Before combat may begin, the gamemaster must decide how many "sides" there are.  Normally there will be two sides - the player characters and whoever they are fighting.  Sometimes, though, there will be three or more sides, such as the player characters, the Imperials and a group of pirates or mercenaries.

In order to be a "side", the characters have to be within easy shouting distance of each other, or have some easy way of communicating, such as comlinks. If the player characters are separated and don’t have comlinks to keep in touch, they have effectively become separate sides.

Once each "side" has been determined, each combat round follows a 3 step sequence:

1. Initiative
2. Declaration
3. Rolling Actions

Each side picks the character on that side with the highest Perception or Tactics skill (Note: to use the Tactics skill, the character must have at least advanced the skill 1D above the attribute).  That character then make a that Perception or Tactics skill/attribute check. This roll may be affected by equipment or special racial abilities (e.g. Motion Sensor array, or Gotal split second notice ability).  Characters may not spend Character Points or Force Points on this roll, although penalties which have been incurred through wounds and the like are included.  This roll is called the Initiative Roll.

Which ever side gets the lowest Initiative Roll declares first in the round. In the case of more than two sides, the sides declare in ascending order of their Initiative roll.  Also, in the case of a tied roll, gamemaster characters declare first.

After initiative has been decided, each character on the side that declares first says what they’re doing.  The controlling player states how many actions are being performed, and what the first action is going to be.

• If the players’ characters declare first, they tell the gamemaster what their characters are doing. Then the gamemaster explains what the gamemaster characters are doing. If the gamemaster characters declare first, reverse this process.
• Players and gamemasters alike must declare all actions for all characters, excluding dodges, or parries.
• Players must declare Force Point use now.
• If the player or gamemaster doesn’t declare that a character is doing something, he can’t change his mind later.

Also, when it is the players’ turn to declare actions, don’t let them hesitate. If the players are dragging the game out by not declaring promptly, count out loud to three - if the player hasn’t declared actions, say that the character hesitated and can’t act that round. As a matter of courtesy, give new players a break - if you skip them because they hesitated, make sure that their characters don’t get killed off that round, and give them a little while to get used to the declaration process. Likewise, if a character is describing in detail what he is doing, or if he wants to do lots of different action, it will take longer than three seconds. Just so long as he is declaring and not just wasting time.

Players declare their actions in order of their characters’ Perception attribute from lowest to highest.

Actions that characters may take in combat are as follows:

• Use a weapon. This may be firing a Blaster or making an attack with a melee weapon of some sort.
• Draw a weapon. This is classified as an action.
• Reload a weapon.
• Make a brawling attack.
• Move over terrain (see Movement).
• Drive or pilot a vehicle.
• Setting a blaster on stun.
• Or anything else that could be classified as an action.

Dodges and parries are not declared at this point. Dodges are only declared when a character is fired upon, while parries are only declared if a character is either being attacked with a melee weapon (e.g. Melee Parry), or if they are being attacked in hand-to-hand combat (e.g. Brawling Parry). Dodges and parries are covered further on this page.

Each character rolls the first action they declared in order of highest Dexterity to lowest Dexterity. If characters are of the same Dexterity, the character with the highest Perception acts first.

Example: Ace Knight, the gambler, and Jaluun, the Sullustan Kid have the same Dexterity of 3D. Ace has a Perception of 4D while Jaluun has 3D+2. Ace would act first.

If a character has been fired upon, etc., he or she is now given the opportunity to dodge, or parry, which ever is applicable. This is counted as an action, and will add cumulatively to any further actions taken in the round.

Each action occurs as it is rolled - a split-second before any action rolled before it, and a split-second before any actions rolled after it.

A character may slow his or her Dexterity down.  This may be required since the character wants to do something after one of the other characters.

Example: Gan Jan-Ru, the Bounty Hunter has been holding off a squad of Stormtroopers while Tanlee has been preparing some abseiling gear to enable them to abseil down a turbolift shaft.  Tanlee's Dexterity is 3D+2 while Gan's is 4D.   Gan would normally act first, but Tanlee wants Gan to cover her as she descends the turbolift shaft.  Gan is able to slow down his Dexterity to act after Tanlee.

Any character that has slowed his actions down for whatever reason, must take the action prior to starting the next phase.  If he doesn't, the action is lost, and the player must still suffer from an multiple action penalties that this action caused.

After each character has made their first action, any characters who declared 2 or more actions take their second actions, again in order of decreasing Dexterity. Any characters without any actions left are simply skipped.

Example: Peter/Ace has the highest Dexterity so would act first. His first shot would be resolved. Tony/Jaluun has the next highest Dexterity, and so his throw would be determined. Next the stormtroopers who were remaining would take their first action. Peter/Ace is the only other person that has any actions remaining. These actions are resolved separately. Tony/Jaluun and the stormtroopers have no actions and are skipped.

After all characters with second actions have acted, any character with third actions rolls them, again in order of decreasing Dexterity. Characters with fourth, fifth or more actions take them, until every character has taken every action.