An encounter begins when characters meet a monster due to a planned encounter in the explored area or because a wandering monster check (see Wandering Monsters) indicates an encounter.

A check for surprise is made for any side that is not expecting the encounter. For example, if a monster spotted an approaching party’s torch light and waited quietly, the monster would not need to roll surprise, but the party would.

Characters or monsters that carry a light in a dark environment usually cannot surprise opponents because the light gives their presence away.

Each side that is unaware of the other’s presence rolls 1d6.

Monsters: The referee rolls for monsters.

PCs: One player rolls for the adventuring party as a whole.

Results: A result of 1 or 2 means the side is surprised.

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

One side surprised: The side that is not surprised gains a one-round advantage. The surprised side cannot act that round.

The situation in which the encounter occurs often determines how far away the monster is. If there is uncertainty, the encounter distance may be determined randomly:

(See Combat for complete details.)

Roll 1d6: For each side, at the start of each round.

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

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

The players decide how they will act.

The referee determines the monsters’ reaction to the party. Sometimes, circumstances make it obvious how a monster will react. Otherwise, the referee may roll on the table below to determine how a monster reacts to the party.

Charisma: If one specific character attempts to speak with the monsters, that character’s NPC reactions modifier due to CHA (see Ability Scores) is used to modify the monster reaction roll.

Any action is possible in an encounter, but the following are common:

Encounter movement rate: During encounters, a character can move up to one-third of their base movement rate per round in feet (in the dungeon) or yards (in the wilderness). For example, a character whose base movement rate is 120’ could move 40’ per round during a dungeon encounter.

Maximum duration: Characters may move at this rate for at most 60 rounds (one turn).

If one side wishes to avoid an encounter, it may attempt to flee. This is called evasion and is only possible before combat has begun. When a side decides to try an evasion, the opposing side must decide whether or not to pursue it. Players May decide freely whether they wish to pursue fleeing monsters.

Monsters: The referee must decide whether monsters pursue fleeing PCs. (A low roll on the Monster Reactions table may be taken to indicate that the monster will pursue.)

No pursuit: If the opposing side decides to let the other side flee, the evasion automatically succeeds; the encounter is avoided.

Pursuit: If the opposing side gives chase, the chance of the evasion succeeding depends on the explored environment. See Evasion and Pursuit.

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 afterward.