Gloomhaven

Initiative

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At the start of each round:

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1 - Each players decides which 2 ability cards to play facedown (they may not tell other players what they have played).

They may alternatively long rest, which gives them an initiative of 99.

2 - Players choose one of their facedown cards to be their leading card.

The leading card is the card that will represent their initiative value for the round.

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3 - Players then reveal a monster ability card for each type of monster that has at least one figure currently on the map.

4 - Each player not taking a long rest reveals his or her selected cards for the round, placing their leading card on top so that its initiative value is visible.

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5 - Initiative order is determined by comparing the initiative values on all played monster ability cards and all of the players’ leading cards.

Whoever has the lowest initiative value takes their turn first, then the next highest, and so on until every figure on the board has acted.

If there is ever a tie in initiative between players, consult the non-leading card of each player to break the tie.

If there is still a tie, players should decide among themselves who goes first.

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If there is a tie between a player and a monster type, the player goes first.

If there is a tie between two monster types, the players decide which goes first.

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Example: At the start of the round, the Brute decides that he wishes to play the two cards shown. He also decides he wants to go late in the round, so he chooses the “61” as his leading card. If he had wanted to go early, he could have chosen the “15” as the leading card. The Scoundrel reveals a leading card with “86” initiative, and the played Living Bones and Bandit Archer monster ability cards have “45” and “32” initiative respectively. The Bandit Archers activate first, then all of the Living Bones, then the Brute, and finally the Scoundrel.