When combat starts, time slows to a crawl as every character takes turn fighting. (for ease of visualization these turn take 10 seconds)
Unless the party is surprised by enemies, in which case they start, a turn goes like this:
Steps
The players pick someone to go first.
If an enemy is attacked in melee, they play immediately after
Otherwise the DM chooses an enemy that plays.
The players pick someone else that plays their turn.
And so on until all the players did their turn.
The next round of combat begins
Your turn
All your friends played, or maybe you’re the one diving head first into danger, the fact of the matter is that you need to fight.
Economy
You can attack, defend, use items, talk to your friends, pet a dog and so much more during a turn.
But everything you do is divided into actions.
You can do multiple actions per turn, at the cost of a -1D penalty to all of those for every bonus action you take this way.
You can take as many bonus actions as you want, so long as you have at least 1D per action.
Actions
Anything that has an actual impact in the fight, whether it’s picking up a precious jewel or telling a bandit his mother misses him counts as an action. Futile actions like talking to your partners or insulting an enemy are free.
Whenever a hit connects, and the attacker rolls for damage, you can count on the strength of your muscles or the strength of your armor to save the day.
You can new refer to this chart to see how your Wound Level change, and the impact this has on you.
0 or Less: Unharmed;
1 - 3: Stunned, -1D for all remaining actions this round and the next round;
4 - 8: Wounded, -1D until healed;
4 - 8: Severely Wounded, -2D until healed;
9 - 12: Incapacitated, make a TN 15 Will roll to not fall unconscious. -3D penalty until healed;
13 - 15: Mortally Wounded, you’re unconscious, make an increasingly difficult Will roll every round. You die if you do not clear this roll. When out of combat, the roll is made every hour.
16+: You finally succumb to your wounds, and die a hero’s death.
Taking any damage equal or under your current Wound Level if you’re at least Wounded increases it.
Strong enemy obey these rules, while regular enemies use static values.
Out of turn actions
Your enemies and friends are acting, but you don’t have to stay passive if someone attacks you.