Core loops: Actions

Actions, Stress, Consequences, and Clocks

When your character does something risky, that's an action roll. Most action rolls result in a consequence. A consequence is not a failure (although it can include failure). A consequence is a fictional complication.

When your rolls are good, you do what you want to do. When your rolls are bad:

• The story gets more interesting
• You have the chance to earn XP if the situation is dire (Force)
• You can change a failure to a success (or lessen the sting) - by paying Stress

A roll isn't the DM saying, "Roll perception." You get to decide how important this outcome is to you. If you really want to maximize your chance of acing a roll:

• You can pay stress for better odds or greater effect
• You can bargain - trade a better successful outcome for a more devastating failure. "I want to make a risky move. If it succeeds, I down him in one blow. But if it fails I'll be vulnerable, and he can really hurt me.
• You can pay stress to "flash back" and explain what you did earlier that set you up to succeed in the current situation.

You'll notice that all of your narrative control has a cost - "Stress". When your character takes too much stress, they get a Trauama - a permanent injury to their psyche. Traumas are useful - acting according to a trauma earns you XP (Force). But too many traumas, and your character becomes doomed. I'll leave the implications of that up to you. You can reduce Stress by blowing off steam, but that has a cost too - healing from harm and blowing off steam to reduce stress means that adverse Clocks are ticking forward in the meantime.

Clocks and Harm are both potential consequences, and both shape the fiction. Clocks just track something that is unfolding over time - usually the plots of your enemies, sometimes your allies, sometimes a natural force. They are timers, ticking forward until they fill up, and the GM knows it's time to trigger their outcome. Harm is damage to your body, psyche, or reputation. You don't have hit points, just fictional restraints. If you have broken ribs, you are going to need to pay Stress if you want to swing a sword.