Confrontations

A confrontation takes place when a character performing an action is challenged and has a chance of failing and/or being affected by counteractions or a Time Sensitive Event.

The character performing the action that triggers a confrontation is called the triggering character and his action is called the triggering action with the purpose of distinguishing it from other actions in the following explanation.

Normally, an action or event can only target or affect one character, to reflect a realistic scenario within the short amount of time that these usually represent. However, there are things that may target or affect several characters, such a cannon or an avalanche falling on a group of characters. In those cases, all the af-fected characters should be able to perform their respective counteractions.

The main difference between an action and a counteraction is the fact that counteractions can only affect the triggering character — and therefore a counteraction will never trigger counteractions or Time Sensitive Events by itself. If a character performs an action that would normally target or affect several characters as a counteraction, that action will only affect the triggering character instead.

## Steps of a Confrontation

To resolve a confrontation, players must always fol-low the same steps:

1. The triggering character declares an action, called triggering action, explaining which related Skill he will be using, as well as its target or targets, if there are any.
2. The GM declares the level of the confronting TSE if there is one; as well as its nature and the con-sequences that will happen if the TSE wins the confrontation.
3. Any affected characters who are aware of the triggering action and wish to confront it declare valid counteractions, and explain which related Skill they will use.
> *Counteractions cannot target or affect characters other than the triggering character. However, they can be just as effective as ac-tions. Countering an attack with a successful attack of your own will deal the same amount of damage as attacking during your turn.*
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4. Determine the advantages and/or disadvantages and their sources. Players may describe their plans, and any reasons why they think they de-serve advantages or their opponents deserve disadvantages. Then, the GM decides what applies and what doesn’t.
> *During a multiple confrontation, a character may have advantages or disadvantages against some characters but not against others. In that case, calculate the advantages against each character sepa-rately and determine the action values, winners, and final level of success of each pair of confronted characters separately.*
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> *Characters suffer a disadvantage every time they use again a Skill they have already used during the current Round; this is called Exhaustion.*
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5. The character with the lowest action value can either play a card or pass. Once a character has passed, they cannot play any more cards during this confrontation, even if they have not reached their limit. Once a character reaches the limit of cards they can play during this confrontation, they must pass.
> *If there is more than one character with the lowest action value, all the characters tied for the lowest action value play their cards face down and reveal them simultaneously (or roll their dice at the same time).*
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> *In order to keep gameplay streamlined, it is important that each participant of a confrontation says the current value of their action out loud each time they play a new card. This way, nobody is forced to calculate the value of the action of their opponent every time he plays a card.*
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	1. Only when playing with dice: Once per confrontation, after rolling a die, you can flip it to its opposite side (turning 1 to 6, 2 to 5, 3 to 4, or vice versa). If you do, consider only the final die value for all purposes, such as applying Proficiency.
6. The previous step is repeated until all characters have passed.
7. Counteractions with an action value equal or lower than the triggering action fail, and those with a higher action value than the triggering action are successful.The triggering action fails if there is any successful counteraction that can make it fail, as opposed to simply avoid its effects. If there are none, it is successful only against those counteractions with an equal or lower action value.
> *E.g. Aapo cuts down the end of the rope-made bridge he just crossed while being chased by a conquistador and a crossbowman. They try to confront it by running back to the other side. In the ensuing confrontation, the crossbowman achieves the highest action value, followed by Aapo, while the conquistador has the lowest action value. The crossbowman manages to get out of the bridge before it falls down, but the conquistador drops to his death. Had the crossbowman chosen to shoot at Aapo and got the same results, he would have damaged Aapo, causing his action to fail. The bridge would have remained intact and the conquistador would still be alive.*
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> *If a TSE achieves a higher action value than the triggering action, the consequences of the TSE come true, causing the triggering action to fail, and the success or failure of all other counteractions is determined as usual.*
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8. > Apply the consequences of successful actions according to their Level of Success.
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