Resolving Actions

Power is both the most unreal and the most real of things. Power does not exist unless people believe it does. Power does not exist unless people continue to give their hearts and souls to the institutions that bring power into being. Power does not exist unless people agree to act in certain ways, and think in certain ways, and love in certain ways. Power does not exist without all of these things, as a fire does not exist without fuel and the tending of a careful hand. Power is a flame without a spark, but people cannot help but become the spark, over and over again. The royal cults know this. They sing hymns to an unreal flame and beckon on the spark. They tell stories to ignite passions and fears and they insist that the land is not burning down. Many of the nobles know this. To be noble means to be warmed by the flame of power. They are the excuse, the justification for the flame, the example that the royal cults can point to and say, “Look there! See! The fire comforts it does not burn!” Many of the commonfolk do not know the secrets of power. Their bodies are the wood beneath the flames and the ash left in its wake. Smoke and pain clouds the minds of those who burn, so that they cannot see the source of their suffering. They invent stories, stories of something other than fire, stories to cool their agony and protect their flesh. Their ignorance is part of their pain. Their fantasies are part of the flame.

The vaishineph are in the middle, the space between the real and the unreal. Everyone knows they are there, somewhere, outside the spaces called culture and morality. No one knows how to define them, even as they know them. Are they living or dead? Are they gods or mortal kind? Are they for everything or do they stand for nothing? What lives will they take and which will they preserve? Which demons will they hunt and which will they set free? The vaishineph cannot burn, as the commonfolk do, but they also refuse to seek shelter in the flames, as the nobility does. Wherever the vaishineph go, the flames of power dwindle and the hymns of the royal cults lull. Wherever the vaishineph go, the comfort of the nobility is lessened. Wherever the vaishineph go, the commonfolk remember a bit more of the chilling bitterness that is theirs by right of oppression. Power is a flame, real and unreal. The vaishineph are ice, and they put questions of reality to rest with word and deed. Where the vaishineph go in force, all fires are slain. Woe to those who stand in the way of the coming cold.

Introduction

Actions are things that characters in The Way of the Earth do or attempt to do. Actions are labeled in different ways in order to communicate what the action is capable of doing, how the action is resolved, and how much time and effort the action takes to perform. There are eight action labels in The Way of the Earth and six are described below. The final two are described on the Conflicts in Action page.

Major and Minor Actions

A major action is an action that takes enough time and energy, or has enough challenge and drama to it, that either a test or save is necessary to determine its outcome, or its outcome can only be achieved by focusing on it for the full length of a character's call to the exclusion of other major actions. A minor action is an action that is easy enough or mundane enough that a test or save is not necessary to determine its outcome, and it can be performed alongside other actions, major and minor. Any time a character undertakes a major action on their call they are also permitted to perform one or two minor actions that lead up to, set the stage for, or put them in position to, attempt the major action itself. Since minor actions do not require tests or saves to resolve, the outcomes of minor actions are never in doubt, even when they lead up to a major action attempt.

• If a character leaps atop a table to strike at an opponent, leaping atop the table is a minor action and striking at an opponent is a major action. The outcome of the minor action is not in doubt, and happens as the player describes. Only the outcome of the attack, the major action, is in doubt. If the player succeeds in their roll the attack will strike true, but regardless of whether or not they succeed the character will still leap atop the table.

• If a character lights a torch and leans it close to an opponent’s face as they intimidate them, lighting the torch is a minor action and leaning in to intimidate is a major action. The outcome of the minor action is not in doubt, and happens as the player describes. Only the outcome of the intimidation, the major action, is in doubt. If the player succeeds in their roll the intimidation will cow the opponent, but regardless of whether or not they succeed the character will still light the torch.

• If a character kicks a door open and shoots an arrow at a fleeing opponent, kicking open the door is a minor action and shooting an arrow is a major action. Again, the outcome of the minor action is not in doubt. If the player succeeds in their roll the arrow will hit its target, the major action, but regardless of whether or not they succeed the character will still kick open the door.

