# How a game plays

What every game on RPGForge plays like, whatever its world. Read this before telling anyone what
the engine can or can't do.

## Turns

The player types what they do in plain words. One action is one turn: the engine settles it
(rolls, damage, trades, travel, time passing) and the narrator writes what happened. Uncertain
actions roll a d20 against the situation, with any [skill](/docs/skills) rank added.

Travel goes between [connected locations](/docs/map), and the trip takes game time by distance.

## Combat

Combat is **turn-based in rounds**. One command is the player's action for the round; everyone
else in the fight acts in the same round, in initiative order (the quicker act first, so a blow
that drops someone lands before their own action).

- Attacks roll to hit; damage comes from the weapon and a stat (strength for melee, agility for
  ranged).
- [Abilities](/docs/items-creatures) cost resources and have cooldowns; effects (poison, stun,
  buffs) tick each round.
- Party members, recruited NPCs and summoned companions fight on the player's side.
- Anyone can try to flee, opposed by the side they are running from.

**No grid and no positions.** A fight happens at one location, and everyone in it can reach
everyone else. There is no movement, range or facing inside a scene. A game wanting tactical
positioning can approximate it with [fields](/docs/fields) (cover, a high ground flag), not a
map.

## Multiplayer

Every game is multiplayer with no setup. The host opens their session to friends, who join with
their own characters, before the start or mid-game with the host's approval. The engine handles
it as one party:

- Each player sends an action every turn and the turn resolves them together, once everyone has
  acted, the host's turn timer runs out, or the host moves it on.
- The party shares one location and travels together; it can't split up.
- In a fight, each player's action takes its place in the round's initiative order.

## Not part of the engine

- A tactical grid or positioning (above).
- Splitting the party across locations.
- Real-time play: nothing happens between turns.
- New screens, panels or minigames, see [What you can't build](/docs/limits).