Action Point

Action Points (AP) are a resource characters use during Encounters to measure the time and effort used to perform Actions. By default, characters should have a maximum of 3 AP per round. By ending or starting their turn, character regain some or all of their AP for use in subsequent rounds. AP Usage While in an Encounter, time becomes slower and more measured to allow for the game's mechanics and strategic element to play out. To measure how many things a character can do in a length of time, Action Points are used. Every significant action costs 1 AP to perform. Actions such as Attack, Setup (Attribute), Tap Mana, Unload / Reload...etc. To be more specific, anything a character does with their upper body counts as an action unless it is considered a Free action, such as dropping an item, or something that can be performed at the same time, such as Dual-Wielding or Talking. "The Fighter moves in toward the shambling zombie using their movement, while at the same time spending an action to prepare for a Strength-based attack and then Attacking using two actions." (Moving did not cost an action point because the Fighter can run towards a target while doing everything else at the same time.) AP Availability Action Points can be used any time, even when it is not the character's turn. Ending a turn even gives the character at least 1 AP for this purpose. Whether it is or is not the player's turn, the character can spend AP in order to move one-half further than their normal movement distance (rounded up). They can only do this twice per round (for a total of double normal movement for 2 AP). Action points can't be spent on movement unless the character has no movement left, or can't move normally due to it not being their turn. "While frantically sprinting away from her pursuers, the Rogue immediately spends 2 actions in order to double her available movement. She doesn't mind if she can't run any faster since she wants at least one AP available to deal with any obstacles that get in her way." How Time works in Encounters Encounters are measured in terms of Character Turns and each time every character has or had the opportunity to take their turn, is called a Round. One round is approximately 6 seconds of in-world time. Seeing as characters normally have 3 AP, each Action point is interpreted to be about 2 seconds worth of time spent doing something. Thus each action is designed to be something that a character can reasonably do in that length of time. Action Timing When it comes to actions performed outside of a character's turn, actions and Reactions are considered to be occurring at the same time. Defensive reactions such as Dodge or Move can activate independently of another's influence if they only affect themselves. But actions such as Attack being used to try to counter-attack an attacker will require rolling a check to see if the defender can beat the attacker's ToHit, whoever rolls highest gets to land their attack. Since Actions can only interact with each other during the same moment they occurred, taking more than one action to do so will fail. "The Wizard, caught unawares by an assassin diving towards them with a dagger in hand, tries to Tap Mana in order to cast a spell, however by the time they tried Casting a Spell, it was already too late, the assassin had plunged their blade into the caster's arm, wounding them." (To cast a stronger spell, the Wizard needed to have Tapped Mana first, since they had not done so earlier. But to Cast the spell requires a second action and the Assassin only needed one, Attack. The Assassin won purely because their original action went uncontested.) In an alternate timeline, the Wizard had two options. They could have prepared an Action Sequence to combine Tap Mana and Cast Spell into a single action, allowing them to cast a specific spell in one action to counter the Assassin. Or they could have spent MP to use Action-8 to do the same without having prepared it first as a Metaphor. AP Recovery When a character starts their turn, they recover all available AP, which will usually mean up to 3. When that character has ended their turn, they gain 1 AP for use as a reaction while they wait for their next turn. This process repeats every round until the Encounter is complete. If the character has at least 1 AP left over when they end a turn, they may still obtain an Action Point for their off-turn, but they can only hold a maximum of 2 AP in this state. "Anticipating a barrage of incoming attacks from multiple opponents, the Monk ends their turn with 1 AP remaining. Upon doing so, they now have 2 AP ready to use their Dodge action when it inevitably turns to his assailants' turns." Stun Counters (AP Loss) Occasionally, a character will be subject to effects that will disrupt their ability to act efficiently during a turn, wasting their time or their concentration. Even something as simple as being punched in the face can cause the toughest character to reel back for a moment, losing precious time. These moments lost are measured in Stun Counters. Effects that inflict Stun always have a value, such as Stun 1 or Stun 2, the value indicates how many Action-Points a character must spend to get rid of the Stun condition. A character is forced to spend AP to get rid of Stun counters at the earliest opportunity. As such, if a character has 2 Stun counters, they lose 2 AP immediately, or have any new AP obtained be sacrificed until they have no more stun counters. "The Monk delivers a dizzying Flurry of Blows, with a Stun effect included. Overcoming the foe's Body threshold, they inflict 2 Stun counters upon them. When it finally came to the foe's turn, they were left with only 1 AP left, having spent the other 2 to get rid of their Stun counters." Stun Condition When a character is Stunned, they are unable to take any action or reaction to anything, aside from spending Action Point(s) to get rid of their Stun condition. A Stunned character loses their Evasion and any Deflection from bonuses that rely on being able to act and react to things. If the character was focused or concentrating on something, they may end up dropping their concentration unless they spend an action that round to refocus, or succeed on a check to do the same. Although sometimes it might be impossible to spend an action to maintain concentration if Stun counters force a character to 0 AP, in which case, using the Action-8 meta-ability may be required to gain the necessary action to do so. Action Sequence An Action Sequence is a special action, usually created from Metaphors, that enables a character to perform two specific actions for one action point. Such as Setup (Attribute) and Attack into a new action that does both things for 1 AP. Typically, an Action Sequence can only be used a number of times equal to its Metaphor investment (its point value on the Sub-ability it was created from). For more information about this, see Action Sequence.