Encounter

About

If your Scene needs to track time closely, then use Encounter rules.

Encounters track time through the Round and player activity through Actions. You are likely already familiar with one form of Encounter: combat! However, Encounters can cover any kind of structured activity, such as a debate, sneaking through a manor, or approaching a beast’s lair.

Let’s cover some basics first.

The Round

A round is a snapshot in time where you and every other character makes one big choice: your Action. A round is “a couple seconds” in most cases.

However, the storyteller can adjust the exact timeframe, and this timeframe does not have to be consistent across Encounters. For example, the storyteller might decide that a round represents a minute while slowly approaching a target or even an hour during a patient stake-out.

The Turn

Your turn highlights two major choices: movement and Action.

Many effects will depend on exact timing such as “start of turn” or “end of turn”. To resolve these in order, here is the exact timing:

  • Your turn begins
  • Effects that specify “Until the start of your next turn” expire
  • Trigger any negative effects that specify “Start of Turn”
    • Examples: Damage, Penalties
  • Trigger any positive effects that specify “Start of Turn”
    • Examples: Healing, free actions
  • Move and take your Action
  • Your Turn ends

If you have a conflict between effects:

  • Positive effects (bonus dice, Challenge bonuses) always expire first.
  • Negative effects expire after positive effects
  • Within each category, you may choose what order to expire them in

Initiative

You and everyone else gets one Turn per Round. The ordering of these Turns is known as Initiative.

This system resolves Initiative by phases based on the power scale of you and your foes.

  • Boss phase: Strong foes go first in the round; the storyteller determines their order
  • Player phase: Player characters and allies go second; you may freely collaborate on exact sequence with your allies
  • Grunt phase: Weaker enemies go third
  • Environmental phase: Most environmental effects and any bystanders go

You must act during the player phase or forfeit your turn.

  • Forfeiting your Turn still triggers start and end of turn effects

Foes that act during Boss phase may choose to delay their Turn and go during the Grunt phase.

New characters that enter a Scene may act on the round they enter, assuming the related phase is not complete

Tactics tip

Time the order you and your allies take your turns to maximize your bonuses.

For example, act early on one turn to grant buffs that last until the start of your next turn; then act late next round to let your allies benefit twice

The abstraction of time

In the world of Seln, a round happens (more or less) simultaneously. Everyone is acting within the same time span.

The initiative order here is built to emphasize the power of the first mover. Those who go first have the power to pick and choose how to act before others. Hence, they set initiative in the military sense of the word; those who follow must react to the circumstances created.

This ordering is crucial when there are contests for the same object. Imagine if everyone wants a gold idol atop a statue. Who gets there first?

  • A boss, if present, snatches the idol immediately by virtue of his superior power
  • The players have the next opportunity
  • Weaker enemies go last, only gaining the idol if no one takes the time to grab it

If everyone in a scene is acting independently, then this ordering is less important. You can imagine all the events happening within the same snapshot of time.