Group Turns (PSR Supplement)
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Common Hazards
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| This provides strategic opportunities and encourages teamwork, while making encounters generally flow much faster. Especially after players grow used to it, players who decide quickly can make up for those who want to spend more time weighing their options. If playing with a combat grid, players can even move their figures at the same time.
Similarly, the narrator can generally spend less time maneuvering if multiple monsters can be moved at once. Who takes the first turn becomes a huge factor in deciding a combat's outcome, as in some cases a combat will be decided with one group's turn. From one perspective, this can make it all the more important to scout ahead and get the drop on enemies with hiding or surprise. From another perspective, this can make combat feel unfair if an entire side gangs up on one creature to finish them off quickly. To mitigate this potential drawback, the narrator might decide that the bottom half of a group — those who in the group check rolled below the median — are Surprised during the first turn. This prevents the first group from potentially overpowering the second so quickly. |
Group turns are recommended for most groups, especially those who have played before. Teamwork is emphasized for faster and weightier combat.
In this method, all allies take their turns simultaneously, and all enemies take their turns simultaneously.
If turn order is decided by an ability check, a group check is made to decide which group goes first.
Each creature still takes an action and moves as it would with an individual turn. Players can delay to wait for each other, or move pieces simultaneously, or decide what to do together in a strategic conversation.