3.P - Action Times

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Are the various actions defined anywhere in regards to how much actual time they they take up?

If not...

Obviously a full-round action is about 6 seconds. I'd say a 1-round casting time is about 6.25 seconds, a standard action takes about 3 seconds, a move action takes about 2.5 seconds, and the various free, swift, and immediate actions divvy the remaining ~0.5 second amongst themselves (or they're lost due to inefficiencies in a creature's actions, if not used, or subsumed into the 1-round casting time, as needed). They're not incredibly precise, since the numbers don't always match up and a creature can speed up or slow down slightly to make everything fit into its turn, but it's an approximation.

Granted, I'd never seen them actually defined as such anywhere; the above is just what I'd houserule them to be, outside of any rules text to the contrary.

[KillianHawkeye]

I honestly don't think there's ever any need to measure time in anything smaller than rounds. I would never believe that every standard action takes the exact same amount of time anyway, since actions are an abstraction to begin with.

[Crake]

I honestly don't think there's ever any need to measure time in anything smaller than rounds. I would never believe that every standard action takes the exact same amount of time anyway, since actions are an abstraction to begin with.

Yeah, pretty much this.

Also a 1 round action would be 6 seconds, dunno why you think it would be longer. You can cast them repeatedly round after round, so if they were longer, youd have spent 25 seconds of casting in 24 seconds if you cast 4 in a row

Anything less than a 1 round action would add up to less than 6 seconds, because actions are sequential in a round, and you spend at least part of your action focusing and maintaining awareness of your surroundings during other people’s turns, so you can do things like take advantage of attacks of opportunities

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Yeah, pretty much this.

Also a 1 round action would be 6 seconds, dunno why you think it would be longer. You can cast them repeatedly round after round, so if they were longer, youd have spent 25 seconds of casting in 24 seconds if you cast 4 in a rowBecause a full round action is 6 seconds. A full-round action would have to be a bit longer. Remember, it's approximate, not exact, as various actions would have to shift a bit from round to round.

[Crake]

Because a full round action is 6 seconds. A full-round action would have to be a bit longer. Remember, it's approximate, not exact, as various actions would have to shift a bit from round to round.

Except a full round action would be less than 6 seconds, as it doesnt take a full round despite its name, it leaves room for actions on other people’s turns, via both immediate and attacks of opportunity. A 1 round action is from the start of your turn on round 1 to the start of your turn round 2, which is exactly 6 seconds

[Ramza00]

They are purposefully ambiguous and unpredictable and do not exist on an external timer, an external phenomena. (Well they half do it takes less 6 seconds and there are limits in what one can do in 6 seconds.)

For in part they represent not time but internal complexity of task for a person to do the thing. They are tied to the unit and not the flow of battle of many units.

[Gruftzwerg]

As others said. Time is very abstract in 3.5

Remind you that a full round (1 round) are multiple "turns" (depending on the amount of individuals).

In theory all act at the same time (6 seconds). But mechanically they don't.

And that is the problem if you try to break down an entire round into the time-spans a single action takes.


To give a good example how flawed the flow of time in 3.5 is:

- Imagine 2 opposing groups of melee fighters engaging in combat
- the fighter who acts first need to run up to his enemies and thus can sole make a standard attack
- while the enemy fighter who is "slower" (initiative order) gets to make a full attack..
- this is still true even when the one with the higher initiate even has more iterative attacks.

3.5 ain't a real-time strategy game and thus has the common flaws of a round based game.

[holbita]

you guys do realize that a round is 6 seconds, and that everything that happens in that round happens in those 6 seconds. It's not character A now we are at 00:06 seconds of the fight, then character B so 00:12, then C 00:18...

Everyone acts simultaneously those 6 seconds and the turn order is just so that we can organize ourselves. So a full-round action or a round action, have the same amount of time... because the whole round lasts 6 seconds, regardless of what you are doing. If you just move that's what you do those 6 seconds. If you full-attack that will also take 6 seconds.

[Darg]

you guys do realize that a round is 6 seconds, and that everything that happens in that round happens in those 6 seconds. It's not character A now we are at 00:06 seconds of the fight, then character B so 00:12, then C 00:18...

Everyone acts simultaneously those 6 seconds and the turn order is just so that we can organize ourselves. So a full-round action or a round action, have the same amount of time... because the whole round lasts 6 seconds, regardless of what you are doing. If you just move that's what you do those 6 seconds. If you full-attack that will also take 6 seconds.

This is the right answer.

[Jack_Simth]

Are the various actions defined anywhere in regards to how much actual time they they take up?

If not...

Obviously a full-round action is about 6 seconds. I'd say a 1-round casting time is about 6.25 seconds, a standard action takes about 3 seconds, a move action takes about 2.5 seconds, and the various free, swift, and immediate actions divvy the remaining ~0.5 second amongst themselves (or they're lost due to inefficiencies in a creature's actions, if not used, or subsumed into the 1-round casting time, as needed). They're not incredibly precise, since the numbers don't always match up and a creature can speed up or slow down slightly to make everything fit into its turn, but it's an approximation.

Granted, I'd never seen them actually defined as such anywhere; the above is just what I'd houserule them to be, outside of any rules text to the contrary.
They're not defined that way, and I can see a couple of reasons why they're not.

1) If you do define them that way, you'll get folks arguing that they can trade action types willy-nilly, because each one costs a specific amount of time. Which will break the actual rules at some point.
2) Trying to codify action costs this way - especially when it comes to the small action costs - generally runs afoul of archers: A high-level archer usually uses a lot of free actions drawing ammunition, which eventually makes their full attack action impossible.
3) The game simply isn't organized that way.
4) So logically Haste cuts down on the amount of time these take, and slow increases them, right? Well then, Haste lets me get TWO standard actions in now! MWAHAHAHAHHAHA....

Basically, codifying things this way adds tears to the system, which you'll then need to patch to get back to the same game.