Maybe I'm missing some key ruling that specifically does not allow to do this but is there something forbidding me to use devise a stratagem repeatedly out of combat (in exploration mode, whatever) untill i get a 20 or a high enough number to satisfy me and then attack starting combat? Does everyone start rolling initiative in the moment i first say that i will use devise a stratagem?
Maybe i am looking at it the wrong way but i am having a hard time determining how the transition from exploring and combat works and when it happens.
Devise a Strategem is/takes an action, and you only have actions in encounter mode---specifically, you get three each time your turn comes up in the round. So yes, when you want to use it that moves things into encounter mode and everyone rolls initiative.
Devise a Strategem is/takes an action, and you only have actions in encounter mode---specifically, you get three each time your turn comes up in the round. So yes, when you want to use it that moves things into encounter mode and everyone rolls initiative.
but if the encounter is a situation where you dont immediatly fight, say the team is undetected or you are having a talk with the enemy like in a hostage situation, can i start using it untill i get something i like and THEN shoot the guy in the face? I suppose that in such a case the round will go by with other people using their actions to talk
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I don't think "you don't get any actions out of combat" is really a good description - you do plenty of things that take actions out of combat, like opening doors (Interact action) or looking around (the Search exploration tactic is basically you spamming Seek actions); but the timing is a bit abstracted because Exploration Mode is what you use to speed along the game when super-exact timing isn't needed.
So does that mean you can Devise and Devise again until you see a 20 and then start combat?
Not really. For starters, Devise Stratagem gives you a preview of the d20 roll you make that round, and if you're not in initiative yet, then you're not in rounds so that's meaningless; if you're not working in rounds how would you know when a round has passed and you can try to Devise a new d20 roll?
Also, it would be reasonable for the GM to decide that using Devise Stratagem counts as starting combat:
When do you ask players to roll initiative? In most cases, it’s pretty simple: you call for the roll as soon as one articipant intends to attack (or issue a challenge, draw a weapon, cast a preparatory spell, start a social encounter such as a debate, or otherwise begin to use an action that their foes can’t help but notice).
You trying the feel of the d20 to see if there's a nice roll in there is quite comparable to drawing a weapon; both could perhaps be done sneakily, but they're in the list of combat-starting actions anyway.
The way you resolve this is that as soon as you decide to initiate combat, initiative is rolled. (Though in the case of ambush from stealth, you would have already rolled to Avoid Notice and that would be your initiative.) Notably, it is not rolled when you actually comit violence.
In order to do what you're talking about, you'd need all of your allies to roll high enough on stealth or deception to not "tip off" the enemies. If everyone beats the Perception DCs of the enemies AND rolls higher initiative than any of the enemies do, then you go into rounds which pass with people talking and as a GM I'd let you Devise until you get a 20.
If anyone fails to clear the Perception DCs of the enemies, that PC tips off those enemies that the bat guano is about to hit the fan, and you'll need to act accordingly.
If everyone clears the Deception DCs of the enemy but one enemy rolls highest in initiative, then that character's instincts are screaming danger at them, but they don't know from where. At which point they can start Seeking or Sensing Motive to find the source of the danger as appropriate, or otherwise take defensive actions.
So it is possible, but hard to do alongside an entire party.
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Personally, I see no problem with this and would allow it.
As Captain Morgan notes, this requires the whole party to make Deception checks to not give themselves away, but that aside, this 100% should work thematically and logically, so I'd let it.
All it does is occasionally, when you successfully con an opponent or sneak up on them, give a free crit. That will seldom, on its own, even take them out and due to how initiative works, there are no surprise rounds any more, so it probably requires your whole turn on the first round of combat (one action Devise, one action draw weapon or move, one action attack). It's good, and rewards prior planning...but an ability literally called Devise A Stratagem rewarding strategic use sounds right to me.
The GM could also, if they wished, and per the 'Improvising New Activities' sidebar on p. 498 have the right to say that if you're doing anything other than quietly observing (ie: spending more than one action per round...so doing anything other than Devise A Stratagem) then doing so might cause you to become Fatigued or have limited use. Or say that even keeping up a conversation is at least an action evry two rounds and you can thus only do this every other round (or five times per minute), meaning you'd need to, on average, keep someone talking for four or five minutes to crit-fish properly. Personally, I don't think that's usually gonna be necessary, but it's within the guidelines.
In any case, observing from hiding should definitely work, making Investigators excellent assassins, but I think that's pretty appropriate as well.