Combat Step by Step

  • 1. Determine surprise. The GM determines whether anyone involved in the combat encounter is surprised.
  • 2. Establish positions. The GM decides where all the characters and monsters are located. Given the adventurers' marching order or their stated positions in the room or other location, the GM figures out where the adversaries are — how far away and in what direction.
  • 3. Roll initiative. Everyone involved in the combat encounter rolls initiative, determining the order of combatants' turns.
  • 4. Take turns. Each participant in the battle takes a turn in initiative order.
  • 5. Begin the next round. When everyone involved in the combat has had a turn, the round ends. Repeat step 4 until the fighting stops.

This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 ("SRD 5.1") by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.