It is reasonable for a gamemaster to award a strategic or evocative minor action with a +1AP bonus to the test or save that follows it. The leap atop the table describe above, for example, can be seen as taking the high ground, and the gamemaster might award a +1AP bonus to the attack that follows. Lighting the torch and bringing it close to an opponent’s face can be seen as threatening, and as enhancing an intimidation attempt, and the gamemaster might award a +1AP bonus to the intimidation that follows. Kicking open the door however, though necessary to get off a clean shot on the fleeing opponent, does not provide the same obvious benefit to the action itself, and the gamemaster might choose not to award an action power bonus in that case.

Simple and Contested Actions

A simple action is an action whose outcome is not influenced by the actions or reactions of other characters. Simple actions can be major actions, in which case they are either resolved with tests or take the duration of an entire call to perform, or they can be minor actions, in which case they do not need to be resolved. A contested action is an action whose outcome is influenced by the actions or reactions of other characters. Contested actions are always major actions, since other characters can bring the action's outcome into doubt, and are resolved with tests if they are initiated by the player characters, or with saves if they are initiated by non-player characters against player characters.

• If a character pulls out a lyre and plays a bit of music to relax at the end of the day, pulling out the lyre is a minor action and playing the music is a major action, but both are simple actions. If a character pulls out a lyre and plays a bit of music in attempt to soothe a raging beast to sleep, pulling out the lyre is a minor action and playing the music is a major action, but the first is simple and the second is contested.

• If a character dives off a rooftop to catch a rope, diving off the rooftop is a minor action and catching the rope is a major action, but both are simple actions. If a character dives off a rooftop to tackle an enemy, diving off the rooftop is a minor action and tackling the enemy is a major action, but the first is simple and the second is contested.

• If a character kneels before a keyhole to see inside a room, kneeling is a minor action and looking inside the room is a major action, but both are simple actions. If a character kneels before a downed enemy to bind them with restraints, kneeling is a minor action and binding is a major action, but the first is simple and the second is contested.

The outcomes of simple actions can be described in advance of the attempt to perform them. The player says what they want their character to achieve, and the character either achieves it automatically, or they roll for it and if they are successful the character achieves it. The outcomes of contested actions are more complex, however, on account of the opposing character or characters involved. Players and gamemasters can describe an intention for a contested action, but the actual outcome is only known in and through rolling dice. A character may intend to steal something from another character, or strike another character, or persuade another character, or sneak past another character, but if the action fails, or even if the action succeeds but without a great enough degree of success, then the outcome of the action might have to be changed.

Common Simple Actions

The desired outcomes of simple actions are determined by player and gamemaster choices and descriptions. But there are a few common simple actions that appear frequently throughout these pages for various reasons. Some of these actions are limited or prevented by conditions, some of these actions are enhanced by feats and other abilities, and some of these actions play key roles in conflicts despite being simple.

Avoid Danger: Avoid danger allows a character to escape the effects of a trap, an environmental hazard or challenge like quicksand, falling rocks, or rough and slippery terrain. Avoid danger is appropriate for any potential harm that surprises the character but is not initiated by a non-player character, since that would be a defense against an attack. Avoid danger is commonly resolved as an initiative save against a TN set by the GM. Success means that the character is unharmed, while failure makes the character vulnerable to risk, takes, and marks.

Consider Lore: Consider lore allows a character to tap into the full length and breadth of their accumulated knowledge and memory in search of answers of information for a issue at hand. A player must cite one of their character's features; class, skill, script, feat, kind, attributes and proficiencies, knowledge, key memories, etc. as a justification for why they may know something worthwhile about the issue. Consider lore is commonly resolved as a wisdom test against a TN set by the GM, which the GM will determine on the basis of the obscurity of the knowledge and the quality of the player's justification. Success means that the character recalls or puzzles out some useful bit of information that aids them in the present moment, while failure indicates that the character errs, and comes up with a misleading or unhelpful bit of information.

