Actions and Maneuvers
Contents
- 1 Overview
- 2 Common Actions
- 2.1 Begin Movement
- 2.2 Sprint
- 2.3 Go Prone/Stand up
- 2.4 Jump/Leap
- 2.5 Other Acrobatics
- 2.6 Take Cover
- 2.7 Quick Look
- 2.8 Detailed Search
- 2.9 Observe in Detail
- 2.10 Pickup Object
- 2.11 Drop/Toss/Place Object
- 2.12 Ready/Draw Weapon
- 2.13 Use non-Action Skill
- 2.14 Hold Action
- 2.15 Change/Stop/Continue Movement
- 3 Overview of Combat Maneuvers
- 4 Evasions
Overview
At the core of the dramatic action system in Fatewalker are Actions and Maneuvers. They have no distinct meaning (action are maneuvers are actions) but it's fun to say Actions AND Maneuvers. Pretty much anything done within the confines of Ticks is considered an Action and this section hopes to enumerate all of the various kinds of Actions.
Common Actions
Common actions include observation, dealing with objects in the environment or even using skills.
Common Actions (require Tick priority)
| Action | Tick Cost | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Begin Movement | 2 | Either begin Walking, Running, Crawling, Climbing, or Swimming. |
| Sprint | 3+ | Cover the most ground possible, but precludes other actions. |
| Go Prone/Stand up | 2/3 | Down/Up. |
| Jump/Leap | 3/4 | Leap requires prior running (and room) |
| Other Acrobatics | 4-14 | Rule of thumb is: common sense time to complete Action in ticks + 2 |
| Take Cover | 3/4 | (50/90%) - Requires cover, otherwise just go prone. |
| Look/Search/Observe | 5/9/2-16 | The various types of combat observation beyond the default situational awareness players enjoy (covered in Dramatic Scenes) |
| Pickup object | 2/3/4(+1) | Hand or Chest Level/Above Head/Below knees (requires 2 hands) |
| Drop/Toss/Place Object | 1/2/3 | Dropping leaves object/weapon at feet. Tossing drops it somewhere else. Placing it leaves it on or in something within arm's reach. |
| Ready/Draw Weapon | 2-6 | Time depends on the size o the weapon. |
| Use non-Action Skill | 7-20+ | Rule of thumb is: common sense time for Action in ticks + 2 |
| Hold Action | 2 | Cost is minimum time spent “Held”, cannot initiate a preemptive action until at least 2 ticks has transpired. |
Special Common Actions (don't require tick priority)
| Action | Tick Cost | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Stop Movement | 0 | Character is still in previous position (crawling = prone, swimming = treading, Running/Walking = Standing) |
| Change Movement | 0 | Character can change from Walking to Running or vice versa |
| Continue Movement | 0 | Declares that the character will continue at their current pace for another 6 ticks. |
Begin Movement
It cost 2 ticks to begin moving from a stationary state. This does not include standing up/going prone. If the character is standing and wishes to crawl they must first go prone. If the character is prone and wishes to do anything BUT crawl they must first stand up. If they wish to climb they must be within a meter of their intended climbing surface. Terrain penalties can apply based on the surface the character is climbing/crawling/walking/running/swimming across.
Speeds of Movement
- Walking: (Speed) meters / 6 ticks
- Running: (2xSpeed) meters / 6 ticks
- Crawling/Swimming: (Speed / 3) meters / 6 ticks (round up)
- Climbing: (Speed / 5) meters / 6 ticks (use fractions)
Sprint
Sprinting requires a Prowess(Agility) roll. Add successes from this roll to base speed and double it to determine the meters / 6 ticks of the rate of movement. Sprinting is separate from the other forms of movement in that the character cannot initiate other actions while sprinting, it's an exclusive action just like most normal actions.
Go Prone/Stand up
Sometimes lowering one's profile is the only form of cover available.
Jump/Leap
To perform a jump the character must roll Prowess (Strength), and terrain modifiers can apply. Every success adds 1 to the base speed (before encumbrance penalties) for the jump just like sprinting. Running leaps require at least 5m of running distance and suffer a -3 penalty to the roll for each meter short. The ticks required to cover the run-up distance is not factored into this action.
- Vertical jump height is equal to Speed * 10cm.
- Horizontal jump distance is equal to (Speed/3) meters
- Running lap distance is equal to (Speed/2) + 1 meters.
Other Acrobatics
Player characters are creative monsters.
Take Cover
Cover must be within 2 meters of the character otherwise they need to move there first.
