Scenario 4: Opposed spell casters

 

The party consists of: 

- Ambrose, a fighter with a longsword (WSF 5, length 3.5') and chainmail armor+shield (AC4)

- Alice, a fighter with a spear (WSF 6, length 6') and leather armor (AC 8)

- Alex, a cleric with a mace (WSF 7, length 2.5') and ring armor + shield (AC6)

- Amber, a thief with a short sword (WSF 3) padded armor (AC8)

The party bumps into Murderman the Mage and his 2 bodyguards (armed with scimitars - WSF 4) coming around a corner. The encounter distance is 10'.

The party will strike blows (melee) except for Alex, who will cast Light. Murderman will cast Shocking Grasp while his henchmen will also strike blows (engage in melee).

We have a mix of timed actions (spell casting) and untimed, abstract actions (melee attacks), so we roll initiative.

Scenario 4a

The party rolls a 4, Murderman's group rolls a 1.

The order of resolution:

Ambrose, Alice, Amber's melee attacks

Murderman's Shocking Grasp (1 segment) - segment 1

Murderman's bodyguards (WSF 4 - 1 = 3) - segment 3

Alex's Light (4 segments) - segment 4

We note that the Murderman's bodyguards attacks (since they lost initiative) will be resolved after the abstract actions of the winners (Ambrose, Alex, and Amber's melee attacks), but when, exactly? They would complete on the segment indicated by the difference of the WSF (4) and the losing intiative die roll (1), or segment 3.

Scenario 4b

The party rolls a 2, Murderman's group rolls a 2.

The order of resolution:

Murderman's Shocking Grasp (1 segment) - segment 1

Amber's short sword attack (WSF 3) - segment 3

Murderman's bodyguards (WSF 4) - segment 4

Alex's Light (4 segments) - segment 4

Ambrose's longsword attack (WSF 5) - segment 5

Alice's spear attack (WSF 6) - segment 6

 Since we have a tie, then we note that around the scaffold of timed actions, we resolve WSF attacks on the segment that matches the WSF. Easy!

Scenario 4c

The party rolls a 3, Murderman's group rolls a 6.

The order of resolution:

 

Murderman's bodyguards melee attacks - effectively segment 0

Amber's short sword attack (WSF 3 - 3) - segment 0

Murderman's Shocking Grasp (1 segment) - segment 1

Ambrose's longsword attack (WSF 5 - 3) - segment 2

Alice's spear attack (WSF 6 - 3) - segment 3

Alex's Light (4 segments) - segment 4

Murderman wins initiative, so his bodyguards (with untimed actions) will trump other untimed actions. 

 

However, even losing untimed actions complete according to the difference of the WSF and the losing die. In this case, we see that Amber's attack will resolve before Murderman's spell completes.