Rounds

A round represents a few seconds during which characters rapidly perform actions. They are the game mechanic that establishes the order of play of all the characters trying to outperform each other.

> *E.g. The team enters the mayan tomb, feeling relaxed after having avoided the trap in the entrance. However, they were not expecting soldier mummies to be guarding inside. Now, before any character performs any actions, begin a Round to see who acts first, and resolve the ensuing Confrontations to determine who succeeds and who fails.*
>
>

All timed actions during a conflict must be declared and resolved within the context of a Round, and declarations made before the Round begins will not be valid or binding.

> *E.g. Following the previous example, as soon as he hears about the soldier mummies, Mark, playing Jose, a priest, declares that he turns around and runs away. But the GM is forced to stop him there. Jose’s action must be performed during his turn during the Round — the characters’ Initiatives establish the order of play. If Jose is fast he might get to run away before the mummies do anything, but otherwise he might get caught up in the conflict (perhaps he’ll end up performing a different type of action to save his skin, such as fencing off an undead soldier).*
>
>

## *Overview*

*During a Round, characters take turns to perform one action each in the order established by their Initiative. Performing actions can trigger confrontations, usually when the action is against someone — a confrontation must be fully resolved before resuming the Round.*

*One important aspect is that if you take part in a counteraction before taking your turn, you’ll become Spent and lose your turn this Round. It’s also worth mentioning that attacking back is a possible counteraction. Even though you lose your turn when you do so, it is still as effective as an attack action and though your attack may not be against the target you initially had in mind, attacking back at a character forces him to focus on you.*

## Ready & Spent Characters

At the beginning of a Round, all characters in the area caught up in the conflict are Ready. During a Round a character can become Spent in the following instances:

* After performing a counteraction when being the target of an action.
* After performing an action during their turn.
* After being the target of an ability that makes them Spent.

Spent characters lose their turn during the current Round if they have not taken it yet; but they can still perform further counteractions.

## Steps of a Round

*During a Round, Ready characters take turns performing one action each. After every character has become Spent, the Round ends. If the conflict is still ongoing, a new Round begins.*

Once the GM has explained the conflict, it is time to determine who gets to act first and what happens next. To do so, follow these steps:

1. The order in which characters take their turn to perform their actions is determined by the value of their Initiative, from highest to lowest.

In case of a tie, player characters always go first, followed by the NPCs in the order of the GM’s choosing. In case of a tie between player characters, they must come to an agreement or tell their actions in secret to the GM, who will determine who goes first.

1. Players can Rush. Following the Initiative order, each player can choose to discard one card from his hand, adding that card’s value to his Initiative to calculate the Initiative order during the ensuing Round.

*NPCs cannot rush.*

*Remember: Discarding a card does not trigger card drawing mechan-ics.*

1. A Ready character taking his turn can choose either (1) to perform his action, and then become Spent and end his turn; or (2) to wait, allowing the next character to take their turn before his own. He can wait several times, letting any number of characters go first. Other Ready characters may choose to wait as well; and if all characters choose to wait, the last one that can do so must perform an action.
2. When a Ready character chooses to perform an action on his turn, he declares his action. This may trigger a confrontation against a Time Sensitive Event (TSE) or another character, which must be resolved before resuming the Round.

*If the action does not trigger a confrontation, it is considered an unconfronted action and therefore can have the level of success of the character’s choice (pyrrhic, regular, or critical).*

1. The next Ready character in the initiative order takes his turn. Repeat this step until there are no more Ready characters remaining to take their turn.

## Attacking

If a successful action was an attack, it can do one of two things: Deal damage or deal deterioration.

When a character chooses to deal damage, he’ll deal as much damage as specified in his weapon’s description. When attacking without weapons, he’ll deal as much damage as his level instead, but he’ll suffer one disadvantage towards his action.

When a character chooses to deal deterioration, he’ll deal as much deterioration as the damage he could have dealt. If the attack was against a PC, he can choose to cause the deterioration to any of his items. If the at-tack is against an NPC with a deterioration track it will be resolved as normal, and if he doesn’t have a deterio-ration track it will suffer either Dull, Faulty, or Ripped as determined by the GM.

## Actions During a Round

During Rounds, actions should only need one verb to be described. If the word “and” is included to link two or more verbs, the character is probably trying to perform two or more actions linked to each other, and he will probably need several turns to be able to do that.

Here is a basic template to describe actions:“I [verb] [preposition if needed] [target]”

> *E.g. I attack the guard. I move behind cover. I dodge towards the door.*
>
>

But, to keep the game realistic and organic, charac-ters are allowed to move up to 2.5 metres (~8 ft) while performing an action.

> *E.g. I enter the room and attack the guard. I jump on my horse and gallop away.*
>
>

## Morale

If any characters are affected by Fear during the Round, or if the GM deems it appropriate considering the circumstances of the encounter, characters will need to perform an easy Discipline Check (0) at the end of the Round. This test can be modified by various effects, such as:

> If the sum of the level of the characters in their side of the conflict is higher than the opponent’s, they gain one advantage towards the Check. If it is the opposite, they suffer a disadvantage instead.
>
>

Each instance of Fear makes characters suffer one disadvantage.
Other situations might grant advantages or disadvantages as determined by the GM.

> *E.g. If you are fighting your nemesis or for the life of your loved one, you might be less likely to panic and thus receive one or more advantages; but if you are fighting in a ship in flames or you know more enemies are about to appear, you are more likely to panic and you could suffer disadvantages.*
>
>

Characters who fail the Discipline Check lose control and will do anything in their power to get away to safety as fast as possible. The GM will take control of PCs until they are safe or have a change of heart.