14
Active Initiative
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to wait in line to take their turn—the flow of battle
is always dynamic and unpredictable. Work with
your allies to support each other, chain together
powers and tactics, and exploit weak points as one well-
oiled team of adventurers.
This chapter introduces the Active Initiative system,
allowing players to choose who acts next in the round.
The Dynamic Round
With Active Initiative, there is no pre-determined order of
initiative. Instead, once a person has finished their turn,
they get to choose who goes next—another player, group
of monsters, or environmental hazard.
A basic round follows four simple steps:
1. Who goes first?: Decide who triggered the scene and
acted first. Did you throw the first punch?
2. Take turns: Take your turn. Once you've finished your
actions, you get to pick who goes next.
3. End the round: Once everyone's finished their turn,
end the round and clear up any expired effects.
4. Start a new round: If there's still conflict, the last
person to act gets to decide who starts the new round.
Why Use Active Initiative?
There are four main benefits of switching to Active Initiative:
1. Better teamwork: Players can work together more easily
to chain their actions togther into big combo-moves.
2. More communication: Players talk more to each other.
3. More attentive players: Players are actively watching
what's happening for opportunities to jump in and act.
4. It's easy: No dice or math—just say who goes next.
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Step 1. Who Goes First?
The first step is to figure out who acted first and
triggered the scene. Most times it will be obvious which
character started things—someone throws the first
punch, or steps on the trap, or casts a spell.
DM: You're surrounded, Valiant. The hobgoblin
sneers at you. "Throw down your weapon, cleric, and
maybe we'll only cut off one hand."
Valiant: Pft, I haven't forgotten last time—never trust
a hobgoblin. I raise my shield and charge.
DM: You're triggering the fight, Valiant—you have
the first turn.
If it's not obvious who acted first, you can determine this
randomly by rolling for initiative—whoever rolls highest
goes first. After that first turn is complete, switch to
dynamic turn ordering as described here.
Step 2. Take Turns
Take your turn as normal. Once you've finished your
actions, you get to pick who goes next—this can be any
other character, creature, hazard, or group of monsters
that hasn't acted yet in the current round.
Interrupting: Anyone who took damage during your
turn can steal the initiative from you at the end of your
turn (see Interrupting), so be careful who you attack.
Delaying
You cannot pass or delay once your turn begins, but you
can ready an action. This doesn't change your turn order
—if your triggered action is the last act in a turn, you
don't get to choose the next person to act.
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 Monster Groups
To prevent a routine side-vs-side combat or scene, make
sure to create a variety of taggable groups. Avoid using large
groups of monsters—break them up and aim for 1 taggable
monster or group per player at the start of a scene.
Step 3. End the Round
Once all characters and creatures have finished their
turn, end the round as normal and clear up any expired
effects—spells, powers, timers, etc.
Effect Duration
Effects that last a specific duration of rounds tick down
at the end of each round. Once a duration reaches 0, the
effect has ended and can be removed.
Any effects that would expire at the start or end of
your turn are unchanged, expiring as normal.
Valiant casts Bless—a concentration spell that lasts for
1 minute (10 rounds). At the end of each round, the
remaining duration simply decreases by 1 round.
Clanda, meanwhile, uses Shield to deflect an attack.
This spell ends whenever she takes her next turn.
Step 4. Start a New Round
If there's still conflict to resolve, start a new round. The
last person to act in the current round decides who starts
the new round—they cannot pick themselves.
Interrupting
If you haven't taken your turn yet this round, you have a
chance to steal the initiative and take the next turn—even
if you were not nominated. This is called an interrupt.
There are two main ways in which you can do this:
1. You can spend an Inspiration Point to interrupt.
2. If you took damage during the last turn, you can
choose to interrupt for free.
If you choose to interrupt, you must do so before the next
person starts their turn. You can't interrupt if you've
already acted this round, and you can't interrupt an ally.
Monster Interrupt Points
Each scene, the DM gets one free Interrupt Point per
player. The DM may spend one of these points to steal
the initiative, but can only use one point per round.
Interrupts & Inspiration
Interrupt Points exist to give the DM a power similar to
player Inspiration Points. But if Inspiration is not a common
feature in your game—or players aren't spending their points
to make interrupts—don't give the DM any Interrupt Points.
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Example of Play
Here's an example of how to use Active Initiative in a
basic round of combat—Chansi, Valiant, and Clanda are
fighting a hobgoblin and four goblins. With three players,
the DM has three Interrupt Points for this scene.
Chansi makes an attack, but draws attention to
herself in the process. She then passes over to Valiant.
DM: The hobgoblin roars an order out to the goblins
and they spring forward. Chansi, you've got the highest
initiative—what do you do?
Chansi: I fire an arrow at the hobgoblin... (rolls 11)
oof, that's a bad start.
DM: Your arrow misses by a wide margin. The
hobgoblin shouts, and three of the goblins look at you.
Chansi: That doesn't sound good. Valiant, might
need you to draw some attention here...
Valiant: I'm on it. I move forward and strike at the
nearest goblin with my war pick (rolls 16).
DM: The goblin curses aloud as you hit it. How
much damage does it take?
Valiant: 6 points. Then with my War Priest initiative, I
swing round to hit another goblin (rolls 17).
DM: Another hit—the goblin screeches as it takes...?
Valiant: 7 points of damage. Now that should get
their attention.
Having finished his turn, Valiant prepares to pass over to
Clanda. The DM, however, chooses to interrupt with one
of the monsters.
As the goblins took damage during Valiant's turn, they
could interrupt for free. However, the DM spends an
Interrupt Point to allow the hobgoblin to act instead.
Valiant: Ok Clanda, you're up next.
Clanda: Perfect. I—
DM: Before you can act, Clanda, the hobgoblin
interrupts (spends an Interrupt Point) and leaps
forward towards Valiant. He swings his longsword in a
fierce two-handed arc and hits, dealing 6 damage.
Valiant: Ouch.
DM: And with the goblins around you, Valiant, the
hobgoblin's attack is even more dangerous thanks to
Martial Advantage—take another 7 points of damage.
Valiant: Son of a...
DM: The hobgoblin laughs coldly, licking the blood
from its blade. "You have my attention, little cleric," he
sneers. The goblins begin to move—
Clanda: I think not (spends an Inspiration Point to
Interrupt). Enough of this nonsense. Don't move,
Valiant, unless you want this Fireball in your face...
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