Hold Ground: Hold ground draws an imaginary circle around a character of a roughly ten foot radius and then permits the character to immediately take action against an opposition character who enters the circle intending to harm the character of any of their allies inside of it. Holding ground is itself not a contested action, since the character is merely readying themselves to act defensively. When the next opposition character approaches to attack, the character that is holding ground makes the save against the attack regardless of who the opposition character intended to attack, and the character holding ground gets a +2AP bonus to their save. Hold ground does not itself need to be resolved by a test or save, but the save triggered by an opponent's advance is saved against as normal.

Light/Heavy Carry: Carry is a versatile simple action that can be either minor or major. As a minor action, it includes picking up and carrying small items, pocketing or withdrawing small items, or carrying small items and light loads across long distances. As a major action, it includes lifting and carrying heavier objects, things in the environment, heavy packs of gear, supplies, or weapons, other characters, and things of comparable weight. The GM might call for a strength test to resolve a heavy carry action and even if successful, may impose a penalty on the character carrying a heavy load by reducing their speed to slow and penalizing their actions by -3AP if they attempt to do something while carrying.

Maneuver/Move into Position: Movement can be performed as either a minor or a major action. A character's speed determines how far they can move while maneuvering, as a minor action, or moving into position, as a major action. Maneuvering before a major action can furnish a character with strategically advantageous positioning, cover, angles of attack, etc. Moving into position only requires a strength test to resolve if their is an obstacle of some sort in the character's path. Regardless, if a character successfully moves into position as a major action, they receive a +1AP bonus to their next action, representing their preparedness to act.

Ready a Boon: Boons are items or situations that provide bonuses to characters in specific circumstances. The most common boons are things like armor, shields, weapons, and tools, but there are also social boons like scripts and leverage, and more exotic boons for other circumstances. Many boons must be readied before they provide their bonuses. To ready a boon simply means to mentally and physical prepare to wield it as appropriate. Readying a boon is a minor action, but most boons cannot be readied and used on the same call, and so a character must ready a boon and wait until their next action to use it. Readying a boon does not require a test or save to resolve.

Study at Length: Comparable to the consider lore action, to study at length means for a character to spend several long and concentrated moments examining their surroundings and attempting to make note of as much as possible. Studying at length can allow a character to perceive hidden things, discover clues, find hiding characters, and gain more information about their situation. Study at length is commonly resolved as a wisdom test against a TN set by the GM. Success means that the character discovers something interesting that leads them forward in the scene, while failure indicates that the character either finds nothing, or draws a false conclusion about their surroundings. Study at length does not require a player to cite a justification for their character, and is subject to different bonuses and penalties that consider lore.

Take the Lead: Taking the lead involves finding a moment for one character to come to the aid and assurance of other character. When a character takes the lead, they give up their action to prepare to lead a nearby allied character. When the allied character is next called, both the character who took the lead and the allied character undertake an action at the same time. The action must be the same action with the same target, if applicable. Both rolls receive a +1AP bonus. As with hold ground, take the lead itself does not involve a roll to be resolved. Only the future action that is triggered involves a roll.

Attack and Defense Actions

An attack action is an action that attempts to outmaneuver or overcome an opposing character in some way. Attack actions are always contested actions, and therefore, always major actions as well. An attack does not have to be a physical strike. It can be a manipulation or seduction attempt, it can be an attempt to use magick against a character, it can be an attempt to chase and corner a character, it can be an entire army attempting to crash into another army, or an entire warship attempting to crash into another warship. A successful attack forces some sort of negative effect on its target appropriate to the nature of the conflict at hand. A defense action is an action that attempts to resist or avoid or otherwise negate the negative effect that an attack action attempts to impose. Defense actions are also always contested major actions. A successful defense thwarts the intended outcome of an attack action. A failed defense allows an attack's negative effect to be imposed.

All attack actions have a target that the action attempts to impose negative effects upon, and all attack actions are defended against by the target. Because players are the only ones who roll dice to resolve actions in The Way of the Earth, attack and defense actions are described slightly differently depending on who is attacking who.

