1. Awareness: The Referee establishes whether either side is already aware of the other.
2. Surprise: The Referee rolls for surprise, if applicable.
3. Encounter distance: The Referee determines the distance between the two sides.
4. Initiative: Any sides that are not surprised roll initiative to determine who acts first.
5. Actions: Any sides that are not surprised decide how they will respond to the encounter. The encounter is played out accordingly.
6. Conclusion: One Turn has passed.

Typically there are two sides in an encounter—a PC adventuring party and a group of NPCs or monsters. It is possible to have more than two sides in situations where multiple independent groups meet.

Sometimes one group is already aware of the other’s presence, negating the chance of being surprised. The Referee should judge this based on the situation—e.g. a group making a lot of noise or carrying a light in the dark usually makes its presence known to others at some distance.

Example: An adventuring party exploring a dank cave network approaches the cobweb-strewn lair of a giant spider. The spider has spotted the approaching party’s torch light and lies quietly in wait. The spider does not need to make a Surprise Roll, but the party will.

A Surprise Roll is made for any side that is not already aware of the other’s presence. See Stealth for more details on avoiding detection.

Surprise Rolls: Each side unaware of the other’s presence rolls to see if they are surprised. One player rolls for the adventuring party as a whole, and the Referee rolls for each other side.

Chance of being surprised: The standard chance of a side being surprised is 2-in-6. This may be modified in certain situations. For example, attacking from hiding (see Stealth) increases the chance of the opposing side being surprised by 1, to 3-in-6.

Neither side surprised: Neither side has any advantage.

One side surprised: The unsurprised side gains a 1 Round advantage, during which the surprised side cannot act.

Both sides surprised: There is simply a momentary confusion—neither side has any advantage.

The situation in which an encounter occurs often determines the distance between the two sides. If there is uncertainty, determine the distance randomly.

Dungeon: 2d6 × 10′. (1d4 × 10′ if both sides are surprised.)

Outdoors: 2d6 × 30′. (1d4 × 30′ if both sides are surprised.)

Awareness: Encounter distance indicates the distance at which one or both sides (determined by surprise) become aware of the other. This may be due to sighting, scent, sounds of movement, and so on.

Direction: Unless the situation dictates otherwise, both sides are headed roughly towards each other.

Initiative determines which side acts first in an encounter.

Initiative Rolls: Each side rolls 1d6. One player rolls for the adventuring party as a whole, and the Referee rolls for each other side.

Highest roll wins: The side with the highest roll acts first, followed by other sides in order from highest to lowest initiative.

Ties: Either both sides may roll again, or actions on both sides may be resolved simultaneously.

Waiting: A side may choose to voluntarily lose initiative, waiting to react to the other side’s actions.

The players decide their characters’ actions and the Referee determines the actions of other sides (see Monster and NPC Reactions). The following actions are common.

If one side attacks, casts spells, or makes tactical movement, follow the procedure under Combat. Use the previously rolled initiative for the first Round of combat, re-rolling in the second and subsequent Rounds.

If one side wishes to avoid an encounter, it may attempt to flee. The opposing side must decide whether or not to pursue.

Surprise: If not obviously visible, a side with surprise may avoid the encounter altogether by turning back, waiting quietly, or attempting to sneak past.

Choosing to pursue: Players decide whether to pursue fleeing monsters or NPCs. The Referee decides whether monsters or NPCs pursue fleeing PCs, based on their disposition (possibly making a Reaction Roll—see Monster and NPC Reactions). If the opposing side decides to let the other side flee, then the encounter is avoided.

Pursuit: If the opposing side gives chase, it is assumed that both sides are running—moving at 3 times their Speed in feet per Round (see Time and Movement). Game time proceeds in Rounds, with the location of the two sides carefully tracked to determine their relative positions.

Ending a pursuit: A pursuit ends if the fleeing side is caught or if the pursuing side decides to give up the chase. Monsters often break off a pursuit if they lose sight of characters (as determined by the Referee).

Obstacles and distractions: The fleeing side may create obstacles to block pursuit (e.g. burning oil) or drop items to distract pursuers. Creatures that value wealth may stop pursuit if characters drop treasure (3-in-6 chance), and ravenous creatures may stop pursuit if characters drop food (3-in-6 chance).

A side may attempt to communicate with the other. If PCs begin an encounter with an attempt to parley, the Charisma of the speaking character can influence the other side’s reaction. See Monster and NPC Reactions.

A side may decide to wait to see how the other side acts, essentially forfeiting any element of surprise or initiative it may have had.

Circumstances often make it obvious how a monster or NPC will react upon encountering adventurers. If unsure, the Referee may make a Reaction Roll.

Reaction Rolls: Roll 2d6 on the Encounter Reactions table to determine a creature’s initial disposition when encountered.

Charisma: When parleying, the Charisma Modifier of the speaking PC is applied to Reaction Rolls.

An encounter is assumed to take at least one full Turn to complete, including time to rest, regroup, clean weapons, bind wounds, and so on, afterwards.