Long Action

Whether characters are relaxing by a campfire, staking out a bank's security for a heist, or deep in concentration doing research in a library, it doesn't just have to be "pure role play" or "downtime." The actions characters take can help them prepare for adventures and crises yet to come.

Actions

The following list of actions is by no means a complete menu of possible character actions outside of Fast Action, but rather a sampling of several possible game-affecting actions that a character may take. GMs and Expansions are free to add to this list, and Players are encouraged to negotiate with their GM to enrich their gameplay with other opportunities for roleplay and non-combat activities.

Meet & Mingle

The actor engages in social contact, explores the social scene, or picks up on local gossip.

This will typically involve a test of Sociability or Connectedness, although depending on the situation and the actor's goal, the GM may include other factors such as Reputation or Apparent Wealth.

 

Jaye and her companions have just reached the coastal city of Innismoore after a long march through the wilderness tracking a party of brigands. They're tired and hungry, and becoming just a little bit concerned: The four of them have been getting shifty looks and unwelcoming stares since they walked into town.

Jaye spots a bustling tavern and decides to spend some time with the locals, hoping to pick up some intel on the locals in a more convival setting.

She spends 3 hours hanging out at the bar and ordering rounds of ale for her neighbors. With her Sociability of 3 and her 1 die in the ability Gift of Gab, she has a dice pool of 7d6.

The GM decides that thanks to the rounds she's bought, the difficulty of getting her neighbors at the bar to talk is only 2S. With , she has a Success Margin of 1.

A grizzled patron to her left mutters between swallows of ale, "Last adventurers we had through here burned down the market. Hope you're not one o' that sort."

This action also includes attempts to reach out to an existing Contact, improve relationships with them, or identify a new one. See the discussion of Adjunct Actors for details on Contacts.

Mend & Prepare

The actor spends one or more hours sharpening a blade, cleaning a firearm, mending tack or armor, maintaining a vehicle, or improvising, preparing, or maintaining some other piece of equipment. Each item may be maintained once per day.

The actor may apply allocated dice for Engineering or Jury-Rigging and for any skill relevant to the specific type of equipment being maintained or built.

 

Dice allocated to Weapons » Swords may be added to a test to maintain a longsword.

[# hours] + Allocated → 2S

A number of dice equal to the Success Margin may be held in reserve for one full day, and added to subsequent uses of the item. Once added to a dice pool, the reserve dice cannot be used again.

When this action is taken again, the resulting reserve dice replace any already held in reserve.

 

Jaye is relaxing with her companions by a campfire. While other members of her party are joking, catching some rest, or staring broodingly into the darkened woods, Jaye is sharpening and oiling her sword and mending some loose stitching in the leather of its hilt.

She spends 2 hours on her sword. With her 2 dice allocated to Weapons » Swords, she has a dice pool of 4. She rolls for a Success Margin of 1.

With her blade properly cared for, she goes to sleep, knowing that her preparation has given her 1 die in reserve to add to an attack or parry in a critical moment.

Observe & Plan

The actor spends one or more hours observing a situation, an environment, or other actors and possibly planning out an encounter.

The GM determines the difficulty of the test based on the nature of the subject being observed, the observer's proximity and other parameters that may affect their success, and any specific goals of observation.

[# hours] + SMR → [Difficulty]S

Based on the subject being observed, the GM may rule that other attributes and skill dice may be added to the test.

 

If the actor is observing other actors, then the observer may add their Sociability attribute to the test.

If the actor is observing a military fortification and has the Strategy & Tactics skill, they may add its skill dice to the test.

On success, a number of dice equal to the Success Margin may be held in reserve, and added to any subsequent tests related to actions taken against or in response to the observed subjects. The dice may be held in reserve for one full day or until the GM rules that the observed subject has materially changed. Once added to a dice pool, the reserve dice cannot be used again.

When this action is taken again, the resulting reserve dice replace any already held in reserve.

 

Mince has spent the last 6 hours on the roof of an abandoned warehouse observing Lord Binford's town house one street over and his guards' patrols. By now, he's got a good idea of their patterns and the security he's facing. This evening, Binford will be at Lady Tieras's ball, and Mince plans to take the opportunity to break and enter.

The GM rules that from Mince's perch, he's got a solid view of the side of the townhouse and through the large windows, and so sets the observation difficulty at 2. Mince has been watching for 6 hours. With his Smarts of 2, he's got a dice pool of 8. He rolls for a Success Margin of 2.

