Action-Adventure
The systems for action-adventure support various forms of physical peril, dramatic movement, and moment-to-moment action. This area also includes combat, which is covered in Chapter Four. The combat section also describes the importance of range and distance in action-adventure scenes.
In situations where it is important to know who acts quickest, characters follow the order of initiative. When such a situation begins, such as the start of a fight, each player rolls a dice pool for their characters, and the Storyguide rolls for hers. Groups of Storyguide characters with similar statistics may share an initiative roll.
A character’s initiative pool uses their most appropriate Skill + Cunning. In battle, they use their best combat-related Skill to represent their fighting instincts, while a footrace would use Athletics. Tally the total number of successes for each character, and rank them from highest to lowest. In the event of a tie between Storyguide and player, favor the player. Results generated by player characters (PCs) become PC slots; results generated by Storyguide characters (SGCs) become SGC slots. This is the initiative roster.
The players choose which of them gets to take each PC slot, and the Storyguide determines which of her characters take each SGC slot. The character in the first slot of the initiative roster takes their turn first, then the second does, then the third, and so on. The round ends when all characters have taken their turn. Then the initiative returns to the character in the first slot, round after round, until initiative is no longer needed.
When a character takes his turn, he can perform one or more simple actions. This is a task that occupies his focus for that round, and usually requires a roll to complete successfully. He can attempt to do two things at once with his simple action, using the rules for mixed actions.
A character can also perform reflexive actions on his turn. These are acts which require little attention, such as standing up, drawing a weapon, or moving around unimpeded. Reflexive actions do not call for a roll, and a character can perform as many different reflexive actions as he likes on his turn, within reason.
Characters can do minor, inconsequential things at any point. If a character wants to throw out a one-liner or brush dirt off his uniform, he doesn’t have to wait for his turn to do so.
Sometimes the target you want to attack is not within range, or sometimes you just need to get the hell out of dodge. Over most terrain, characters can move freely. This section explores what to do when faced with less forgiving terrain.
It is rare for the precise speed at which a character can move to be relevant. In most cases, the arts of maneuvering, chasing, and fleeing are abstracted into Athletics challenges or range bands (p. 119). When it’s relevant, an unimpeded human on foot can move a number of feet each turn equal to twice their Athletics + their highest Physical Attribute.
Move: You move one range band. This is reflexive. If an opponent is fighting you at close range, you may need to Disengage. You may reflexively Move once per round.
Barriers: A barrier is a wall, gap, or other feature that requires extra time or effort to traverse. Getting past a barrier means climbing or jumping over it, locating an alternate route, or finding or creating a way through it. Many barriers only become a challenge when the pressure is on — it’s simple for a character to haul herself over a garden fence, but it’s harder if she’s being shot at, in which case the Storyguide can assign it a Difficulty rating and have her roll. The go-to dice pool for overcoming barriers is Athletics + Might or Dexterity.
Disengage: You pull one range band away from an attacker. If they relent, you do this reflexively. If they do not, make reflexive, contested Athletics + Might or Dexterity vs. Close Combat + Might rolls. If you fail, you must remain engaged with your opponent. This action is simple, and can be taken if you have already used your reflexive Move. Ties favor the Disengaging character. Extras do not ever prevent a character from disengaging.
Drop/Stand: Characters can drop prone as a reflexive action. Standing up from a prone position is also reflexive, but occupies the character’s movement for that round.
Rise from Prone: Some abilities or environmental effects may cause you to fall down. Getting up from being knocked over is a reflexive action requiring no roll. However, if an opponent is engaging you in close range, they may make this difficult. If the opponent chooses to threaten your rise, your rise must be part of a mixed action, with a Complication of 1 that threatens an Injury if it’s not bought off.
Rush: You charge one range band towards an opponent, which you may do so as a simple action after making a reflexive Move action. Some opponents welcome being attacked at close range, but others would rather you didn’t get close. If an opponent wishes to keep you at a distance, make reflexive, contested Athletics + Dexterity or Might rolls. Ties favor the Rushing character.
Utilize Cover: Placing yourself behind protective cover in the heat of fire requires a simple Athletics + Dexterity roll, or a Defensive Stunt (p. 116). Cover is expendable, light, heavy, or full.
