Your reactions let you respond immediately to what’s happening around you. The GM determines whether you can use reactions before your first turn begins, depending on the situation in which the encounter happens. Once your first turn begins, you gain your Actions and reaction. You gain 1 reaction per round. You can use a reaction on anyone’s turn (including your own), but only when its trigger occurs. If you don’t use your reaction, you lose it at the start of your next turn, though you typically then gain a reaction at the start of that turn.

Tracking Initiative

The GM keeps track of the Initiative order for an encounter. It’s usually okay for the players to know this order, since they’ll see who goes when and be aware of one another’s results. However, the GM might want to conceal information about adversaries the PCs have yet to detect or identify.

Once the encounter’s order is set, it’s usually not necessary to track the original Initiative numbers. The GM can create a simple list, use a series of cards or other indicators, or use a Pathfinder Combat Pad, which has magnetic markers to allow for easily rearranging the order.

Changing the Initiative Order

Any method used to track the Initiative order needs to be Flexible because the order can change. A creature can use the Delay basic action to change its place in the order, in which case you can erase it from the list or pull its marker aside until it reenters the Initiative order. When a creature gets knocked out, its Initiative order also changes. Using the Ready basic action doesn’t change a creature’s place in the Initiative order, though, because the designated action becomes a reaction.