As the shadows lengthen, Mince sees Binford depart, and clambers down to the street. He's pretty stealthy with a Stealth & Skulking allocation of 2. But the guards are sharp and he'll need all his skill. Good thing he spent that time casing the joint—the extra 2 reserve dice will come in handy...

Practice & Review

The actor spends one or more hours practicing a skill. Each skill may be practiced once per day.

The Success Target for the practice is the actor's current dice allocation^✻ for the skill being practiced, so practicing a skill has a more dramatic effect the less skilled one is.

Skill + [# hours] → [Alloc]S

A number of dice equal to the Success Margin may be held in reserve for one full day, and added to subsequent uses of the skill. Once added to a dice pool, the reserve dice cannot be used again.

 

If the actor has not allocated the skill, they may still use this action. The actor must have access to some reference for the skill: either another willing actor who has allocated dice to the skill or a reference or tutorial of some sort. The Success Target in this case is the skill's difficulty.

Success does not result in the skill being allocated, but the actor may still use the resulting reserve dice to offset the skill's difficulty when used.

When this action is taken again, the resulting reserve dice replace any already held in reserve.

 

Finley's got 2 dice allocated to his Weapons » Modern Small Arms skill. With his Prowess and Action Dice, he's got 9 dice to make a tricky shot. But his target is crouched behind partial cover, and at this range he needs 4S to make the shot. That leaves him with about a 35% chance of success.

Good thing yesterday, Finley put in a few hours at the shooting range. With his 3 hours, 2 skill allocation, and 2 Prowess, he rolled 7d6 against a Success Target of 2S with for a Success Margin of 3.

All that practice pays off, letting him add 3 more dice to this shot for 12d6 → 4S, almost doubling his chance to hit.

Sleep & Recover

The actor spends one or more hours sleeping or resting. The actor may not take any other significant action during this time.

The actor unbinds any EX-bound Action Dice.

The actor's Toughness is added to the number of hours spent resting, with a Success Target equal to the difference between Max Health Points and Current Health Points.

TUF + [# hours] → (MaxHP - CurrentHP)S 1HP/SM

The Success Margin is the number of Health Points recovered.

 

Note that it is possible for the Success Target to be higher than the actor's possible dice pool. Such cases indicate that the character is so badly injured that they cannot heal simply by resting, and require medical attention or other special interventions.

 

Winston is holed up in a shallow cave, having just got away from an ambush. They think they lost their attackers, but in the process, they took a bullet to the shoulder. They were carrying some bandages and have applied some First Aid, but are still down about 4 HP. They need a rest.

Luckily, their steadfast mutt Terrance knows what's up, and has taken a sentry position at the mouth of the cave. Winston and Terrance have been through tougher scrapes than this, and Winston knows to trust their friend to warn them if anyone comes knocking.

Even though it's still light out, Winston closes their eyes and rests for 10 hours, doing nothing but take the occasional sip of water. Adding their Toughness of 3 gives them 13d6 to roll 4 or more successes. They manage for a Success Margin of 1.

With 1 more HP healed during their rest, they're feeling a little better, but still down 3 HP. They're in no shape to try to take on the gang that ambushed them...

Use

The actor performs a skill with the Long or F & L identifier.

In place of Action Dice, the actor adds 1 die for each time interval (or part thereof) spent on the skill. The default time interval is 1 hour, but skills may specify a different time interval for using the skill as a Long Action.

 

It took Tano a good while, but he's finally found a spot outside Intercorp Security's perimeter where their fas-net is just accessible. He's crouched down under a shallow overhang in the shadow of a utility cabinet as the rain pours down, killing visibility and turning the streets to black glass.

If he can exfiltrate a particular log file, he's got a punter on the hook who'll drop a cool stack in exchange. He readies his ’deck and prepares his countermeasures before tapping a port on the fas-net. He knows from a previous run that even with all his prep, he's got about 30 minutes from first contact to when Intercorp's thugs get rolling.

He's got 5 dice from his ’Deck-Jacking skill and its defaults. It's a Long (10min) skill with a 10 minute interval. He's also got the Intense Concentration and Dancing Fingers abilities which together give him an extra 2 dice. Spending 30 minutes on the hack, he adds 3 more dice for a pool of 10d6.

But Intercorp's wallware is hard-core, and he's starting to worry he's got himself in over his head.