Expendable cover includes small objects like kitchen chairs, knee-high crates, barstools, and other fixtures that are less than person-sized. Expendable cover can absorb 1 Injury before it is destroyed.
Light cover protects a significant portion of the character’s body, such as a marble balcony railing, or leaning around a pillar in a temple. This absorbs 4 Injuries before it is destroyed. Injuries must be split among players utilizing the cover.
Heavy cover protects almost all the character, leaving only scant parts of her exposed. Examples include firing at a character crouched behind the hood of a car or through a slit in an armored door. This absorbs 10 Injuries. As with light cover, injuries must be split among the players’ characters utilizing the cover.
Full cover blocks line of sight entirely, but is otherwise functionally identical to heavy cover. A character with full cover cannot normally be targeted by ranged attacks.
Withdraw: Discretion is the better part of valor, and sometimes the superior choice is to turn tail and run. If necessary, you first disengage, and then make an Athletics + Dexterity or Might roll to continue to cross range bands, as stated in the Move action. If enemies choose to pursue you, the action is then contested, and treated as additional disengaging.
Dangerous terrain is a landscape feature that could cause the character harm, such as pools of acid or walls of flame. A character can pass through these, but in doing so takes a Complication. If she does not wish to be set on fire by walking through said wall of flame, the character instead can roll Athletics to cross or otherwise evade such Complications, buying off their ratings.
Difficult terrain covers features such as slippery mud, loose stones, the rotten floor of an abandoned building, etc. — anything that makes passage hard, but not necessarily harmful. When on difficult terrain, the default Move action is no longer reflexive and characters must roll their Athletics + Dexterity whenever they wish to move one range band. All other movement actions are done so at +1 difficulty.
Chases happen when characters flee or pursue someone or something. A footrace against a frost giant, a desperate escape through a labyrinth, or a rush to nab a tanuki thief are all chases.
A chase is often a simple action, flight or failure resolved in a single opposed roll. Chases between bandmates usually work out this way for brevity’s sake. Longer or more varied chases are complex actions instead, allowing the different areas or tactics to influence the chase as it proceeds.
Chases use the usual dice pools. An on-foot chase uses Athletics, while Pilot is used if characters are driving. Might is the Attribute for flat-out sprints, while obstacle-strewn or unstable courses call for Dexterity, and challenges of endurance use Stamina. Mazes and other puzzles are the place for Intellect, while an interval that required split-second reactions might use Cunning. Driving always uses Cunning or Dexterity.
When a chase is resolved as a complex action, its milestones are referred to as laps. The number of laps characters need to succeed in a chase represents the distance it covers. Once a character completes the necessary laps, they either catch their prey, escape their pursuer, or finish their race.
Chases with two significant parties are contests, with each character rolling to complete enough laps that they can secure their quarry or get away clean.
An interval limit represents different things depending on what the characters are doing. In flight, it indicates the point at which pursuit becomes all-encompassing, a dead end, or the inexorable advance of a natural disaster. For a pursuer, an interval limit is a place of safety for their quarry, such as an embassy.
Races are competitions, with each racer rolling for a set number of intervals before the racetrack comes to a close at the interval limit. Each lap earned represents a successful stretch of the race, allowing a racer to pull ahead or conserve their energy compared to their fellows.
The chase rules can also be used to represent the travails of long-distance journeys, such as a voyage to be the first to track down the newest island fished up by Maui. These often involve more varied dice pools and interval lengths, but otherwise work as normal.
Here are a few modifiers specifically suited to chases:
Head Start (1-3e): Slashed tires, a well-established lead, or chasing down your target before they even know they should be running. Applies: Any interval where you begin the chase before your opposition is able to react. This Enhancement’s rating is based on the length of your head start, relative to the length of the interval.
Hazard (1-3c): Whether you’re facing slick ice, a literal minefield, or geysers of acid, you need to keep your eyes on the road. Result: This Complication’s rating is based on the danger represented by the hazard, and inflicts appropriate Injury Conditions of the same rating.
Snatch and Grab (1s): You keep your eyes open, and find something useful along the way. Result: You acquire a piece of equipment appropriate to the interval, which offers 1e to rolls when used. Racing through a forest might let you snap off a branch as a club, while a street-market chase offers many options.
