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-====== Resolving Actions ====== 
  
-There are three ways [[rules:core:action-system:actions:start|Actions]] can be resolved in No-Dice the game system: 
-  - Automatically (Scenes) 
-  - Hands (Scenes) 
-  - Hands (Action Sequences) 
- 
-===== Automatically Resolving Actions ===== 
- 
-Actions should be resolved Automatically by default when the Players and the GM are role playing during a Scene. That is because this is the simplest and quickest method to determine if an attempted Action succeeds or fails.  While role playing, it is important to not interrupt the flow of the game with cumbersome game mechanics and the use of cards that will only slow things down, when the focus is on cooperative story telling.  
- 
-==== Steps for Automatically Resolving Actions ==== 
-If a Player attempts an Action as part of a Scene, follow the procedure below: 
-  - Determine who is the [[rules:core:actors:|Actor]] taking the [[rules:core:action-system:actions:start|Action]], and who or what is the [[rules:core:action-system:targets|Target]] of that Action. The Player controlling the Actor states some Action to be taken. Their [[rules:core:action-system:bidding|Bid]] is always maximum for that Actor when Automatically resolving Actions during a Scene, meaning their [[rules:core:actors:abilities:start#ability_levels|Ability Level]] or [[rules:core:actors:stats#stat_nomenclature|Relevant Stat]] for the Action or Ability being used, whichever is lower. 
-  - The GM determines the [[rules:core:action-system:difficulty|Action Difficulty]] based on the Current value of the Target's [[rules:core:actors:stats#stat_nomenclature|Opposing Stat]]. 
-  - The GM and the Player compare the Actor's Bid to the Action Difficulty.  The Action is successful if the bid is equal to or greater than the Action Difficulty.  The [[rules:core:action-system:outcomes|Outcome Score]] is the degree to which the Action succeeded or failed, and can be important for the GM to determine an appropriate result of the action.  
- 
-==== Example:==== 
-//Player: "I climb over that abandoned section of the city the wall. (This implies the Climb Action for which AGI is the Relevant Stat)" 
-GM: (determines the Action Difficulty consulting the City's Environmental Actor sheet) "Okay, it is ten feet high, made of rough stone and mortar, so pretty hard without equipment or something, Difficulty 7, what's your AGI?" 
-Player: "shoot, only 5." 
-GM: "your fingers can't find any cracks to hold onto, and your boots just slip off." 
-Player: "okay, I take out my rope and grappling hook and throw it over the wall and pull it back to hook it." 
-GM: "okay, what bonus to climb does that hook give you?" 
-Player: (looks up the grappling hook item in the Equipment section of the game Wiki) "+2" 
-GM: "sweet, your AGI 5+2 is 7, which is the climb Difficulty, so you make it." 
-// 
- 
----- 
- 
-===== Playing a Hand (Scenes) ===== 
-The GM should call for //"Playing a Hand"// whenever an Action is attempted during a Scene, and the Target of that Action is actively resisting, there is some Actor opposing success of an Action.  To avoid interrupting the game to gather up cards, the GM and Players should [[rules:core:gameplay:setup|Setup]] the gaming table before play. Using the example above of Automatically resolving the Action of climbing an abandoned section of a city wall, suppose instead that their are city guards patrolling on top of the wall.  In that case, when the Player states their intent, the GM would call for a Hand to be played as part of the Scene.  
- 
-==== Steps for Playing a Hand ==== 
-To play a Hand during a Scene, follow the procedure below: 
-  - Play begins with the player who declared an Action that started the Hand, and continues clockwise around the table until all Actors involved have had a chance to take an Action. 
-  - Before any Actions are declared, all Players must place any cards from their [[rules:core:gameplay:props:cards-tokens#card_stacks|Actor Hand]] face up on the table that were active before the Hand began.  These are called [[rules:core:gameplay:props:cards-tokens#card_layout|Active Cards]], and are things that would be noticeable by their opponents, like armor worn and weapons carried, or even a visible force field protecting them.  Unless the nature of these Active Cards if obvious, players may keep their Stat Bid, or other modifying cards face down, for example if their armor were magical, or they have a secret force field protecting them. 
-  - Only one Action may be declared per Round by each Actor involved.  A "Round" is over when everyone involved has taken an Action or passed. 
-  - The first player chooses an Action or Ability from their Actor Hand, places that card face down in front of them, and places their [[rules:core:action-system:bidding|Stat Bid]] Tokens face down on top of that card. If the Action involves an item, like Arming a weapon, that Equipment card should also be placed face down along with the Action card. IMPORTANT NOTE: the [[rules:core:action-system:actions:pause|Pause Action]] may not be played during a Hand (see Step 12 below). 
-  - Play then moves to the next player around the table, who repeats this procedure of laying down an Action card and their bid.  Players may also //Pass,// meaning that they say, or signal, that the Actor they are controlling is taking no Action this Round. 
