When two things seem to happen at once, such as a build finishing while a tech completes, or a character dying while an event fires, this page tells you which one the game resolves first.
How a round is structured
A full round runs in this order.
- Players play, team by team, or all at once in simultaneous multiplayer. When your turn ends, your units on 0 HP die and stunned units drop to a normal cooldown.
- The tribes play. After the last team, tribal and unaffiliated characters take their turns, tribal units move and take their unit turn, and tribal cities act.
- The turn rollover. The turn counter goes up, the world updates (the first list below), and the game checks for game over. So the world updates after the tribes act and before the first player's new turn.
- Each player's turn begins. Your turn start (the second list below) runs before you get control.
In simultaneous mode every player's turn start runs one after another, in player order. In play by cloud and server games the save uploads and the "your turn" notice goes out right after a human's turn start. Hotseat autosaves and switches the active player.
Common ordering questions
- Does a build or a tech finish first?
- Builds finish first, then techs, both before your units and characters. Builds finish at step P18.9. Science goes straight into the current tech at step P19 and can complete it, and any remainder is applied at step P24.
- When are ambitions checked?
- At the very end of your turn start. Progress is recomputed at step P50, expired ambitions fail at step P52, and new offers roll at step P55, all after that turn's event rolls at step P43. Whatever you finished last turn is already counted.
- Do characters die before or after events fire?
- Death rolls happen inside each character's yearly tick during step P29, before the player's story event rolls at step P43. The leader goes last, at step P29, and missions resolve after all character turns, at step P47.
- When do my units heal?
- At your turn start, before you move anything: step P29, sub-step P29.21. The idle bonus counts only when the unit took no action last turn.
Turn rollover (start of round)
- 1
Combat heat decays
The recent-human-attacks counter is halved (it stretches multiplayer turn timers while fighting is hot).
- 2
New Occurrences may start
Every Occurrence (in shuffled
order) rolls its start chance and picks a target tile; the tile owner may get an occurrence-ready Event first. - 3 per point of demand
Market prices drift
Each yield's price moves one tick per point of built-in demand, then the turn's price is recorded for the history graph.
- 4 for each tile on the map
Every tile updates
Pillage timers, abandoned construction, resource regrowth, vegetation
growth and spread, and tribal camp raids, in the per-tile sequence below.16 steps inside
- 4.1 improvement is pillaged
Pillage timer ticks
A pillaged improvement counts down one turn; at zero it is destroyed outright.
- 4.2 if getImprovementPillageTurns() == 0
Clear improvement
- 4.3 progress was made, no worker
Abandoned construction regresses
An unfinished improvement with no worker on it loses one turn of progress (back up to its original cost).
- 4.4 loop · if pLoopPlayer.getTradeOutpostTime(getID()) > 0 && !isHostileTri…
Set trade outpost time
- 4.5 an outpost timer expired here
Set city site
- 4.6 an outpost timer expired here
Trade outpost founds a city
On an active city site, a player whose trade-outpost timer just expired founds a free city there.
- 4.7 loop · if pLoopPlayer.getTradeOutpostTime(getID()) > 0
Set trade outpost time
- 4.8
Tribal camps act
A camp may launch a raid at a nearby city, from a raid probability roll that the tribe-raid event can block. A camp of a tribe without diplomacy may instead convert to a neighboring tribe.
- 4.9 improvement can develop
Improvements develop
Improvements that upgrade over time tick their develop counter.
- 4.10 spawning not paused
Unit-spawning improvements tick
Improvements that periodically produce units count down.
- 4.11 timer reached zero
Reset improvement unit turns
- 4.12 timer reached zero
Improvement spawns its unit
When the spawn timer hits zero it resets and the improvement's unit appears.
- 4.13 the roll hits (odds improve over time)
Harvested resources regrow
A harvested resource rolls to come back; odds improve every turn after the first two.
- 4.14 the roll hits
Vegetation grows
Regrowing vegetation rolls to advance a stage; city regrowth modifiers apply.
- 4.15 for each direction · the roll hits
Vegetation grows
Regrowing vegetation rolls to advance a stage; city regrowth modifiers apply.
- 4.16 no damaged city/settlement here
Tile combat memory fades
Recent-attack heat on the tile decays (paused while a damaged city or settlement sits on it).
- 4.1
- 5
Borders fill in
Rural pockets fully surrounded by urban tiles are claimed, and pending city-territory expansion tiles are assigned to their owners.