Quick Look
Most observation rolls should be done by the GM in secret (assuming a traditional chaotic evil GM). Quick Look (or listen/feel/taste/smell) can be done to any single thing they are aware of. Before they roll the player must ask a yes/no question to the GM regarding this thing. The roll is Awareness(Search), 2-3 successes is a maybe, 4+ yields a definite yes or no. Failure simply yields no information although dramatic failure should yield wrong information.
Detailed Search
The character makes a focused effort to ascertain information about any single thing they are aware of. The character must specify what they want to know/find and then they roll Focus(Search). Each success beyond 1 gives them an extra piece of information with 5 successes generally answering all of their questions. Additional successes may give them more information than they were looking for. Dramatic failures are the Gm's opportunity for true evil.
Observe in Detail
The character takes an appreciable amount of time to simply pay attention to what is going on around them. They are not looking for anything specific, but rather trying to see what they can see. The roll is Awareness(Observe). Each success beyond 1 generally yields 1 piece of interesting information about what is going on around them. 5 successes will usually provide the character with all obvious and relevant information around them. Additional successes will reveal hidden information.
Pickup Object
This action shouldn't require a roll unless the object is particularly difficult to get a hold of or heavy. In either exceptional case it should take longer than the listed time.
Drop/Toss/Place Object
This should also be a fairly academic affair not requiring a roll unless the player is attempting to be precise.
Ready/Draw Weapon
This action assumes the weapon is either in a sheathe/sling or at the character’s feet. If the weapon is roughly at hand level the action takes 1 interval less. If the weapon is stowed away securely or hidden in an inconvenient spot it can take 1-5 intervals longer.
- Extra Small: 2
- Small: 3
- Medium: 4
- Large: 5
- Extra Large: 6
Use non-Action Skill
Whenever a player wishes to execute a non-combat skill in combat time the GM must first decide how long it takes to perform the base skill. Most non-combat actions will suffer a minor penalty (-1) simply due to the chaos of combat but this is up to the GM’s alignment/menstrual cycle.
Hold Action
A character must have been "held" for at least 2 ticks before they can preempt any actions. Until that point they can always break the hold to initiate any normal action. Held actions are covered in detail in Dramatic Scenes. The one caveat to held actions is the character cannot be moving.
Change/Stop/Continue Movement
These actions all have to deal with the fact that every 6 ticks characters in motion must decide if they will stay that way. All three of these movement actions occur simultaneously for all characters at the beginning of every tick interval. If it matters declarations can be made in private but it should not matter outside of a chase.
Overview of Combat Maneuvers
The term "Combat Maneuvers" refers to all of the following actions in this section. What separates combat maneuvers from the Common actions above is that maneuvers require a base level of skill to effectively use. The skill and the level required are listed in the tables below. If a character does not possess the requisite level of skill they can of course attempt the maneuver but it will be at a penalty equal to the difference between their skill level and the requisite level. If a skill requires two skills, take the higher penalty.
Evasions
These Evasive actions are the standard means of avoiding as much damage as possible. Evasions tend to be significantly more expensive than other forms of defensive action, but also offer the best chance of getting out of danger unscathed.
| Maneuver | Requisite Skill | Type | Roll | Tick Cost | Effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dodge | Agility: 1 | Reaction | Prowess (Agility): +3 | 8 | Cancels successes on Melee/Fight attacks |
| Evade AoE | Agility: 2 | Reaction | Prowess(Agility) | 6 | Put's distance between the character and the point of impact. |
| Sidestep | Observe: 2, Agility: 3 | Reaction | Prowess(Agility) | 5 | Faster, less effective dodge. |
| Evasive Running | Agility: 3, Stamina: 3 | Initiated | Prowess(Agility) | 6 | An evasive form of running. |
| Leaping Dodge | Agility: 4 | Reaction | Prowess(Agility): +2 | 8 | Literally leap out of the way and cover distance with the dodge. |
| Redirect | Unarmed: 4, Observe: 3, Agility: 3 | Reaction | Prowess(Unarmed) | 7 | Forces the attacker to not only miss but change position. |
| Footwork | Agility: 4 | Initiated | Awareness(Agility): -1 | 2 | A special type of combat movement that doesn't cover distance but assists defensive unarmed/armed maneuvers |
| Friendly Fire | Agility: 5, Observe: 4 | Reaction | Special | Special | Combine with another dodge to have an attack hit a different target. |
| Dodge Missile | Agility: 6 | Reaction | Awareness(Agility): -Special | 4 | The premier cruise missile defense mechanism of the 50th century. |