INITIATIVE
In situations where it is important to know who acts quickest, characters follow the order of initiative. When such a situation begins, such as the start of a fight, each player rolls a dice pool for their characters, and the Storyguide rolls for hers. Groups of Storyguide characters with similar statistics may share an initiative roll.
A character’s initiative pool uses their most appropriate Skill + Cunning. In battle, they use their best combat-related Skill to represent their fighting instincts, while a footrace would use Athletics. Tally the total number of successes for each character, and rank them from highest to lowest. In the event of a tie between Storyguide and player, favor the player. Results generated by player characters (PCs) become PC slots; results generated by Storyguide characters (SGCs) become SGC slots. This is the initiative roster.
The players choose which of them gets to take each PC slot, and the Storyguide determines which of her characters take each SGC slot. The character in the first slot of the initiative roster takes their turn first, then the second does, then the third, and so on. The round ends when all characters have taken their turn. Then the initiative returns to the character in the first slot, round after round, until initiative is no longer needed.
ACTIONS
When a character takes his turn, he can perform one or more simple actions. This is a task that occupies his focus for that round, and usually requires a roll to complete successfully. He can attempt to do two things at once with his simple action, using the rules for mixed actions.
A character can also perform reflexive actions on his turn. These are acts which require little attention, such as standing up, drawing a weapon, or moving around unimpeded. Reflexive actions do not call for a roll, and a character can perform as many different reflexive actions as he likes on his turn, within reason.
Characters can do minor, inconsequential things at any point. If a character wants to throw out a one-liner or brush dirt off his uniform, he doesn’t have to wait for his turn to do so.
MOVEMENT
Sometimes the target you want to attack is not within range, or sometimes you just need to get the hell out of dodge. Over most terrain, characters can move freely. This section explores what to do when faced with less forgiving terrain.
It is rare for the precise speed at which a character can move to be relevant. In most cases, the arts of maneuvering, chasing, and fleeing are abstracted into Athletics challenges or range bands (p. 119). When it’s relevant, an unimpeded human on foot can move a number of feet each turn equal to twice their Athletics + their highest Physical Attribute.
Move: You move one range band. This is reflexive. If an opponent is fighting you at close range, you may need to Disengage. You may reflexively Move once per round.
Barriers: A barrier is a wall, gap, or other feature that requires extra time or effort to traverse. Getting past a barrier means climbing or jumping over it, locating an alternate route, or finding or creating a way through it. Many barriers only become a challenge when the pressure is on — it’s simple for a character to haul herself over a garden fence, but it’s harder if she’s being shot at, in which case the Storyguide can assign it a Difficulty rating and have her roll. The go-to dice pool for overcoming barriers is Athletics + Might or Dexterity.
Disengage: You pull one range band away from an attacker. If they relent, you do this reflexively. If they do not, make reflexive, contested Athletics + Might or Dexterity vs. Close Combat + Might rolls. If you fail, you must remain engaged with your opponent. This action is simple, and can be taken if you have already used your reflexive Move. Ties favor the Disengaging character. Extras do not ever prevent a character from disengaging.
Drop/Stand: Characters can drop prone as a reflexive action. Standing up from a prone position is also reflexive, but occupies the character’s movement for that round.
Rise from Prone: Some abilities or environmental effects may cause you to fall down. Getting up from being knocked over is a reflexive action requiring no roll. However, if an opponent is engaging you in close range, they may make this difficult. If the opponent chooses to threaten your rise, your rise must be part of a mixed action, with a Complication of 1 that threatens an Injury if it’s not bought off.
Rush: You charge one range band towards an opponent, which you may do so as a simple action after making a reflexive Move action. Some opponents welcome being attacked at close range, but others would rather you didn’t get close. If an opponent wishes to keep you at a distance, make reflexive, contested Athletics + Dexterity or Might rolls. Ties favor the Rushing character.
Utilize Cover: Placing yourself behind protective cover in the heat of fire requires a simple Athletics + Dexterity roll, or a Defensive Stunt (p. 116). Cover is expendable, light, heavy, or full.
Expendable cover includes small objects like kitchen chairs, knee-high crates, barstools, and other fixtures that are less than person-sized. Expendable cover can absorb 1 Injury before it is destroyed.
