Risen Kings moves between three modes of play: Free Play, Exploration Turns, and Combat Rounds. Most sessions begin in Free Play, shift into Exploration Turns when the party enters a dangerous Point of Interest, and move into Combat Rounds when conflict becomes immediate. The Game Master announces when the mode changes.
Free Play
Free Play is driven by conversation and roleplay. The Game Master describes the situation, and the players decide what their characters say, attempt, investigate, and pursue.
Free Play is used for social scenes, travel, planning, open-ended investigation, and other situations where exact timing is unimportant. Ability Checks and other rules still resolve uncertain actions, but time passes according to the needs of the scene rather than in fixed turns.
Exploration Turns
Exploration Turns are used inside Points of Interest: ruins, dungeons, enemy strongholds, haunted roads, dangerous wilderness sites, and other locations where time and risk matter.
Each Exploration Turn represents about 10 minutes of focused activity. Characters choose what to search, examine, open, cross, or prepare while light diminishes, Tension builds, and the location responds to their presence.
Combat Rounds
Combat Rounds begin when danger becomes immediate and actions must be resolved moment by moment. Positioning, movement, attacks, Reactions, and timing all matter.
Each combatant receives a chance to act during the round. As the battle continues, resources are spent, the battlefield changes, and enemies may gain access to stronger Chaos abilities.
Play moves between these modes as the situation changes. Free Play may become Exploration when the party enters a sealed tomb. Exploration may become Combat when something wakes. Once the danger ends, play returns to Exploration or Free Play depending on what the characters do next.