• When a player character attacks a non-player character the action is resolved by the player making a test. The non-player character is said to be defending even though the gamemaster does not roll dice on their behalf. If the test is successful the attack is successful, and the player character imposes some negative effect on the non-player character. If the test fails the attack fails, and the non-player character's defense is said to be successful. No negative effect is imposed with a successful defense. 

• In the reverse situation, when a non-player character attacks a player character the action is resolved by the player making a save. The non-player character is said to be attacking even though the gamemaster does not roll dice on their behalf. If the save is successful the defense is successful, and no negative effect is imposed on the player character. If the save fails the defense fails, and the non-player character's attack is said to be successful. A negative effect is then imposed on the player character.

There are two kinds of negative effects that successful attacks impose on their targets. First, one of the three contested ends; takes, marks, or checks. Second, risk.

• First: When a player character's attack is successful with 0-2 degrees of success, or when a player character's defense is a failure with 1-2 degrees of failure, the target of the attack has a "take" imposed on them. When a player character's attack is successful with 3-4 degrees of success, or when a player character's defense is a failure with 3-4 degrees of failure, the target of the attack has a "mark" imposed on them. When a player character's attack is successful with 5 or more degrees of success, or when a player character's defense is a failure with 5 or more degrees of failure, the target of the attack has a "check" imposed on them. Takes, marks, and checks are described below.

• Second: Whenever a take is applied to a target the target's risk is then raised by two. Whenever a mark is applied to a target the target's risk is then raised by three. And whenever a check is applied to a target all of the target's risk is removed.

Takes: Minor Negative Effects

Takes are minor negative effects that attacks can impose upon targets with 0-2 degrees of success or failure. Takes, like marks, are generic, and can be applied by any sort of attack in any type of conflict, be it social, martial, or large scale. Any time a character has a take imposed on them, they also have their risk increased by two. Takes generally cannot bring an end to a conflict by themselves, but they can make targets increasingly vulnerable to other attacks, so that marks and checks can be applied to them.

Disarm: Disarming a character removes a boon from their control.

Characters are forced away from situational boons. Physical boons are dropped or stolen if the attacker desires and has a free hand, and if they are not bound to the character. Superior physical boons can, alternatively, destroy common physical boons. Physical boons can be recovered and readied again with a minor action. Social boons become unusable until the character's next action. For a fuller treatment of boons, see the Conflicts in Action page.

Entangle: Entangling a character prevents both the attacker and the target from doing anything besides attacking one another with their actions until one character is defeated or until the entanglement is broken.

Entangling characters cannot maneuver and cannot undertake actions on their call besides attacking the character they are entangled with. Success on an attack while entangling applied the normal effects and the attacker can decide whether to continue the entanglement or end it and maneuver away. Boons cannot be used with entangled unless they specify otherwise. Characters who attempt to attack entangled characters suffer a -3AP penalty, and if they fail, they accidentally apply one risk to the wrong character.

Force: Forcing a character compels them to take a minor action or maneuver against their will, or uses the environment to harm them.

Forcing can compel a character in a way that can be described with a short, and concise phrase. "Stand aside," "bow," "push back," "knock off," "tell the truth," etc. Forcing cannot compel a target to violate their nature, or bring about a situation in which the character would suffer more than a mark or mark's condition worth of harm. Hence, "fall on a sword" or "throw off a cliff" are not options. Alternatively, in a martial conflict, an attacker can force a character in such a way that uses the environment or an improvised weapon to harm them. In this case, the character suffers a bashing condition, but they do not have the normal two risk imposed on them by this take. The condition itself is penalty enough.

Weaken: Weakening a character increases their risk by one (in addition to the amount a take normally imposes) and prevents them from maneuvering up through their next action.

That's it :)

Marks: Serious Negative Effects

Marks are serious negative effects that attacks can impose upon targets with 3-4 degrees of success or failure. Marks are generic and can be applied by any sort of attack in any type of conflict, be it social, martial, or large scale. Any time a character has a mark imposed on them, they also have their risk increased by three. Multiple marks can bring an end to a conflict and they are the main way that conditions are imposed on characters.

