Although the results of most battles happen all at once, battles in DiceMob, of necessity, will be taken one at a time, like attacks in a Karate movie, where each creature gets a chance to perform all of its actions before moving on to the next creature. The ordering of these actions is called initiative.

Initiative, or the decision on who goes first, second, third, etc, in any given round, is rolled using the number of dice a player is allotted for initiative, but instead of choosing the highest number, the numbers are all added together. The default dice thrown for initiative is three, but based on other factors, such as items or skills, this could be increased. If a character or monster is surprised, prone, or affected by some magical or natural impediment (e.g. web, slow spell, unsteady or slippery ground), they roll two dice. If they are affected by more than one of the above factors, they only roll one die.

Actions are the number of times a character can do something in a certain nebulous period of time which we will call a round. A round is the amount of time it takes to go “around” the room and allow each friend or foe to take their turn. Each player and monster, on their turn, is allowed to make one combat actions, one non-combat action, one passive action, one defensive action, and an infinite number of free actions.

There’s a tier-system to actions that looks like the following:

1. Combat Actions
2. Non-Combat Actions
3. Defensive Actions
4. Passive Actions
5. Free Actions

Higher tiered actions can be substituted for lower tiered actions if a player wants to help allies or defend more than attack, but lower tiered actions can never be substituted for one of a higher tier unless a character has a skill that allows such (e.g. berserking). The tiering should in nowise be considered an ordering of actions. Very often combat actions could be the last actions performed if a non-combat action is used to lead up an action. Also defensive actions, as noted below, are reactive, so they are performed as a response to an attack and not as a player's move.

Combat and non-combat can be deferred until after all opponents have attacked. This might be worthwhile in cases where a player would rather use one of those actions for defensive purposes, if needed, but they have no idea if it will be needed until after a monster has attacked. Monsters and NPCs never defer actions, except under very rare circumstances such as ambushes or springing a trap. They don’t do so as part of normal combat.

Combat actions include activities like swinging a sword, shooting an arrow, casting a spell, or using a mental ability that causes damage or harms someone in some way. If it directly causes harm, it's very likely a combat action. Combat actions are also considered to take more time and concentration to perform, so there are rare cases where an action that one might consider “non-combat” is listed as combat, especially if doing so would likely force a player to decide whether they should do it or some combat alternative.

Non-combat actions include activities like running to attack, swimming to someone drowning, casting a healing spell, taunting an opponent, or summoning a creature. Non-combat actions generally are something less taxing on a player or assist a player into performing a combat action.

Passive actions include things like maintaining a spell, treading water, or other actions that someone would generally consider as something which takes some thought and effort but not as much as initiating something new. Switching weapons, though active, counts as a passive action. Concentration spells can often only be maintained one at a time unless a character is forgoing combat and/or non-combat actions to maintain them.

Defensive actions are not done in the normal course of a creatures attack sequence. Defensive actions are reactive, which is to say that they are performed in response to another creature's attack. Most defensive actions are skills that a character has that they can bring to bear in a defensive maneuver. Any character may choose the dodge defensive action which simply allows the character to apply one-fourth of their speed dice (rounded down) toward any defense other than mental defenses.

Free actions are free. They don’t cost anything to do and a player can perform as many of them as they want, within reason. Free actions are rare and are general things that don't affect combat all that much. Shouting suggestions to a fellow character could be considered free actions but moralizing or demoralizing comments toward friends and foes would not. Likewise most skills which might directly affect the outcome of a battle fall under combat, non-combat, or defensive–not free.

Sometimes the effect of a skill causes something other than actual damage. Sometimes it restricts the ability for a character or opponent to initiate their standard number of actions or even perform any actions at all. Nets, webbing, bolas, freezing attacks, and snares often include the effect of entrapment.

Generally entrapment removes the non-combat action. And each additional application of entrapment further reduces actions by one per application, starting with the non-combat actions, then the combat actions, and then the defensive actions. Free actions are never “entrapped” unless doing so makes sense (such as preventing someone from moving their mouth to speak).

It is possible that a single entrapment could effect all of the actions at once, such as the use of a mental attack to “hold person”. Physical applications of entrapment tend to be applied one at a time, but it is at the GMs discretion to do more.