Light cover protects a significant portion of the character’s body, such as a marble balcony railing, or leaning around a pillar in a temple. This absorbs 4 Injuries before it is destroyed. Injuries must be split among players utilizing the cover.
Heavy cover protects almost all the character, leaving only scant parts of her exposed. Examples include firing at a character crouched behind the hood of a car or through a slit in an armored door. This absorbs 10 Injuries. As with light cover, injuries must be split among the players’ characters utilizing the cover.
Full cover blocks line of sight entirely, but is otherwise functionally identical to heavy cover. A character with full cover cannot normally be targeted by ranged attacks.
Withdraw: Discretion is the better part of valor, and sometimes the superior choice is to turn tail and run. If necessary, you first disengage, and then make an Athletics + Dexterity or Might roll to continue to cross range bands, as stated in the Move action. If enemies choose to pursue you, the action is then contested, and treated as additional disengaging.
DIFFICULT AND DANGEROUS TERRAIN
Dangerous terrain is a landscape feature that could cause the character harm, such as pools of acid or walls of flame. A character can pass through these, but in doing so takes a Complication. If she does not wish to be set on fire by walking through said wall of flame, the character instead can roll Athletics to cross or otherwise evade such Complications, buying off their ratings.
Difficult terrain covers features such as slippery mud, loose stones, the rotten floor of an abandoned building, etc. — anything that makes passage hard, but not necessarily harmful. When on difficult terrain, the default Move action is no longer reflexive and characters must roll their Athletics + Dexterity whenever they wish to move one range band. All other movement actions are done so at +1 difficulty.
CHASES
Chases happen when characters flee or pursue someone or something. A footrace against a frost giant, a desperate escape through a labyrinth, or a rush to nab a tanuki thief are all chases.
A chase is often a simple action, flight or failure resolved in a single opposed roll. Chases between bandmates usually work out this way for brevity’s sake. Longer or more varied chases are complex actions instead, allowing the different areas or tactics to influence the chase as it proceeds.
Chases use the usual dice pools. An on-foot chase uses Athletics, while Pilot is used if characters are driving. Might is the Attribute for flat-out sprints, while obstacle-strewn or unstable courses call for Dexterity, and challenges of endurance use Stamina. Mazes and other puzzles are the place for Intellect, while an interval that required split-second reactions might use Cunning. Driving always uses Cunning or Dexterity.
LAPS
When a chase is resolved as a complex action, its milestones are referred to as laps. The number of laps characters need to succeed in a chase represents the distance it covers. Once a character completes the necessary laps, they either catch their prey, escape their pursuer, or finish their race.
Chases with two significant parties are contests, with each character rolling to complete enough laps that they can secure their quarry or get away clean.
An interval limit represents different things depending on what the characters are doing. In flight, it indicates the point at which pursuit becomes all-encompassing, a dead end, or the inexorable advance of a natural disaster. For a pursuer, an interval limit is a place of safety for their quarry, such as an embassy.
OTHER CHASES
Races are competitions, with each racer rolling for a set number of intervals before the racetrack comes to a close at the interval limit. Each lap earned represents a successful stretch of the race, allowing a racer to pull ahead or conserve their energy compared to their fellows.
The chase rules can also be used to represent the travails of long-distance journeys, such as a voyage to be the first to track down the newest island fished up by Maui. These often involve more varied dice pools and interval lengths, but otherwise work as normal.
GENERAL CHASE OPTIONS
Here are a few modifiers specifically suited to chases:
Head Start (1-3e): Slashed tires, a well-established lead, or chasing down your target before they even know they should be running. Applies: Any interval where you begin the chase before your opposition is able to react. This Enhancement’s rating is based on the length of your head start, relative to the length of the interval.
Hazard (1-3c): Whether you’re facing slick ice, a literal minefield, or geysers of acid, you need to keep your eyes on the road. Result: This Complication’s rating is based on the danger represented by the hazard, and inflicts appropriate Injury Conditions of the same rating.
Snatch and Grab (1s): You keep your eyes open, and find something useful along the way. Result: You acquire a piece of equipment appropriate to the interval, which offers 1e to rolls when used. Racing through a forest might let you snap off a branch as a club, while a street-market chase offers many options.
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