- 6 for each tribe · tribe is alive
Every tile updates
Pillage timers, abandoned construction, resource regrowth, vegetation
growth and spread, and tribal camp raids, in the per-tile sequence below.3 steps inside
- 6.1
Tribal leader replaced if dead
If the tribe's leader has died, a new adult leader character is generated.
- 6.2
Tribal religion drifts
The tribe adopts whichever world religion is most represented among related characters.
- 6.3 for each tribal unit · a target city exists
Site-less tribes turn raider
If the tribe has no settlements left (and no player ally), each unit rolls 1-in-10 to become raiders targeting the best nearby city.
- 6.1
- 7 for each player
Trade deals expire
Each player's trade agreements whose duration has run out are removed.
- 8 for each player
Tribute deals expire
Each player's tribute arrangements whose duration has run out are removed.
- 9
War scores decay
Every team-vs-team and tribe-vs-team war score loses 5% (×19/20).
- 10
Religions spread
Each founded religion rolls its spread chance; on success it spreads to one more city.
- 11
Religion heads update
Each religion re-evaluates which character should be its head.
- 12
New religions may be founded
Religions whose prerequisites are now met get founded in the highest-scoring eligible city.
- 13
Character opinions refresh
Every player recomputes what each character thinks of them.
- 14
Religion opinions refresh
Every player recomputes each religion's opinion of them.
- 15
Family opinions refresh
Every player recomputes each family's opinion of them.
Each player's turn
Runs once for each player as their turn begins.
- 1 player alive
Graphs record turn rates
Military power, yield rates, family and religion opinion, victory points and
legitimacy are logged for this turn's graphs. - 2 for each city
Cities roll for rebels
Each city (after the early-game grace period) rolls its rebel probability and may spawn a rebel unit.
- 3 for each owned tile
Owned tiles grant unit XP
Units standing on XP-granting improvements (or adjacent to them) gain XP; half-elapsed pillage repairs are logged.
1 steps inside
- 3.1 for each unit · XP positive
Improvement XP awarded
Each promotable unit on this tile gains the XP its improvement (and adjacent friendly improvements) grant per turn.
- 3.1
- 4 nation founded, leader alive
Reign counters tick
The leader's Years Reigned stat increments (plus Years as Regent for regents).
- 5 if leader().isRegent()
Reign counters tick
The leader's Years Reigned stat increments (plus Years as Regent for regents).
- 6 Orders over the cap
Orders above the cap are sold
Any
Orders past your maximum are automatically sold for 
money. - 7 otherwise
Change money
- 8 otherwise
Civics above the cap → Science
Excess
Civics converts into 
Science at the CIVICS_PER_SCIENCE rate. - 9 otherwise
Negative stockpiles clamp to zero
Any yield stockpile still below zero after debts is set to 0.
- 10
Spreading projects propagate
Projects with a spread chance roll to copy themselves from a city that has them to another of your cities.
- 11
Luxury assignments verified
Each luxury resource's city and family assignments are re-checked; over-assigned luxuries are pulled back.
- 12
Opinion memories fade
Expired memories (timed opinion modifiers from past actions) are removed.
- 13
Family supremacy check
If another family has overtaken the dominant one, the family-supremacy event fires.
- 14 for each city · skipped on the player's very first turn
Captured tribal cities flip
Tribal cities you finished capturing last turn now transfer, or are razed, as covered on City Capture Mechanics. The per-city capture sequence is below.
4 steps inside
- 14.1 a unit is capturing the city
Capture counter ticks
+1 while a unit is occupying the city; the city flips at its capture threshold (see City Capture Mechanics).
- 14.2
- 14.3 diplomacy-capable tribe
Camp may add an improvement
Diplomacy-capable tribes roll to add a random improvement to the city.
- 14.4 diplomacy-capable tribe
Camp may train a unit
The tribal city rolls to produce a tribal unit nearby.
- 14.1
- 15 for each yield · output positive
City output tallies toward goals
Each city's positive yield output is added to the yields-produced counters that ambitions and quests track.
- 16 skipped on the player's very first turn
Shortfall projects forced
While a shortfall yield would go negative, the best-suited city is forced onto its
culture's shortfall project. - 17 skipped on the player's very first turn
Empty research slot auto-filled
If nothing is being researched, the AI's best tech is slotted temporarily so incoming
Science isn't wasted. - 18 for each city · skipped on the player's very first turn
Owned tiles grant unit XP
Units standing on XP-granting improvements (or adjacent to them) gain XP; half-elapsed pillage repairs are logged.
