Run combat in phases in Foundry VTT. Players roll initiative against a DC, act together in Fast or Slow, and mark Done when they finish. Enemies act together between the player phases, while the GM places bosses and lair actions wherever the encounter needs them.

The module works inside Foundry's own Combat Tracker, in both the sidebar and popout. Everyone in a phase takes a full normal turn; once all its combatants are done, combat advances automatically.

Community credit: This module grew out of a suggestion shared in the Shattered Codex Discord community. Special thanks to Venaerys for proposing the phased initiative idea that inspired it.

Requires Foundry VTT v13 or v14. No other module is required. See Supported Systems for system-specific behavior.

1. Open Add-on Modules > Install Module in Foundry VTT.
2. Paste the manifest URL below and install the module.
3. Enable SC - Venaerys's Initiative in your world.

https://github.com/Shattered-Codex/sc-venaerys-initiative/releases/latest/download/module.json

1. Create a combat and add combatants as usual. New combats use phases by default; the GM can toggle Phases on before combat starts.
2. Set the DC at the top of the tracker. With the default D&D 5e settings, a natural 20 places a character in Fast and a natural 1 in Slow.
3. Players roll initiative when prompted, or use their row's roll button. The GM can use Roll PCs to roll all player characters still without initiative.
4. Start combat. Everyone in the current phase acts at the same time, each with a full turn.
5. Mark Done when finished. Once everyone in the phase is done, the next occupied phase begins.

A player's native End Turn also marks their combatants done. The GM's next and previous turn controls navigate phases. With phases disabled before combat starts, the encounter uses the native tracker and turn order.

For detailed guidance, visit the Venaerys's Initiative wiki.

Open Configure Settings > Module Settings > SC - Venaerys's Initiative > Configure, then select Save after editing. Dots mark tabs with unsaved changes.

Only the GM sees the World, Appearance, Phases, Banners, and Help tabs. Phase order and movement/action settings apply to new combats; existing combats keep their own phase plan.

In Phases, drag phases or use their arrows to position them around Fast, Enemies, and Slow. Those three retain their relative order. Extra phases can be named, recolored, and given their own icons.

Move a combatant using its row's phase selector, drag it onto another phase, or choose Move to phase… from its context menu. This pins the assignment for that combat; Automatic restores classification. A move that would grant another turn or remove an available turn is deferred until the next round.

On a creature's sheet, the GM can select Combat phase from the header menu. This sets its default creature phase for future combats. When item-based suggestions are enabled, an actor item named exactly like a creature phase, ignoring case, can also suggest its assignment. The sheet's explicit choice takes priority.

Use Add event phase for lair actions or other encounter events. The phase's + adds an event marker: a combatant with no actor that never rolls initiative. The GM marks it done after resolving the event. An event phase without a marker is skipped.

The GM can use Next phase, Complete phase, and Previous phase at any time during combat. Complete phase marks its members done and advances; Previous phase preserves marks and suspends automatic advancement until another mark is changed there.

Enable Movement and actions for player phases or all creature phases to run each in two halves. Everyone moves and marks Moved, then acts and marks Done. Under this table rule, leftover movement is not used in the actions half. The module does not lock tokens or enforce movement allowances.

Additional controls help manage larger encounters:

• Mark or unmark individual combatants done, or use a group header to complete identical creatures together.
• Use Skip this round on a future-phase combatant to mark them done in advance.
• Show native turn markers under every member of the current phase still acting, or disable this option to retain Foundry's single marker.
• Hide empty creature phases on the GM's tracker. Event phases remain available so markers can be added.
• Turn off automatic advancement when the table needs manual pacing. While enabled, it waits for dialogs open on the active GM's client.

Each phase can use No sound, Foundry's combat sound, or My own file, with volume and a local preview. Phases are silent by default; Foundry's encounter-start sound remains separate.

Under actions when it starts, add a Message on screen to announce the phase. Choose a built-in banner style or one created in Banners, enter optional text, and set its duration. New default phases announce their names with a banner.

Other actions include sounds, hooks, chat messages, macros, and roll tables. Actions run once per phase per round; going back to a phase does not replay them. Macros must be authored by a GM. Sounds and banners do not run on a player's client when that player cannot see anyone in the phase.

Export Phases to share a plan with its sounds and actions. Importing phases replaces the draft plan. Export Banners to share custom styles; importing banners merges them by ID. Imports remain unsaved until Save. Transfer custom banner themes along with any phase plan that uses them.

The core uses Foundry's native combat data. Dedicated adapters provide system rolls and defaults; other systems use their initiative formula or a formula chosen by the GM.

With Base + CR, the DC is the base plus the highest non-defeated enemy CR in Enemies, falling back to all non-defeated enemies when that phase has none. Fractional CR contributes 0. It follows enemies before combat starts, then freezes. Use the calculator beside the DC to recalculate, or type a manual value.

A custom formula reads actor roll data but does not include the system roll dialog's situational bonuses. Use the system roll when those bonuses matter. Systems with custom tracker row templates may lose their row extras while phases are enabled.

These optional Shattered Codex modules can run from a phase's start actions:

Explore the Shattered Codex wiki and Patreon for more modules.

Under Configure Controls, assign Mark my combatants done, Advance phase, Previous phase, or Show the combat tracker. No keys are assigned by default. Phase navigation is GM-only; marking done respects ownership.

Two hooks are available to macros and other modules:

Hooks fire on each client. A phase invisible to a player is reported as null, and hidden combatants are not reported to that player.

Player characters are sorted into Fast and Slow around the Enemies phase. The GM can change the DC, assign phases, and manage groups directly in the native tracker.

Configure extra phases around Fast, Enemies, and Slow, with a sound and start actions for each phase. A creature's Combat phase dialog sets its default assignment for future encounters.

The Appearance tab previews the selected theme on a sample tracker. In Banners, customize colors and corner marks, then preview a message on screen.

Turn markers highlight multiple tokens still acting in the same phase.

Screenshots from the module's Imgur album, stored in this repository.

• Foundry still has one current combatant. Start-of-turn automation runs for every member when a phase starts; end-of-turn automation runs only for the member marked by the hourglass. Resolve other members' end-of-turn effects manually when they mark Done.
• Combatants without initiative remain at the end of Foundry's order and can receive system turn events at round changes.
• Disable midi-qol's initiative reroll each round and attack-of-opportunity recording, and Combat Tracker Dock's enemy hiding until the first turn, in phased combats. The module warns GMs about these conflicts.
• A natural 20/1 can reach the combat after its initiative total, briefly showing the character in another phase.
• In Foundry v14, movement history clears when a phase starts.

For questions, ideas, bug reports, or feature requests, join us on Discord. Documentation is available in the official wiki.