Turn order

When combat begins, the turn order of the encounter is determined before the fighting starts. This is called Initiative. All combatants roll a d20 and add their Dexterity Bonus to the total. The highest total begins their turn first, then the second highest, and so on. If there is a tie in the Initiative order, the combatant with the higher Dexterity Bonus goes before the other combatant they tied with. If a new combatant enters the fray after the fighting has began, they roll for initiative and are entered into the turn order. The new combatant does not act until their turn and may not perform Reactions until then.

Rounds in combat

A new round begins when the first combatant in the initiative order begins their turn. One round of combat is 5 seconds. A minute of fighting is equal to 12 rounds. If an effect states that it lasts a certain duration or a number of rounds, the turn of the combatant who originated the effect is considered to be the 0th second and their next turn is considered the 5th second. Meaning an effect that lasts for 5 seconds expires at the beginning of the combatant's next turn; 10 seconds is the turn after that, and so on.

During your turn

During your turn, you have action resources which you can spend to influence the battle. These are called: Action, Quick Action, and Interaction. You may perform up to all three of these action resources during your turn.

• Action: This is the main action that you can perform during your turn. The full list is described later in the Actions section. Typically it is performing an Attack, casting a spell, or some other action that would require most of the time in your turn.
• Quick Action: This is a lesser, quicker action that does not require as much time to perform as a regular Action. Some spells of lesser consequence fall into this action resource.
• Interaction: This is what you would use to "interact" with an object. You can use this action resource to open a door, hand someone an object, pick up an object, or change out the weapon you are wielding. If it is a type of action that would require focus or effort, such as unlocking a door with a key or lock-picking kit, flipping over a table to create cover, or disarming a hostile creature, that may instead require your Action. Your game master should determine which it will be. You may perform these action resources in any order you choose.

Movement

On your turn, you may also move. On a grid, regardless of if it is squares or hexagons, this is done in 5ft increments. On square grids, a diagonal movement is 7ft. In most instances, you will have a base walking speed of 30ft. On your turn, you can travel up to that 30ft in any direction you please, so long as your movement does not exceed your available movement speeds. You can walk 6 tiles in a straight line, or 3 tiles north, then 3 tiles west, or any other movement pattern you want.

Backtracking along the same path you have traveled in your turn requires that you have the movement speed available to do so. For example, if you move 20ft forward and wish to back pedal towards where you began your turn, you may only move 10ft in that direction.

You may also move and spend your action resources in any order. For instance, you can move 10ft, Attack a creature as your Action, move back 5ft, hand your ally a potion as an Interaction, then pivot and move in a random direction for 15ft, and finally use your Quick Action to cast a spell.

If you have multiple movement speeds available to you, they are all used in tandem, regardless of which one you are currently using. For example, if you have a base walking speed of 30ft, and a Trait grants you a swimming speed of 45ft, you may walk up to 30ft, then swim another 15ft. If you are not next to a swimmable body of water after expending your 30ft of walking, you must stop and cannot spend your remaining 15ft of swim speed. If you choose to swim 30ft or more, you cannot then spend any walking speed.

Outside of your turn

Outside of your turn, you typically must wait and let the battle unfold as other combatants act and complete their turns. However, you have an additional action resource that can be spent outside of your turn called a Reaction. In most cases, you must have a special Trait or know a spell which can be performed as a Reaction. For instance, if you know the spell "Counterspell," you may perform that as a Reaction when a creature casts a spell to try to prevent them from doing so.