Turn Order
In Obscured, survival hinges on more than just skill, it's about those crucial seconds, the moments between the flash of a claw and the crunch of bone. The game captures this real-time action and decision-making through a mechanism called the "Pace," which determines the sequence in which Hunters and Horrors take actions during combat.
At the onset of any combat encounter, all participants—Hunters and Horrors alike—need to establish their position in the turn order. To do this, each participant makes a pace roll. A pace roll consists of rolling 2 ten-sided dice (2d10) and adding both the Dexterity and Awareness modifiers to the result. The formula for a pace roll looks like this:
Pace = + Dex. mod + Awn. mod
Once everyone has made their pace roll, the Overseer arranges the turn order from highest to lowest pace roll. When one participant's turn ends, the next one in the order begins. The turn order cycles back to the participant with the highest pace roll after the participant with the lowest pace roll.
Overseer: "Alright, time to roll for pace. Let's see how quick on your feet you all are."
David: rolls dice "I've got a 10, plus my Dexterity and Awareness modifiers... That gives me a total pace of 12."
Amy: rolls dice "I rolled a base of 10, plus my Dexterity modifier of 1 and my Awareness modifier of 2. That makes my total pace 13. I guess I see the beast before it can strike!"
John: rolls dice "I also rolled a 10, plus my Dexterity modifier of 2 and Awareness modifier of 1. That should also give me a pace of 13. But I guess Amy goes before me since she's more observant?"
Overseer: "You've got it, John! Amy, you see a flash of movement from behind the statue. Our turn order is Amy, John, and then David. Hold on to your hats, everyone. It's time to see what's lurking in the shadows..."
Remember, those few seconds matter. A high pace can mean the difference between seeing a Horror's attack coming and taking it head-on.