Running your first encounter

Add combatants, roll initiative, and run a full encounter from the tracker, with the player view live on a second screen.

Every encounter in TurnWarden starts in the same place: the DM tracker. You summon your combatants, roll initiative, and then the tracker becomes your command surface for the entire fight. From there you advance turns, record damage, mark conditions, and finally wrap the round when the encounter ends.

This article walks the complete workflow. You will have a full encounter running before you finish reading it.

1. 1.
   Summon your combatants

   The Library rail on the left of the tracker lists every actor you can bring into the fight. Tap Summon on a PC, Companion, or Monster row and they appear on the board. To add a one-off combatant that isn't in your Library, use the Summon icon in the tracker footer — the dialog has two tabs: From Library to pick an existing actor, or Custom to type Name, Max HP, AC, and Initiative directly.

   You do not need to enter initiative yet; you can collect it as a group in the next step, or enter values now if you already have them.

   Repeat for every creature and character entering the encounter. Each entry appears in the combatant list as you summon it.

2. 2.
   Start collecting initiative

   When your combatants are added, select Roll initiative in the tracker footer. The encounter enters initiative-collection mode, and every combatant row reveals an initiative input you fill in row by row.

   

   When every combatant has an initiative value, select Begin encounter in the footer. TurnWarden sorts the list highest to lowest and the encounter begins.

   Decimal initiatives break ties cleanly

   TurnWarden accepts decimal initiative values, so 14.5 sits between 14 and 15 in the order. This is useful when two combatants roll the same result: instead of a coin flip, enter 14.1 and 14 to preserve a consistent, repeatable order throughout the encounter.

3. 3.
   Advance the round

   The tracker highlights the active combatant. Select Next turn in the tracker footer to advance to the next combatant in the order. The tracker moves the highlight and the player view updates in real time.

   When the last combatant in the initiative order finishes their turn, Next turn rolls over to round two and returns the highlight to the top of the order. The round counter increments.

4. 4.
   Edit HP and record damage

   Each combatant row has an inline HP editor. You can either type a new total directly into the HP number input, or enter a delta value in the ± field and tap the minus button (damage) or plus button (heal). The tracker updates the displayed HP immediately and the player view reflects the change.

   

   When a creature drops to zero HP the row reflects the defeated state visually. You can keep the combatant in the list, or use the combatant menu (the three-dot kebab on the right of the row) to delete them outright.

5. 5.
   Apply conditions and tags

   Each combatant row has a tag-picker chip. Select it to open the picker, which lists every tag preset in your account. Sixteen are seeded at sign-up: the fifteen 5.5e conditions (Blinded, Charmed, Deafened, Exhaustion, Frightened, Grappled, Incapacitated, Invisible, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained, Stunned, Unconscious) plus Concentrating for casters holding a spell. Any custom presets you have added appear alongside.

   

   Tapping a preset toggles it onto the combatant. Applied tags appear as pills on the row and on the player view. You can apply multiple tags to a single combatant and toggle them off the same way you added them.

   To create your own presets (encounter-specific labels like "Bless target" or campaign-specific statuses), open Settings → Tags, type into the composer on the left, pick a colour, and select Save tag. New presets show up in every combatant's tag picker for the rest of the session.

6. 6.
   End the encounter

   When the last creature falls or the encounter resolves by other means, select End encounter in the tracker footer. The status badge shifts to COMBAT ENDED and two CTAs replace the action cluster: Restore the cast drops back into the idle state with the same combatants ready for a re-run, and Banish & ready clears the board for a fresh fight.

What's next

You now have the complete encounter loop: add, roll, advance, damage, condition, end. For a deeper look at conditions and custom tags, including preset management, the conditions and tags article covers everything in detail. If your sessions run long or you need to pause and pick up the encounter at your next session, pausing and resuming combat shows you how to save the full encounter state and restore it exactly as it was.