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◀ Rulebooks

Ver. 1.3.1

Game Phases

As you move through the game world, your party will encounter a variety of obstacles to overcome, characters to interact with, and threats to defend against. Each situation has its own level of urgency and intensity, and requires different rules for players interacting with the GM. As you play, the game will shift between three game phases: Adventure, Interaction, and Combat.

A change of game phase is triggered whenever a certain type of encounter begins or ends. Each phase has different rules regarding player turn order and the passage of time.

Adventure

Main Page: Adventuring Overview

This is the "default" state of gameplay, where most campaigns spend the majority of time. The party moves through the world, travelling and exploring their environment, and using ability checks to overcome obstacles.

Turn Order: Each player is allowed one non-trivial action per turn. Players take their turns in a clockwise fashion around the table, starting with the player to the GM's left. Characters can speak to each other at any time, but may not declare actions out-of-turn except to assist another party member.

Time: The amount of time between turns and actions varies at the GM's discretion.

Social Interaction

Main Page: Interaction Overview

When the party takes a break from adventuring to have a conversation with one or more non-player characters, the Interaction phase starts. During Interaction, player and non-player characters may speak freely attempt various social skill checks against one another. Non-social actions cannot be made without first leaving the conversation, which may cause the phase to change to Adventure or Combat.

Turn Order: There is no turn order during interaction. Anyone in the conversation can speak at any time. If a player says anything that requires a check, the GM will freeze the conversation to call for one. When this happens, no one may speak in-character until the result of the check is known and the GM resumes the conversation.

Time: Interaction happens in real time, except when the conversation is paused for a check.

Combat

Main Page: Combat Overview

The Combat phase is the most detailed and mechanically complex of the three. Combat starts whenever a creature is hostile towards at least one party member. Whenever combat begins, the GM will ask for each player to make an Initiative check.

Turn Order: The order is decided by the results of initiative checks at the start of combat. The highest number goes first, then the second-highest, and so on. The GM decides ties. Combatants' turns are each divided into frames, with some actions taking multiple frames to complete. Due to the fast and frantic nature of combat, communication between players should be kept quick and concise.

Time: A round of combat takes place in roughly six seconds of in-game time. Each combatant's turn is divided into action frames equal to their turn length. The duration of a round remains six seconds, so creatures with a higher turn length value complete their action frames in a shorter time. For the purposes of calculating the duration of status effects and other temporary conditions, one minute of in-game time is equal to ten rounds.

Combat ends whenever there are no longer any hostilities between party members and other creatures in the area, either because they are all dead, incapacitated, separated and unable to attack, or otherwise no longer aggressive.