Block: Blocking increases a character's risk by one, gives the attacker a +1AP bonus on their saves until their next action, and breaks apart entanglements and chases.

Chase: Chasing makes a full move (as per Move to Position) and corners a character, imposing a -1AP penalty to all of their actions, and preventing them from maneuvering or moving away until they escape.

A character can escape in three ways; by imposing a check on the attacker, by successfully attacking the attacker and forgoing any imposition of risk, take, mark, or check in order to move away, or by an ally blocking the attacker.

Hide: Hide prevents the character from acting against the attacker until they are revealed again.

Attacking while hidden from the target grants the attacker a +2AP bonus and allows them to ignore the character's boons when they do so. The attacker is revealed the next time they attack, or when they are attacked by one of the character's nearby allies.

Strike: Strike brings an attacker's full power to bear against a character and inflicts a mark on them appropriate to damage type of the attacker or their readied boon.

Checks: Major Negative Effects

Checks are major and often permanent negative effects that attacks can impose upon targets with 5+ degrees of success or failure. Like with the mark strike and the conditions it can apply, checks are applied on the basis of damage type. A full description of all of the check conditions can be found on the Risk and Conditions page.

Counter Attacks and Critical Risk

When an attack fails and a defense succeeds, the defender can apply a take effect to the attacker along with a two point increase in risk. This is called a counter attack. Counter attacks can normally only apply take effects, regardless of an attack's degree of failure or a defense's degree of success. But when an attacker is in a critical state by having seven or more risk, then the defender can impose a take, mark, or check to the attacker on the basis of the attack's degree of failure or the defense's degree of success. Just like with attacks, 0-2 degrees permit a take to be imposed, 3-4 degrees permits a mark to be imposed, and 5+ degrees permits a check to be imposed. Counter attacks however never add an attacker's risk to their degrees. An attacker's risk is only relevant if they have seven or more. Adding a target's risk to degrees is the privilege of initiating an attack and counter attacks cannot benefit from it.

For example: If a non-player character with five risk attacks a player character and the player character gets four degrees of success on their defense, they can apply a take to the non-player character attacker and increase their risk by two. If the non-player character attacks again, now with seven risk, and the player character again gets four degrees of success on their defense, the player character can apply a mark to the non-player character and increase their risk by three. In neither case if the non-player character's risk added to the degrees of success for the defense, because the player character is counter attacking, not initiating an attack.

Counter attacks are not always possible. As explained in more detail on the Conflicts in Action page, only certain boons can be used to counter attack, and certain takes, marks, and other effects from items and abilities can limit or permit counter attacks in certain situations.

Player vs. Player Actions

Most of The Way of the Earth's rules assume that player characters will oppose and be opposed by non-player characters. In these situations the player rolls dice to resolve actions, effecting resolving the action for both the player character and any non-player characters involved. But occasionally, though hopefully not frequently, player characters can come into conflict with one another. Since player characters do not have static target numbers or power numbers like environmental challenges and non-player characters, there is no number for the players to roll against to determine the outcome of their actions. Hence, when player characters come into conflict, both players roll dice.

Both players roll at the same time. The target player character or the defending player character judges their dice first. Their Light plus their more relevant lesser attribute plus or minor any modifiers becomes the target number for the initiating or attacking player character. If the target or defending player character gets an advantage, then the initiating or attacking player character CANNOT receive an advantage, regardless of their Truth. The initiating or attacking player then judges their dice. Their Light plus their most relevant greater attribute plus or minus any modifiers goes against the target number created by the target or defending player character's roll. If the initiating or attacking player character's action power is greater than or equal to the target number, then their action is a success, if not, their action fails. An initiating or attacking player character can only receive an advantage on their roll if their Truth is 4-6 AND the target or defending player character rolled a disadvantage.

Otherwise, actions between player characters are resolved as normal.