13 steps inside
- 18.1
- 18.2 still assimilating
Assimilation progresses
A city still assimilating ticks down at its
culture's assimilation rate. - 18.3
Distant raid roll
From the raid start turn, the city rolls difficulty-based odds to spawn a raider party on a distant valid tile aimed at it.
- 18.4
Invalid builds pruned
Queued projects, specialists and units that are no longer legal are removed.
- 18.5 culture has a default project
Default project fills an empty queue
A city building nothing is given its
culture's default project so production is never wasted. - 18.6 for each yield · local yields only
City yields accrue
Local yields add to their progress bars; global yields are handed up to the player to bank after all cities run.
- 18.7 for each yield
Change yield total
- 18.8 for each yield
Production applies to the build
This turn's production (plus stored overflow) goes into the current build.
- 18.9 cost met
Build completes
If the current build's cost is now met, it finishes, so the unit spawns, or the building, project or specialist takes effect immediately.
- 18.10 owned; skipped on the first turn
Queued progress decays
Partial progress on builds sitting in the queue (not currently first) decays by a percentage.
- 18.11
Invalid builds pruned
Queued projects, specialists and units that are no longer legal are removed.
- 18.12
- 18.13
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24 skipped on the player's very first turn
Research progresses / tech completes
The
Science stockpile flushes into the current tech; when progress reaches the cost, the tech is acquired on the spot. - 25 research was auto-picked
Auto-picked tech un-selected
If research was auto-slotted two steps ago, the choice is cleared again so a human can pick freely.
- 26 skipped on the player's very first turn
Debts force auto-sales
While
money is negative, goods are sold automatically; if still short, money resets to zero. - 27 for each yield · a stockpile is below zero
Negative stockpiles clamp to zero
Any yield stockpile still below zero after debts is set to 0.
- 28
Stranded units bounce
Units standing where they can no longer be, such as on territory you have lost, are pushed to a valid tile, or killed when there is none.
- 29 for each unit (reverse order)
Units process
Each of your units takes its upkeep turn, covering wake checks, timers, work, healing and XP, in the per-unit sequence below.
26 steps inside
- 29.1
- 29.2 a hostile unit is adjacent
Sleepers wake near hostiles
A sleeping (non-hidden) unit wakes if a hostile unit is adjacent.
- 29.3 for each tile in range · a hostile unit is in range
Sentry breaks on contact
A unit on sentry wakes if a hostile unit enters sentry range.
- 29.4
- 29.5
Timed unit effects tick
Temporary unit effects count down and expire (possibly chaining into a follow-up effect).
- 29.6 for each territory effect · effect not already on the unit
Territory effects may apply
City-territory effects roll their chance to put a timed effect on the unit standing there.
- 29.7 unit is working its tile
Workers advance construction
A unit improving its tile progresses the build one turn (consuming its action); completion is announced.
- 29.8 unit is working its tile
Act
- 29.9 unit is working its tile
Increment leader stat
- 29.10 if pTile.hasCity()
Set fortify turns
- 29.11 not yet at maximum
Fortification deepens
A fortifying unit outside a city gains a fortify turn (reset to 0 inside cities).
- 29.12 not yet at maximum
Act
- 29.13 not yet at maximum
Formation deepens
A unit holding formation outside a city gains a formation turn (reset to 0 inside cities).
- 29.14
- 29.15 harvest possible here
Auto-harvest fires
A unit set to auto-harvest collects the resource it is standing on if it can.
- 29.16 unit is promotable
XP from leaders and effects
Generals and explorers grant their rating XP; player effects add per-turn (and idle) XP.
- 29.17 unit is promotable
XP from leaders and effects
Generals and explorers grant their rating XP; player effects add per-turn (and idle) XP.
- 29.18 was damaged (or is taking damage)
Healing and attrition apply
Effect-based heal/damage plus idle healing (if the unit did nothing and can heal here); then terrain and height attrition.
- 29.19 unit is sleeping
Wake
- 29.20 still damaged beyond idle healing
Auto-heal action
A unit on auto-heal spends its turn healing while still damaged (cleared once it cannot).
- 29.21
Healing and attrition apply
Effect-based heal/damage plus idle healing (if the unit did nothing and can heal here); then terrain and height attrition.
- 29.22 if pTile.getHeight() != HeightType.NONE
Healing and attrition apply
Effect-based heal/damage plus idle healing (if the unit did nothing and can heal here); then terrain and height attrition.
