Rounds, Turns & Initiative

Encounter Mode

When every action counts, play switches to encounter mode. Time is split into rounds of 6 seconds of game time, and in each round every participant takes a turn in an established order. On your turn you spend actions; depending on the encounter, you may also get chances to use reactions and free actions on your own turn and on other people's.

Action Points (AP)

You spend Action Points to act on your turn: spells, attacks and other abilities. At the start of each combat round you get 2 AP. An action costs 1 or 2 AP: those costing 2 are marked ② after their name and say so in their description; anything not marked costs 1. Some actions (many maneuvers, for example) cost 2 AP but offer to be performed for 1 by paying an extra resource, such as Strain.

Reaction Points (RP)

Reactions are actions with a Trigger, marked Ⓡ after their name and carrying the REACTION trait. You get 2 Reaction Points per combat round, and you can use a reaction any time its trigger happens and you have RP left to pay for it.

Initiative

When an encounter begins, the GM calls for Initiative: 1d20 + your Initiative modifier (usually your Reflex or Perception). Whoever rolls highest has the Initiative and goes first. The GM usually rolls only for the adversary with the best Initiative modifier, but may roll for as many as they like.

Passing the Initiative (the Bump)

• On your turn you spend your AP. Once it's all spent, if any of your actions was an attack, the target of that attack gets the Initiative and goes next. If you attacked several targets, you choose which of them goes next.
• If that target has no AP left to spend, it chooses who to bump the Initiative to next.
• If none of your actions was an attack, you bump the Initiative to any combatant who still has AP to spend.
• When every combatant has spent all their AP, the round ends. A new round begins with the Initiative passing to the last combatant to be attacked. If the last combatant of a round made no attack, they choose who gets the Initiative at the start of the next round, and play carries on.

Ending Your Turn

When your turn ends, tick down any running timers or effects with a duration in rounds (spells, talents and the like). If you have any Persistent Damage, take that damage now, then roll recovery for it and for any other condition that calls for a check at this time.

Action Traits

Every action has one or more traits. Most just mark what it can trigger; a few carry rules of their own:

• Taxing: you can perform only one action with the Taxing trait per round.
• Stance: stances are taken with the Enter a Stance action, and you can benefit from only one action or talent with the Stance trait at a time. Entering a new stance ends the old one, and you lose all its benefits.