-  - Play continues in this way until all involved Actors have played an Action, or passed.  
-  - Once all Actions have been played for the Round, all players turn their cards and tokens face up at the same time.  Stat Bids of each Action are then calculated to determine the order Actions will be resolved. Remember, each point bid on the Action's Relevant Stat adds one Phase to the time it takes to be resolved, and each point bid on the Action's Secondary Stat reduces that number by one, to a minimum of one.  
-  - Actions are resolved in the order of lowest Phase to highest, based on the Stat Bids calculated in the prior step.  To resolve each Action, first check if the Target of that Action has an Active Card that would effect the Outcome of the Action directed at them.  This could be an equipment card, like armor, or a Reaction like Dodge, that was played before the current action. If the Target has any Active Cards, resolve those first and note the result, then compare the Stat Bid on the Action to the [[rules:core:actors:stats#stat_nomenclature|Opposing Stat]] of the Target Actor. The difference between the two, along with any modifiers from Active Cards, is the [[rules:core:action-system:outcomes|Outcome Score]] of the Action.  
-  - Once all Actions for the Round have been resolved in the prior step, the round is over, and the Stat Bids on all Actions must be placed in their Spent Stacks. The exception to this rule is for Actions that can be maintained for more than one round, like an ongoing spell, or continuing a reaction, like Dodging.  
-  - At the end of the Round, leave any Active Cards face up on the table in front of the player to whom they belong. Active Cards are cards that have been revealed but that will persist into the next round.  These could be things like Spells, Reactions, or even the Abilities of Environment al Actors that the GM controls, like darkness, or fire.  
-  - Play continues into new Rounds, and steps 4-10 above are repeated, until all players pass their turn, either because they choose not to take an Action, or they are unable to do so because they have no more Stat Points available to Bid on any more Actions.  
-  - Once all players have passed their turn, the Hand is over, and the Stat Point Pools of all Actors involved are refreshed, except any Stat Points that were discarded as Damage.  If the involved Actors choose to continue their contest, begin a new hand, leaving any Active Cards from the prior Hand in play.  
- 
-==== Example:==== 
-//Player: "I climb over the city the wall." 
-GM: "okay, you're standing on a grassy field among manicured shrubberies and trees.  The wall is ten feet high, made of rough stone and mortar, and there are guards patrolling among the crenelations on top." 
-Player: "okay, in that case, I want to throw my grappling hook up there real quiet when they're not looking, and sneak up." 
-GM: "okay, let's play a hand." 
-(the player and the GM start looking through their Actor Hands, and grabbing Action Cards they intend to use from piles on the table.  The GM places 3 figures in front of him for the guards, and some face up Active Cards for the armor and weapons they carry that the player's Actor can see.) 
-GM: "okay, your turn, ready?" 
-Player: "yep" (she places cards face down and some Stat Tokens face down on top) 
-GM: (places a card face down with some face down stat tokens on top of it, and places all three figures on top of that stack as well, indicating that all three guards are doing whatever that action card is) The GM then flips over his Action Stack, since he is the last player in the Round to choose an Action, revealing the Observe Action, with a 3 INT Stat Bid for each of the guards, indicating a total Difficulty of 5 (see [[rules:core:action-system:cooperation|Cooperation]]). 
-Player: Seeing this, the player also flips over their Action Stack, revealing a Throw Action card, a Sneak Action, and 5 AGI bid.  The player explains that 3 are bid on [[rules:core:action-system:actions:sneak|Sneak]], to throw the grappling hook without being noticed, and 2 AGI on Throw (note that the Sneak Action is an exception and can be bid along with another action).   
-GM: deciding an adolescent should be able to catch a grappling hook on a wall, assigns it Difficulty 2, so the Throw action is successful.  The 3 AGI bid on Sneak did not beat the guard's 5 INT Observe, however, and so that Action failed with an [[rules:core:action-system:outcomes|Outcome Score]] of -2, meaning that 2 guards spotted them!  Had there been only one guard Observing (3 INT Observe), the PC would have succeeded. 
-GM: "okay, next round."  
-Player: places a new Action Stack. 
-GM: places three Action Stacks with a figure upon each, indicating that all three guards are doing something different, and flips all three over, as he is the last player in the round, revealing one guard is yelling for reinforcements, one is taking the Run Action to fetch reinforcements from a nearby tower, and one is taking the Run Action to the hook, presumably to fling it down next round.  
-Player: flips over her Action stack which reveals the Run Action and her FIT bid. "The jig is up, I'm getting the heck out of here." 
-GM: begins picking up cards, "alright, that's the end of the hand.  By the time the guards issue from the gates in pursuit, you are long gone." 
