Description: Observing an opponent is a basic action any Actor in an Action Sequence can choose to perform, and indeed is encouraged to do often to try and predict what their opponent intends to do and thereby react to it.

Game Mechanic: chose one or more opponent Actions to observe, bid Intuition Points, and optionally Phases spent to increase the likelihood of success. Each INT or Phase bid confers a +1 to the effectiveness of the Outcome Score (see below). If more than one Action is being observed, regardless whether from the same opponent or a different one, Stat Points bid on Observe Foe are split evenly between all Actions observed. QIC points may be bid on this action to reduce the Phase when the results are revealed.

To determine the Outcome, subtract the number of Agility Points (AGI) bid by the opponent in the case of a physical action being observed, or Wits Points (QIC) in the case of a mental action like a spell, from the Intuition Points (INT) and/or Phases bid on Observe Foe. If the Actor performing the Observe Action bid less than the opponent's AGI or QIC, nothing is learned. If instead the Outcome is a positive number, the opponent must show one card in their action stack, beginning with the top card (the Action being taken). For each additional number by which the Observe Foe outbids the defender, reveal one additional card in the opponent's Action Stack, such as the Weapon they are attacking with if their Action was an Attack, and next the Location they are aiming for. The bottom of the Action Stack should always be the Stat Point Bid. Reveal all of these cards at once if the Observe Foe Action succeeds by a positive Outcome high enough to show any Stat Point. If the Action observed is a Pause, reveal which Stat Points the player is returning to their Actor Hand from the Spent Stack.

If there are several players around the table, only the player performing the Observe Foe Action should be privy to the revealed cards.

If the Observe Foe action is resolved and there is no Action on the Timeline to observe, because opponent actions were resolved before the Observe Foe action, the bid is wasted.

It is possible to Declare more than one Observe Foe action on the same Action Stack, if not all cards were revealed the first time. Subsequent Observe Foe actions continue to reveal additional cards, that is they are additive to the cards already revealed by prior Observe Foe actions.

IMPORTANT: once an Observe Foe Action comes about on the Phase Timeline and is resolved, if the player whose action has been discovered or partially discovered takes an abort, any Stat Points bid on the aborted action are put in the Spent Pile, rather than returned to the Actor Hand, until that Actor resolves a Pause Action. This is to prevent the player controlling the Actor whose Action Stack was discovered from immediately aborting that action just to invalidate the Observe Foe outcome.

Prerequisite: None, this is a Common Action.

Action Point Cost: One QIC point is required to initiate this Action in an Action Sequence

Stat Point Cost: One or more Intuition Points(INT) may be on this Action. Each Intuition Point bid adds one Phase toward determining when the Outcome is Scored. Taking longer will reveal more, but taking too long will allow the opponent to act first… One or more QIC points may be bid to offset the Phase cost of INT points bid.

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