- 29.23 unit is promotable
XP from leaders and effects
Generals and explorers grant their rating XP; player effects add per-turn (and idle) XP.
- 29.24
Caravans advance
A caravan with a mission target moves toward that capital and completes its mission on arrival. (May remove the unit.)
- 29.25 for each team · raid target team eliminated
Raids on dead teams end
Raiders whose target team has been eliminated stop raiding and convert to barbarians.
- 29.26 for each team · if canConvert(PlayerType.NONE, BARBARIANS_TRIBE)
Convert
- 30 for each living character · Doomed and the death roll hits
Doomed characters may die
Each character with the Doomed trait rolls the death chance and can die now.
- 31 for each living character · otherwise
Delayed trait probabilities resolve
Traits queued by events with a delayed probability roll now.
- 32 for each living character · otherwise
Delayed random traits resolve
Random traits queued with a delay are assigned now.
- 33 for each living character · otherwise
Delayed relationships resolve
Pending random character relationships (rivalries, friendships) are assigned now.
- 34 for each living character · otherwise
Units process
Each of your units takes its upkeep turn, covering wake checks, timers, work, healing and XP, in the per-unit sequence below.
5 steps inside
- 34.1 on the character's year turn
Yearly tick (the character's "birthday")
Runs only when turn % year-divisions matches the character's ID, and covers aging, death rolls and life events, in the sequence below.
9 steps inside
- 34.1.1 leader, not yet Doomed
Death roll → Doomed for leaders
If a death trait fires, a leader gains Doomed instead of dying instantly (a one-year warning); anyone else dies now.
- 34.1.2 otherwise
Death roll resolves
A non-leader (or already-Doomed) character whose death trait fired dies here.
- 34.1.3 a general at retirement age
Death roll → Doomed for leaders
If a death trait fires, a leader gains Doomed instead of dying instantly (a one-year warning); anyone else dies now.
- 34.1.4 past fertile age / failed the roll
Infertility check
Past maximum fertile age (hard cutoff with margin, or per-year odds), the character becomes infertile.
- 34.1.5
One life event
At most one fires, in priority
order: new-year character event, trait gain, trait loss, archetype, first strength/weakness, birth, adult trait, rating change, marriage offer, religion, (AI) adoption. - 34.1.6
- 34.1.7 for each event class · probability roll hits
Character event rolls
Event classes with a per-character probability may fire, then the new-turn character event trigger runs.
- 34.1.8 events enabled
Character event rolls
Event classes with a per-character probability may fire, then the new-turn character event trigger runs.
- 34.1.9 coin flip
AI ratings drift
When events are off (AI autoplay), young successors gain random rating points instead of tutored
growth.
- 34.1.1
- 34.2 for each trait · turn limit reached
Expiring traits removed
Traits with a turn limit (or marked remove-always) fall off; a lose-trait event may fire instead of the plain notice.
- 34.3
Occurrence traits roll
Active Occurrences can inflict traits on the character, and strip them when the Occurrence ends.
- 34.4
Character XP accrues
XP per turn from traits, a council seat, and city governorship.
- 34.5 on the turn the character becomes an adult
Coming of age
A character reaching adult age fires the adulthood event (or just a log entry if no event takes).
- 34.1
- 35 the leader, after everyone else
Units process
Each of your units takes its upkeep turn, covering wake checks, timers, work, healing and XP, in the per-unit sequence below.
5 steps inside
- 35.1 on the character's year turn
Yearly tick (the character's "birthday")
Runs only when turn % year-divisions matches the character's ID, and covers aging, death rolls and life events, in the sequence below.
9 steps inside
- 35.1.1 leader, not yet Doomed
Death roll → Doomed for leaders
If a death trait fires, a leader gains Doomed instead of dying instantly (a one-year warning); anyone else dies now.
- 35.1.2 otherwise
Death roll resolves
A non-leader (or already-Doomed) character whose death trait fired dies here.
- 35.1.3 a general at retirement age
Death roll → Doomed for leaders
If a death trait fires, a leader gains Doomed instead of dying instantly (a one-year warning); anyone else dies now.
- 35.1.4 past fertile age / failed the roll
Infertility check
Past maximum fertile age (hard cutoff with margin, or per-year odds), the character becomes infertile.
- 35.1.5
One life event
At most one fires, in priority
order: new-year character event, trait gain, trait loss, archetype, first strength/weakness, birth, adult trait, rating change, marriage offer, religion, (AI) adoption. - 35.1.6
- 35.1.7 for each event class · probability roll hits
Character event rolls
Event classes with a per-character probability may fire, then the new-turn character event trigger runs.
