October development summary

I'm pretty excited with how action scenes work! They've been pretty awesome for about two years of development, but now they're finally starting to feel... finished.

Here it is, copied from the draft:

Action Scenes

When things get tense, the GM can announce an action scene! These scenes resolve in rounds, until the situation is resolved and the GM relaxes the focus, moving back to freeplay. 

At the start of each round the GM sets intentions for all elements in the scene around the PCs, describing what they’re going to do. The players then decide how to move the Frame between their PCs so that each of them gets one moment to act. Several PCs can act in the same moment. The round then ends, and if there’s still need to resolve the situation, a new round begins.

1. GM sets intentions of foes and environment.
2. The players choose how to define their moments. 
3. During your moment, you can make a check. You can then make additional checks, which must be with different skills, and with an additional situational difficulty for each previous check you made this moment.
4. Foes who have set their intentions on your moment act.
5. If any moment still hasn’t acted, the players choose a new moment, until all PCs have acted.
6. All the foes that haven't acted yet, act now.
7. The environment acts.

Intentions

When a round begins, the GM describes the intentions of all participating actors: the foes and the environment. The intentions describe what is going to happen, unless the players do something to prevent it. 

Fulfilling intentions is how foes act in a scene, usually inflicting a feature such as an injury or mindset. Injuries typically follow three steps of escalating harm: a simple thing, lasting for a few moments —> a serious thing, lasting for short while —> a very serious thing, lasting for a long while or permanent. The character takes the lowest level of harm, unless they already have it, and then they take the next one they don't yet have.

Guard or composure can prevent harm of their appropriate types. When they do, they then disappear and need to be reacquired.

Shifting and Losing Intentions

Foes that have their intentions shifted by player action must act differently, the GM decides how (typically targeting the character). 

By spending a second red the player gets to determine how the foe acts. It must still make sense with their features and the situation, and the GM is the final arbiter. The player can instead cancel the intentions, making the foe completely lose their ability to act in this round.

Hidden Intentions

Some foes and environmental elements might be hidden from the players. Others elements might be visible but keep their intentions hidden or even give false intentions. The GM still sets true intentions for such foes, but does not reveal them to the players.

Discovering hidden elements: Awareness or Empathy. Noticing hidden creatures or environmental elements could be Beasts or Exploration. 

Recognising a foe’s real intentions: Empathy or Mislead check (if they’re trying to deceive) or Tactics (to understand what they might plan). Knowing what a creature is going to do is Beasts or Exploration. 

Deadly Intentions

In a fight, combatants can have deadly intentions. This means they’re trying to seriously harm or even kill you. 

You’re assumed to be acting in a manner that matches your foe’s willingness to harm. For example, in order to make a deadly attack, you should believe you act in self defence or for a worthy cause. Acting against your instincts (being deadly in a non-deadly fight, and vice versa) requires an appropriate mindset.