-// 
- 
----- 
- 
-===== Playing Hands (Action Sequences) ===== 
- 
-<WRAP center round important 100%> 
-Work in progress 
-</WRAP> 
- 
-Playing Hands during an Action Sequence is the most complex and time consuming method to resolve Actions, and should only be used when the sequence of those Actions is important, as well as budgeting of Stat Point Bids, such as in Combat.  Playing Hands during an Action Sequence is very similar to the procedure for Playing a Hand during a Scene, with a few important modifications detailed below. To avoid interrupting the game to gather up cards, the GM and Players should [[rules:core:gameplay:setup|Setup]] the gaming table before play. 
- 
-==== Steps for Playing Hands ==== 
-To Play Hands during an Action Sequence, follow the procedure below: 
- 
-  - **Setup the Phase Timeline (GM):** Inform the players that an Action Sequence has begun, describe the circumstance, environment, NPC Actors involved, and optionally, put figures on a battle mat. Place the Action Sequence Timeline prop on the gaming table and provide one or more unique tokens in matching pairs to each player, keeping 1-2 pairs for each NPC Actor involved.  These will be used to match the Action card stacks of each Actor to the Phase number when they will be resolved on the Timeline (see below).  Place a Current Phase counter on Phase 0 of the Timeline. 
-<del>  - **Create Actor Hand (Players):** if this step wasn't already done at the beginning of the game session, draw cards and tokens from the various stacks on the table for each Stat, Ability, and Skilled Action on their Actor's sheet, plus one card for each [[rules:core:action-system:actions:|Common Action]] they may decide to take  For example, if the Actor has 5 STR, they should draw STR tokens totaling 5 in whatever increments they desire.  Repeat this for all Stats in The Trine.  When done with this step, you should have your Actor's character sheet represented in a pile of cards along side a pile of tokens before you on the table. 
-  - **Declare 1st Actions:** Players & GM secretly decide the first Action their Actors will take.  An Action or Ability card is placed face down on the table in front of them, with their Stat Bid tokens face down on top.  Finally, one of a pair of unique tokens the GM provided during the //Setup the Phase Timeline// step is placed on top of the Action Stack, and its pair on the Timeline Phase corresponding to the Relevant Stat Bid of that Action, minus the Secondary Stat Bid.  This to be able to identify which Action Stacks correspond with the many tokens that will appear on the various Phases on the Timeline, and to organize actions into the Phase number on which they will be resolved.  Once tokens representing Actions are placed on the Timeline, no further changes can be made to the Declared Action.  This is to prevent Actors from changing what they intend to do after they realize what Phase opponent's actions go on. Wait for all other players and the GM to also complete declaring one Action before proceeding.  Actions can be declared in any order, usually beginning with whatever Action during a Scene started the Action Sequence.  If it is not clear in what order Players and the GM should declare Actions, or they are reluctant to do so without knowing on what Phase opposing Actions have been declared, the NPC(s) controlled by the GM should declare actions first, followed by the Players clockwise around the table.  
-  - **Declare Additional Actions (optional):** now that all participants have declared one Action and the order all actions will be resolved in is visible to all on the Timeline, participants may repeat the step above to select 2nd actions, 3rd actions, and so on, up to the limit of their ability to continue to Bid Stat Points.  Each additional Action declared is added to the Timeline starting from whatever Phase that Actor's 1st Action will be resolved. For example, if an Actor's 1st declared Action was put on the Timeline on Phase 3, and their 2nd declared Action will take 2 Phases, it would be placed on Phase 5 on the Timeline.  
-  - **Advance Timeline & Resole Actions (GM):** when no one chooses to declare any more Actions, the GM begins adjudicating the outcome of the declared actions in the order they appear on the Timeline, beginning with Phase 1, then moving to Phase 2, and 3, and so on. To resolve each Action, the GM picks up the unique token from the Timeline and matches it to the corresponding Action Stack.  The Player whose Actor owns that Action then flips the Action or Ability card face up, along with their Stat Bid, and describes what their Actor is doing, and the Target of their Action.  The GM and the Player then resolve the [[rules:core:action-system:outcomes|Outcome]] of that Action.  Multiple Actions occurring on the same Phase take place simultaneously and cannot interrupt one another.  Once all Actions on a given Phase are resolved, the GM advances the Current Phase Counter on the Timeline to the next Phase in ascending order, and begins resolving the Actions that take place on that Phase, or skips it and moves on to the next Phase on which Actions occur. 
-  - **Declare Additional Actions:** whenever the GM advances the Current Phase in the Action Sequence, all Actors have the opportunity to declare additional Actions, provided they are able to Bid the Ante of the Action they intend to take.  Repeat this process until all involved Actors choose to take no Actions, or are unable to take Actions, at which point the Action Sequence has ended and reverts to a Scene.</del>  
- 
-==== Example:==== 
- 
-//GM .........."// 
- 
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-== Links to this page: == 
-{{backlinks>.}}