Actions Overview

During a character’s turn, they generally have the chance to perform one primary activity. This is the character’s action. Actions include any activity complex enough to warrant a skill check, such as slicing into a computer network, firing a rifle, or leaping across a chasm.


Action Limitations


A character may only perform one action in a turn. Some characters may have abilities allowing them to perform an action as a maneuver. This does not violate the limit of one action per turn, as the action now counts as a maneuver.


Types of Actions


There are four major types of actions a character can perform during their turn: exchanging an action for a maneuver, spending the action to activate an ability or talent, performing a skill check, and performing a combat check. The last, performing a combat check, is actually a variation on performing a skill check. However, enough unique circumstances surround it that it requires its own entry.


Exchange an Action for a Maneuver


A character may exchange their action for an additional maneuver during their turn. They may then perform any maneuver they would be able to perform normally, following all the rules that govern maneuvers. However, they still may not perform more than two maneuvers during their turn, no matter how they gained access to them.


Spend an Action to Activate an Ability


Certain abilities and talents require an action to activate. When a character spends an action to activate an ability or talent (even if spending the action does not require a check or any other activity on the character’s part), they have used their action for their turn. They may not take a second action unless they specifically have an ability that grants them a second action.


Perform a Skill Check


The most common actions that most characters take during their turns are actions that require a skill check to resolve. In other words, these are activities for which success is not guaranteed or for which the failure of the task may be important to the ongoing story. For example, for most characters, walking from one place to another does not bring with it any inherent risk of failure. Characters who have no relevant injuries or disabilities are assumed to be able to walking from one location to another. Even if a character could fail, failing would not significantly change the ongoing story. However, trying to cross a chasm on a tightrope to escape pursuit brings an inherent risk of failure (falling and possibly dying), and failing can advance the story (whether or not the character escapes pursuit). Therefore, a Coordination check is called for, and if it occurs during an encounter, it requires an action to perform.


Most skill checks and what they can accomplish are covered in Chapter 3: Skills. What a character can do with a skill outside of an encounter is the same as what they can do with it inside of an encounter. The only difference is that inside an encounter, they have certain time limits imposed. In fact, the GM can determine that certain activities may require more than one action to perform, if they would normally take a great deal of time. (If the activity is time-consuming enough that it cannot be performed while the encounter continues, the GM may require the character to wait for the encounter to end before attempting the activity.)


Combat checks, however, are unique enough that they require a separate description.