- 35.1.8 events enabled
Character event rolls
Event classes with a per-character probability may fire, then the new-turn character event trigger runs.
- 35.1.9 coin flip
AI ratings drift
When events are off (AI autoplay), young successors gain random rating points instead of tutored
growth.
- 35.1.1
- 35.2 for each trait · turn limit reached
Expiring traits removed
Traits with a turn limit (or marked remove-always) fall off; a lose-trait event may fire instead of the plain notice.
- 35.3
Occurrence traits roll
Active Occurrences can inflict traits on the character, and strip them when the Occurrence ends.
- 35.4
Character XP accrues
XP per turn from traits, a council seat, and city governorship.
- 35.5 on the turn the character becomes an adult
Coming of age
A character reaching adult age fires the adulthood event (or just a log entry if no event takes).
- 35.1
- 36 skipped on the player's very first turn
Families replenish
Families short on adults or children (relative to the cities they hold) spawn new characters.
- 37 skipped on the player's very first turn
Old royals retire
If the royal roster exceeds roughly year/25 + 5, the character furthest down the succession retires; the leader, heirs and family heads are always un-retired.
- 38 for each family · skipped on the player's very first turn
Family heads update
Each family re-evaluates who leads it.
- 39 skipped on the player's very first turn
Families may adopt religions
From turn 10, each family (staggered, every 4 turns) adopts whichever religion is most common among its members.
- 40 skipped on the player's very first turn
Family neglect counters tick
Every family the current leader does not belong to increments its turns-without-a-leader counter.
- 41 skipped on the player's very first turn
Tribes run diplomacy at you
Each tribe evaluates its per-player diplomacy (offers, demands, attitude shifts).
- 42 skipped on the player's very first turn
AI player diplomacy
AI players, and only AI players, evaluate diplomacy toward every other player, and humans are considered first.
- 43 skipped on the player's very first turn
Story event rolls
Event-class probability rolls fire first, then up to the per-turn cap of new-turn events, then event-level bonus rolls.
- 44 skipped on the player's very first turn
Tile event timers tick
Per-tile event timers count down and expire.
- 45 random roll hit; below the ambition cap
AI free-ambition roll
AIs that simulate ambitions occasionally bank a finished-ambition credit to keep pace with humans.
- 46 random roll hit; below the ambition cap
Reign counters tick
The leader's Years Reigned stat increments (plus Years as Regent for regents).
- 47
Missions complete
Missions whose duration has elapsed resolve, deliberately after character turns, so that a state change during an event, such as a suitor marrying, invalidates cleanly.
- 48
Occurrence effects apply
All active Occurrences apply their per-player effects and tile changes to you.
- 49
Event links expire
Event-chain links past their turn limit (or marked immediate) are removed.
- 50
Goals re-evaluate
All ambition and quest progress is recomputed against the new game state.
- 51 for each goal (reverse) · no turns left
Quests time out
Unfinished quests with zero turns left are removed.
- 52 for each goal (reverse) · no turns left
Ambitions time out
Unfinished ambitions with zero turns left are removed (failed).
- 53
Stale decisions pruned
Pending decisions that are no longer valid are removed.
- 54
Map pings expire
Old map pins and reminders are cleared or re-announced.
- 55
New ambition may be offered
If you have a free ambition slot and nothing pending, threshold-goal offers fire first, then a standard ambition offer can roll.
- 56 player alive
Leftover decisions auto-resolve
Decisions still pending from your previous turn are resolved by the AI before you regain control.
- 57
- 58 player alive
Queued unit orders execute
Units with queued move-to / build-road
orders carry them out (cancelled if the path is gone). - 59
- 60
Victory check
Victory conditions, defeats and game-over states are evaluated.
- 61 human-controlled
AI advisor caches refresh
For human players: enemy lists, attack-target suggestions and new-city-site hints are recomputed for the UI.
- 62 human-controlled
Attack targets
- 63 human-controlled
New city sites
What this page does not cover
- Which event fires. The order of the event rolls is fixed, but which event is picked is weighted and filtered, so events have no fixed priority.
- How the AI decides. The order inside AI decisions, city automation and AI diplomacy is not shown here.
- Order between players. Players are processed in the host's setup order. In simultaneous multiplayer the game does not show that order.
R marks a rollover step and P marks a player step.