks for helping me on this.
 
  Etinfall

[Lucius]

All combats start with initiative rolls (d20+dexterity+feats/magic/etc). In NWN, the player that wins the rolls attacks first or acts first in the following turns. After that you and the enemy pummel eachother, with attacks or spells. Attack rolls are made just before your character attacks, and damage rolls are made if he hits.

As for spells, spell resistance and damage rolls are made right before your character casts, and Reflex/Fort/Will saves are made when the target gets hit.

I think this is all, I hope it helps

[Philosopher]

Yeah, an attack roll is made to determine if you hit, the number is compared to your enemies Armor Class and if it's higher you hit, then you do a damage roll.

For example:
You are against a goblin with 10 Armor Class (AC)
You roll an attack roll, you roll a 1-20 (1d20), then your attack bonus and strength or dexterity bonuses are added.
The weapon you have does differnt damage, and added damage is from your strength bonus.

So, let's say you have your base attack bonus is 4, and a 1-6 (1d6) weapon, and strength bonus +2.
You roll a 1:
1+6 = 7 vs 10AC, you miss.

You roll a 6:
6+6 = 12 vs 10AC, you hit so you do a damage roll, on your 1d6 weapon you roll a 3.

3+2 = 5, so you cause 5 damage on your enemy.

About Reflexs/Fortitudes/Wills saves, it's very similar.
To do a save, you roll a 1-20 (1d20) and then your bonuses is added (Says on your character sheet)

For example, you have 5 will and against a mind effecting spell of 18DC.
You roll a 2:
2+5 = 7, the spell effects you.

You roll a 17:
17+5 = 22, You resist the spell.

Understand now?

[Etinfall]

Perfect... that helps alot. So After each attack I make, or try to make, my opponet then does his attack? Alternating, like my turn his turn?

Thanks for the response,

Etinfall

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

That's exactly right. Technically, all damage and other effects should be calculated before anyone else makes thier attacks, but the engine runs as fast as it can, and occasionally you have people striking a monster after a killing blow has been dealt - the damage just hasn't been rolled yet.

Usually, it just goes ATTACK, DAMAGE, other guy's ATTACK, DAMAGE, ATTACK, DAMAGE, other guy's ATTACK, DAMAGE....

Etc.

[Talan Va'lash]

Well, in NWN I think its acctually kinda iffy when each creature does its attacks in the round.  In PnP you take turns in order of initiative.  ----  Say you have the following initiative rolls from the five combatants:  PC1 - 18 Kobold - 15 PC2 - 11 Goblin1 - 8 Goblin2 - 5  PC1 does his entire round.  So, he moves up to the Kobold and attacks.  Since he moved already he can only make a standard attack, rather than a full attack (i.e. he can only make 1 attack at his highest AB (the ab of his first attack) rather than getting to make all his attacks, say he has 3)  Now Kobold gets to move.  He can perform a full attack on PC1 since he doesn't have to move (you can take a 5 foot step before or after a full round attack, but moving any farther is considered a standard action.  roughly, there are two standard actions per round, moving a distance > 5 ft and

[Faldred]

This is the way I've been led to believe the engine works:

In NWN, each round is further broken up into three "flurries".  A creature (PCs included) with multiple attacks has them split over the "flurries".  Most non-spell full-round abilities (e.g., Whirlwind Attack or Barbarian Rage) occur in the first flurry.  Spells are full-round actions that start in the first flurry, but (in almost all cases) have a delay between the start of casting and the actual time the spell takes effect -- if the caster is harmed during this delay period, he or she must make a Concentration check or the spell is disrupted (but still counted as used).

Within each flurry, initiative order is used.  So if we have a PC with four attacks per round fighting a creature with two attacks per round, and the critter wins the initiative roll, then you would see attack numbers:

Flurry 1:  Creature #1, PC #1, PC #4
Flurry 2:  Creature #2, PC #2
Flurry 3:  PC #3

If the PC had won the initiative, the order would instead be:

Flurry 1:  PC #1, PC #4, Creature #1
Flurry 2:  PC #2, Creature #2
Flurry 3:  PC #3

In the "d20" system, all checks are made as follows:

1) Determine which ability is going to be used to make the check.

2) Determine the difficulty class (DC) of the task being performed.  Some of these are fixed (opening a particular type of lock or disabling a trap), others vary by circumstance (e.g., the DC of an attack roll is the opponent's armor class [AC] + any modifiers the opponent has).  In some cases, you make an "opposed check" where the DC is actually the opponent's modified roll (e.g., you: Hide vs. opponent: Spot, where you're trying to hide from a guard).

3) Roll d20 and add all appropriate modifiers based on skill, ability scores, enhancements, or other source.

4) If the modified roll is equal to or higher than the DC, the check is successful, otherwise it fails.  (Exception: on physical attacks, a "natural 20" on the die roll always hits and a "natural 1" always misses.

So, for an attack roll, the DC is calculated as the target's base AC (a typical humanoid has a base AC of 10) plus armor (a large shield adds 2 to AC) plus ability bonuses (DEX of 12 would add a +1 dodge bonus) plus other effects (Mage Armor can add up to +4, depending on what other enhancements are in place).  The ability used is Base attack Bonus (BAB), plus any attack modifiers (e.g., STR bonus for melee attacks plus weapon enchantments, et. al.).  Roll d20, add modfiers, check against the "to hit" DC, and presto, you've determined hit or miss.

On a hit, you roll damage as indicated by the weapon, plus any modifiers.

Skill checks work the same way.  Tumble, for example, is used against a constant DC of 15.  So if your d20 + Tumble ranks + DEX modifier - Armor/Sheild penalties is greater than or equal to 15, you don't provoke an attack of opportunity when moving past an opponent.  (Note that if your Tumble skill plus all modifiers is 14 or higher, you will always succeed on a Tumble check.)

Concentration is checked vs. a DC equal to the amount of damage received.

Etc.

[Faldred]

*hopes he's not forgetting a rule about suddenly initiated combat that would result in a partial round first...*

I'm pretty sure that for a "surprise" attack, the attacker automatically wins initiative and the defender is caught "flat-footed" (if possible), meaning no DEX or dodge bonuses.  This is certainly true from what I remember from AD&D (2.0) rules.

[Faldred]

A couple of clarifications to my long post above...

Situations like being caught "flat-footed" pretty much apply to the first flurry only.  Generally (unless there's some status reason as to why a creature cannot move normally), everyone performs some action in the first flurry, so by then end of that, no one should be "flat-footed" any more.

Sneak Attacks can occur when the opponent is "flat-footed" or engaged with someone other than the rogue making the Sneak Attck (in PnP rules, the rogue would have to actually flank the target, but in NWN, the only thing required is that the target is itself targetting something else).  If an creature is vulnerable to Sneak Attack, it remains so through the rest of the flurry.

"Free" attacks occur as the circumstances warrant.  These include Attacks of Opportunity, and extra attacks from feats such as Cleave/Great Cleave and Circle Kick.  I'm not sure how they're sequenced in the engine, but they should happen immediately upon the qualifying event.

[Stephen_Zuckerman]

You can get two Sneak Attacks in a round, assuming you suprise the guy.

Just my experience; it doesn't happen often - I'm not sure what precipitates it, aside from the fact that I un-stealth just as I attack.

[ItalianDDog]

I believe it has to do with you hitting him unnoticed first.. then the initiative roll.. if you win and attack first .. another sneak attack is granted because it is still counting him as being "flanked" correct me if Im wrong.