1) Ah, I see... Wouldn't know if that's stated anywhere officially. I'd rule: Yes, it does work against 2 opponents. Fending them both off is harder than fending off one foe (because you have to split the OB), so that's penalty enough. Making leaving combat even harder serves no other purpose but making your characters easier to kill in an ambush.
2) I think if you just leave, your foe does get a free attack (see below). Disengage helps you to put enough distance between you and the foe (or make flight possible through some other combat trick, I suppose. More distance is just the one that seems most logical to me).
3) I wouldn't know a rule, it just makes sense to me that way. Iniative is a very abstract thing. Let's say your player gets initiative 18, the opponent gets 14. Assuming the PC chose to move (I'd definitely let players choose their actions for a round and
then roll initiative), he starts moving first.
But the opponent is just a
little slower. If your PC turns and moves, I'd just state that of course the "move & attack" of the foe comes in time. Especially because he sees that the player is about to leave, he'll probably hit extra hard.
To me, initiative is a very narrow thing. Keep in mind that Raysr always points out that a single attack roll doesn't mean there's one single attack. It could mean many swift attacks, a back and fro between opponents... anything that fits in 2 seconds. So a won initiative roll means you're a little quicker that round, and maybe can hurt your opponent before he can hurt you. If so, he loses his action.
But walking (or even running) away doesn't seem to fit in that tiny fragment of time.
Try to think it through in real life. If you're wrestling with someone, even in play, whoever is quicker will be able to gain a better position in the fight. That's initiative, allright. But what's your friends chance to just get away from you? Very low, I'd say, unless he pushes you away somehow before he tries to run. And that would be a perfect example for a disengage maneuver
Don't try to work hard to be within the rules. Try to make the rules work hard for you, so you have a better gaming experience. They should reflect reality to a certain extent, so just interpret them in the way that makes the most sense to you. My interpretation is the one above, but I assume there could be others.
Best regards,
Jan
PS: If you want disengage to be a little tougher, try a bonus on the initiative roll next round (say, +10). Only if the player moves before his opponent, is he free to run. Otherwise, it didn't work.
Edit:
What happens if you wait until you win initiative and then simply move away?
Ah - that shouldn't happen. You have to declare your action before you roll initiative. Otherwise, you use meta-knowledge to your advantage. (In a real fight, you can't wait to see if your opponent attacks or plans to parry, at least not in time to decide what you do. Everyone just starts doing what their doing, and then - chaos. There are just very few exceptions (sudden dodge, instant spell), otherwise you have to stick with what you chose).
