Real-time implications in combat

[wotmaniac]

When you play out a combat scene or some other activity for which time is measured in rounds, it can be important to remember that all the PCs’ and NPCs’ actions are occurring simultaneously.  For instance, in one 6-second round, Mialee might be trying to cast a spell at the same time that Lidda is moving in to make a sneak attack.
However, when everyone at the table plays out a combat round, each individual acts in turn according to the initiative count for his character. Obviously, this is necessary, because if every individual took his turn at the same time, mass confusion would result. However, this sequential order of play can occasionally lead to situations when something significant happens to a character at the end of his turn but before other characters have acted in the same round.
For instance, suppose Tordek hustles 15 feet ahead of his friends down a corridor, turns a corner, and hustles another 10 feet down a branching corridor, only to trigger a trap at the end of his turn. In order to maintain the appearance of simultaneous activity, you’re within your rights to rule that Tordek doesn’t trigger the trap until the end of the round. After all, it takes him some time to get down the corridor, and in an actual real-time situation the other characters who have yet to act in the round would be taking their actions during this same time.

So I got to thinking -- given the above, would it make sense that characters/creatures that move during their round (more than 5ft., that is) would have some sort of AC bonus or something (or give the attacker a penalty; or whatever)?  Not necessarily anything big; just a little something that represents the fact that it is indeed harder to hit a moving target than a stationary target.  Maybe ranged attackers are differently effected than melee attackers; maybe not.
The only real implication that I see is right off the bat is the direct trade-off between taking your full-round action and increasing your defense.
Like I said, just a thought.

Discuss.

[RobbyPants]

The first big ramification I see is it largely punishes characters who rely on full attacks to get their expected amount of damage. Anyone who can do level-appropriate things on a standard action will benefit from this, and as a general rule, they're already better off than those that can't.

Short version: fighters would get the shaft yet again.

[dman11235]

I think that's already taken into account.  I mean, you don't occupy a full 5' cube, and you move around while you're in combat, even if "standing still".  that's where the dex bonus to AC comes from, and the base +10 AC.  Also dodge bonuses.  And really, it's no easier to hit someone who's dodging around (the dex bonus/+10 bonus/dodge bonuses) than someone who's moving in a straight line....that you can lead....

[wotmaniac]

Ah, okay .... so, more of a conceptualization issue on my part.
Cool.  Thanks.

[RobbyPants]

This type of thing might work better in the form of a ground-up project. D&D combat has so much baggage with it, what with the core rules, and all of the supplemental material. It's hard to come up with anything that won't have unforeseen consequences in some odd part of the game.

Back in 2E, something like this could have worked better, because there were no AoOs and you could get all of your attacks for a round when you moved. So, you would have had people caromming about the battlefield, but no one would be marginalized for it.