My idea for a solution:
When a party member enters combat, force everyone within effective range into Time-Based mode, and into the combat initiative queue at the top of the screen.
Even if out of combat, everyone within effective range of combat should adhere to the laws of time dilation and queue order.
+1
Party members who don't initiate the combat can obviously stay stealthed and maybe even participate in a surprise round.
If any party members are outside the "effective range", then they enter initiative (rolling for it=don't automatically get an instant free turn) the moment they enter that range. Additionally, this combat bubble should be large enough that you can't attack enemies while outside that range.
Yeah. In theory, I agree. However, like I said, in practice this does get frustrating. Trying to maneuver 4 characters one at a time into positions I want them to be in is VERY frustrating when the enemies are constantly on patrol, etc. Then you THINK you have someone in place so they won't be spotted only to have some enemy turn and BAM! They spotted the person you just got into position. Then suddenly you have 1 person in place but 3 others still sitting where you left them. You were about to try to get them in place, but now they've all been sucked into combat.
However, if you trigger 1 character and the enemies are frozen, you can still maneuver your others into advantageous positions more easily. This can be VERY helpful. Yes, it isn't perfect, but It definitely makes it a LOT less frustrating.
I've tried this numerous times. Seriously. It's frustrating as heck trying to maneuver 4 characters, 1 at a time, into place while a group of enemies are constantly moving. And I can't tell you how many times I thought someone like Astarion was in a spot where he wouldn't get spotted only to have an enemy somehow spot him. If the entire party got pulled into combat as soon as 1 character was spotted, I'd be stuck with only Astarion in place while the others are in some weird positions because I wasn't able to get them into place before Astarion got spotted.
This said. Yes. It's a mechanic that can be exploited. You can have 1 character trigger a group of enemies into combat and then have the rest just roam all about, steal stuff, have a party, etc. without anyone stopping them. That's dumb. There's no doubt about that. However, I have considered that the opposite is true. It could get very frustrating trying to position your team if they are all sucked into combat as soon as 1 gets spotted.
