Combat Time

Combat time starts when the referee or players decide so. The hex map rolls out, the minis throw down, and personas' lives are on the line. Once the referee decides that combat is underway, combat time is the first step. Combat time and movement can activate whenever a persona’s life is on the line.

The unit of time employed in combat is a call a unit. In the EXP world, a unit is 2 seconds. Units only appear in combat time. For the players in the mundane world, a combat unit could take 10 minutes to play out. That means 2 seconds for the personas can take 10 minutes of mundane time for the players to work through.

For more details about non-combat time in EXP, jump to Time and Movement.

The unit is the closest thing to a turn that exists in tactical combat. Every persona gets to act during every unit of combat time. Some personas will run, some will attack, others will run and attack. Running is represented as tokens moving on the hex mat. Attacking requires checking the line of sight, consulting a combat table, rolling dice, and chatting about ball sports.

The order in which players get their turns is not decided by how they are seated at the table. In combat, the order of turns depends on a complex system called initiative. The initiative system incorporates dexterity, EXPS level, skills and luck to determine the turn order during combat. For more information about this crucial element of tactical combat jump to Initiative.

An active persona can accomplish a lot in two seconds. The persona could be attacking, picking a lock, or cowering in fear. The player would be making attack rolls, task rolls or hiding under the game table. Players push their personas to the limit of time and space. In the end, there is only so much that can get done in two seconds. Referees will spend a fair amount of time reminding players of how short two seconds is.