The first step in any encounter is to roll Initiative. Initiative is determined on a faction-by-faction basis. Each faction rolls their own Initiative to establish turn order. For the player characters, they should pick one team member who is assumed to roll Initiative for their side.

To determine Initiative, each faction rolls 1d12. Initiative proceeds from the highest roll to the lowest. If two factions roll the same value, they each roll again to determine which among them goes first. The actual Initiative values do not matter once the Initiative order is determined.

When a faction's turn in the Initiative order comes up, they choose any one member of their faction who has not already had a turn. If the faction has fewer than half as many characters left to take a turn as all other factions, they can choose to pass their turn. There is no penalty for doing so.

When a character has completed their turn, they cannot take another turn until every character, from all factions, has had a turn. When every character from all factions has had a turn, the current round ends.

At times, one party will have completely caught the other side unprepared for battle. This is referred to as Surprise, and imposes a very bad starting position on the surprised party. The Director determines who might be surprised.

If neither side tries to be stealthy, they automatically notice each other. The combat starts with no Surprise on either side.

On the other hand, if one party is attempting to sneak up on another, find the lowest Stealth skill among the members of that party, and add 10 to it to determine their Stealth TN. Each member of the other party rolls Perception against that Stealth TN. Any member who fails this Perception check is Surprised.

If two parties both equally surprise each other—such as a party of adventurers opening a door, to find a monster on the other side—this can be treated as no Surprise.

If you're surprised, the following penalties apply to you.

• You can't take any action on your first turn of the combat, and you do not replenish your Reaction on that turn. (You can still move.)
• You grant favour to any attacks made against you until the end of your first turn.

A member of a group can be surprised even if the other members of that group are not. The Director can always mandate surprise, rather than requiring rolls.