Start Your Combat!

Now you are ready to actually start using Turn Watcher in your game!

• Start the application and clear out the list of characters if needed (Clear is in the File menu).
   
• Select Import from the File menu to load your list of characters for your campaign.
   
• Select Import again to load your list of opponents for this encounter. Turn Watcher asks you if you want to merge with your existing characters. Click the Yes button.
  
  
   
• Start your combat by clicking the Start button (once it has been clicked, the Start button changes to an End button). Turn Watcher automatically rolls separate initiative rolls for every PC and monster and lists them in initiative order for you! It also keeps track of rounds in the status bar at the bottom of the main window.

Tip: Deselect Roll Initiative on Start in the Roll menu to avoid the automatic roll of initiative on Start (read more).

• If Manual Initiative Entry is selected in the Roll menu, the manual initiative dialog displays. This dialog gives you a chance to enter initiative rolls manually, allowing you to let your players do their own rolling. The combatants are sorted in alphabetical order, and there are two separate columns for PCs and monsters. The values you see at first are computer generated, so you can let Turn Watcher roll for your monsters/NPCs easily. (available since version 1.1)
• Press the Next button to move from one character to the next after it takes its full action. The character's turn is marked with an arrow (shaped like a sword) to the left of the name.

Tip: Hit Space Bar to easily advance to the next character.

• To come out of rounds, click the End button.
  
  

Some game masters and players prefer to reduce the chances for someone to get a 1 or a 20 on their dice. One way to prevent this from happening is to change the dice being rolled from 1d20 to 2d10 or 3d8-2 or some other multi-dice combinations. By default the system is setup to roll 1d20. To change the default, select Define Initiative Dice from the Roll menu. Type in the dice you want to use such as 2d10, 3d8-2 or 1d20+2; then click Accept. Your selection is automatically saved when you exit Turn Watcher so you do not have to set it again and again. (available since version 1.1)

Tip: If at any time you make a mistake and want to undo your action, simply select Undo in the Edit menu.