Open4E:Encounters

Encounters

Encounters are periods of fast-paced action where every second counts. Encounters are divided into rounds, which represent about six seconds of action. Within a round, each character gets a turn, which is the point at which they get to act. Encounter challenges are typically combat challenges, where you must fight a group of enemies to determine how well you succeed and what happens next.

Initiative

Whenever a new encounter begins, each player makes an Initiative check to determine the turn order. The DM will then likewise make an Initiative check for each group of enemies in the encounter. Whoever got the highest Initiative check result goes first, and then each other player or NPC goes from next-highest Initiative to lowest. Specific rules for determining your Initiative check bonuses will be provided later.

Sometimes there is a chance that you might be surprised by the start of an encounter. If there is a chance to be surprised, the DM will set a difficulty level for the surprise; your Initiative check then also becomes your check to see if you’re surprised by the encounter. Being surprised means that you have to wait out the first round of the encounter to gather your wits; once everyone who isn’t surprised has gone, you stop being surprised and may participate normally in the second round. Even if there normally isn’t a chance to be surprised, a critical failure on your Initiative check will still cause you to be surprised for the first round of combat.

Taking Your Turn

When it becomes your turn during an encounter, you get to decide what your character does during the next few seconds. During your turn, you can perform four different kinds of actions. You can perform one standard action, one move action, one minor action, and a reasonable number of free actions (where “reasonable” is decided by the DM).

Standard Actions

During your turn, you may perform a single standard action. Standard actions are generally acts that require a good deal of your focus and concentration to pull off. You will have a good number of standard actions that you can perform, based on the choices you make when you create your character. However, all characters can perform the following basic standard actions, regardless of who they are.

Melee attacks are used to attack creatures who are within reach of your weapons, while ranged attacks are used to attack creatures who are too far away to reach with a sword or a spear. When you make a ranged attack, you provoke an opportunity attack from any adjacent creature - the creature can perform a basic melee attack against you as an immediate interrupt.

Basic Melee Attack

• (At-Will Standard Action * Basic Melee Attack)
• Effect: You make a basic melee or unarmed attack against one creature.

Ranged attacks are used to attack creatures who are too far away to reach with a sword or a spear. When you make a ranged attack, you provoke an opportunity attack from any adjacent creature - the creature can perform a basic melee attack against you as an immediate interrupt.

Basic Ranged Attack

• (At-Will Standard Action * Basic Ranged Attack)
• Effect: You make a basic ranged attack against one creature.

Full Defense is used when you don’t want to attack or perform some other action, but don’t want to be hit by an attack either. Full Defense is a stance - an activity that you begin with an action, but continue to maintain until you decide to stop it, or some other event causes the stance to end.

Full Defense

• (At-Will Standard Action * Basic Stance)
• Effect: You enter into a defensive stance, which makes it harder to be attacked by other creatures and lets you catch your breath. More complete rules for the Full Defense action will be provided in the combat section.

Finally, Skills are specific collections of activities that you can gain training in. Most actions that aren’t attacks are covered by making skill-based checks.

Use Skill

• (At-Will Standard, Move, Minor or free Action * Basic Skill Utility)
• Effect: You perform a standard, move, minor or free action listed in the Skill section.

Sometimes, you need to perform an extended action in combat. While this is risky, it is occasionally necessary. Extended actions are handled as stances:

Perform Extended Action

• (At-Will Standard Action * Basic Stance)
• Effect: You begin performing an extended action. If you maintain this stance without interruption for a number of turns equal to the action’s duration in rounds (or ten time the action’s duration in minutes), you may make the check for that action.

Move Actions

During your turn, you may also perform one move action. Move actions generally involve legwork and maneuvering to perform. If you need to move quickly, you may also expend your standard action as if it were a move action, giving you a total of two move actions during your turn.

All characters have a speed rating, which is how fast they can move at a jog in one move action. Speed is measured in five-foot steps; if you have a speed of 3, you can move 15 feet in a turn. The most basic move action that you can perform is to move this distance. However, movement is not particularly defensive - if you are adjacent to a hostile creature when you attempt to move, you provoke an opportunity attack.

Move

• (At-Will Move Action * Basic Movement)
• Effect: You move a number of 5-foot squares equal to your speed.

If you need to move move safely, you may shift. Shifting only moves you five feet, but you maintain full awareness of all threats around you, and so you do not provoke opportunity attacks while shifting.

Shift

• (At-Will Move Action * Basic Movement)
• Effect: You shift one 5-foot square.

Some areas are more difficult to move through than others. Each square of difficult terrain counts as two squares, so you may not normally shift through it in a single move action. If you use two different actions to move, you may combine them into a single movement and count your speed as doubled for this movement - either shifting two squares (or shifting through one square of difficult terrain), or moving a total number of squares equal to twice your speed (counting each square of difficult terrain twice).

Minor Actions

You may also perform one minor action during your turn. Minor actions are simple, reflexive acts that you can perform without paying much attention, such as picking up an item, pulling something out of a pocket or holster, or taking a drink from a bottle. If you need to do several simple things in a turn, you may also expend your move action or your standard action or both as if they were minor actions, giving you a total of two or three minor actions during your turn.

Drink Potion

• (At-Will Minor Action * Basic Utility)
• Effect: You drink a readied potion.

Draw or Sheath Weapon

• (At-Will Minor Action * Basic Utility)
• Effect: You draw and ready a weapon, or return a wielded weapon to its sheath.

Free Actions

Free Actions are simple things that you can do without really thinking about, such as speak a few words or give a hand signal. You can perform any number of free actions during your turn, but if it stretches the limits of credulity or bogs down play the DM is likely to cut you off and tell you to move on.

Reacting to Other People’s Actions

There are certain actions that you may perform in response to another character’s action. These are called Immediate Actions. You may perform one Immediate Action per turn, whether it’s your turn or not, but all immediate actions have a ‘trigger’ that must be fulfilled before you can perform the immediate action.

Immediate Responses

There are two kinds of immediate actions that you may take in response to an event: Immediate Reactions and Immediate Interrupts. Immediate Reactions must be performed after the triggering event has fully resolved; you get to perform your action in response to theirs. Immediate Interrupts, on the other hand, happen before the triggering event has resolved - if an Immediate Interrupt changes the circumstances around their action, you might cause that action to fail or succeed when it otherwise would not have, or enhance or degrade the effects of their success or failure.

Opportunity Attack

• (At-Will Immediate Interrupt * Basic Melee Weapon Attack)
• Trigger: An adjacent enemy attempts to move out of their square without shifting, or attempts to make a ranged attack, or performs another action that provokes opportunity.
• Effect: You make a basic melee attack against the provoking creature.

Free Responses

In addition to immediate responses, some special powers or feats will allow you to take Free Reactions or Free Interrupts. A Free Reaction is just like an Immediate Reaction, except that you may perform any number of them per turn. Similarly, a Free Interrupt is just like an Immediate Interrupt, except that you may perform any number of them per turn. You may only respond to a single action once with any single response, however - you cannot perform a single response several times to the same triggering event.

Automatic Responses

Some responses occur automatically, even if you cannot perform a free or immediate action or response. These operate identically to free responses, except that you can perform them even while stunned or unconscious.