Special Actions

In contrast to common actions, special actions allow your character to perform amazing and complex feats in play. Special actions gained through class levels are called class actions, while special actions gained through racial skills are called racial actions.

Attributes of Special Actions

Special actions have a number of attributes that define how they are acquired and used. Each of these attributes is detailed below.

• Level - This is the minimum level you must be before you can learn the action. For class actions, this is your class level. For racial actions, this is your character level.
• Context - This describes the type of gameplay during which the action can be used, as well as any special rules that apply to its use. This is usually noted along with the action's level (e.g., "4th-Level Combat Action" or "7th-level Story Action"). Possible contexts include Combat, Story, Cabin, and Downtime, and are described in greater detail below.
• Rating - This indicates how difficult the action is to learn and use. Actions with higher ratings take longer to learn, are more difficult to use independently, and can be used less frequently.
• Shorthand - This is a brief line of text that describes how the action is used and what it does in play. It appears on your character sheet immediately after the action's name, and includes the following elements:
  • Method - This indicates how the action is delivered, and always appears as the first part of the action's shorthand. Some examples include One Packet, One Swing, Burst, and Viscinity.
  • Tagline - This is what you say when you use the action in play. It always appears as the second part of the action's shorthand, usually in quotes indicating the exact phrase to be spoken. This is most often the action's effect, but may include additional information to better clarify that effect. Taglines are described in more detail below.
  • Duration - This is how long the action lasts. If it's longer than instantaneous, it appears as part of the action's shorthand after the tagline. Some examples include One Encounter and One Adventure.
  • Meta - This is a special modifier for how the action is performed. For example, a Silent Action can be performed without a verbal, and a Pierce action calls the special "Pierce" damage tagline. If an action has a meta component, it appears as part of the action's shorthand after the tagline.

Taglines

All special actions call taglines. A tagline is a brief phrase that describes the effect the action has on the character affected by it. For example, a sorcerer who casts a Petrify spell throws a single packet with a tagline of "Freeze," indicating that the character struck by the packet must freeze in place. Likewise, a warrior swinging a two-handed sword might have a tagline of "10 Sharp," indicating that the character struck by the sword takes 10 points of sharp damage. There are two types of taglines: Damage Taglines and Effect Taglines.

Damage Taglines

Damage taglines indicate that the action deals damage, which reduces a character's health total. A damage tagline is composed of two parts: The amount of damage dealt followed by its type. The warrior dealing "10 sharp" in the example above is calling a damage tagline. Some damage types include:

• Blunt - Indicates damage from the impact of a blunt object, such as a mace or staff.
• Sharp - Indicates damage from the impact of a sharp object, such as a sword or dagger.
• Drain - Indicates damage that concurrently replenishes the attacker's health.
• Fire - Indicates damage from exposure to high temperatures.
• Ice - Indicates damage from exposure to low temperatures.
• Pierce - Indicates damage that cannot be blocked. A weapon attack that inflicts pierce damage must be avoided or countered, just like a packet.
• Prime - Indicates damage from exposure to the sacred energy of the Prime.
• Sap - Indicates damage intended to incapacitate rather than kill the target. A character reduced to zero health from sap damage is not at risk of dying; he or she is rendered unconscious but stable.
• Shock - Indicates damage from exposure to electricity.
• Spell - Indicates damage from exposure the arcane energy of the Aether.
• Tox - Short for "toxic", indicates damage from exposure to a caustic or poisonous substance.

Effect Taglines

Effect taglines indicate that the action produces a specific game effect other than damage. The sorcerer calling "Freeze" in the example above is calling an effect tagline. This generally matches the effect of the action in question. For example, an action with the Maim effect calls the "Maim" tagline. Some actions may call different taglines to further clarify their effects. For example, an action that uses the Repel effect at higher intensity might call "Repel 10" to indicate its increased strength. Whatever the tagline is, it is noted in the action's shorthand on your character sheet.

Regardless of the effect tagline being called, all effects obey the following rules:

• Detrimental effects have an assumed duration of one encounter, so they end after one minute or the end of the current fight, whichever comes first. Beneficial effects can have longer durations.
• Effects that incapacitate a character end if that character is attacked by a foe. Effects such as Freeze, Sleep, and Snare, for example, end immediately if the affected character is attacked. Note that attacks made by friendly characters do not apply.
• Mental compulsions end if the character affected by them is rendered unconscious. For example, a character who is Charmed or Frenzied loses those effects upon being reduced to zero health.
• Effects that produce lasting physical harm persist until they are restored. These effects include Ruin, Main, Slay, as well as all damage taglines.
• Multiple effects of the same type do not stack; they overlap. When they do, only the strongest effect applies. For example, a character affected by both a Strength 2 and a Strength 3 effect gains three bonus damage to weapon attacks, not five. Multiple effects of different types, however, stack normally. For example, a character affected by a Strength 2 effect who wields a sword with a Hone 3 effect gains five bonus damage to attacks with that sword.

Learning Class Actions

You learn class actions during downtime. If you attempt to develop them independently, it takes longer and you stand a chance of failing or botching. If you learn from a teacher, it takes less time and you cannot fail. Unlike skills, you are not limited in the number of class actions you can learn. Depending on the action's context, however, you may be limited by the number you can use at one time.

Action Contexts

As mentioned above, every special action has a context that describes the type of gameplay during which it can be used. For example, you can only use Combat actions during combat, and you can only use Story actions as part of a story. The special rules that apply to each context are described below.

Combat Actions

Combat actions are used in battle to attack, defend, and impose temporary status conditions. They obey the following rules:

• They may only be used in play at an event.
• They must be prepared before they can be used. Each character is limited in the total number of combat actions he or she can prepare at one time. See Preparing Combat Actions below for more details.
• They often have performance requirements. See Using Combat Actions below for more details.
• They are expended once used and must be refreshed in order to use again. See Refreshing Combat Actions below for more details.

Preparing Combat Actions

Before a combat action can be used, it must be prepared. This is done before you go into play at the beginning of each event by penciling in the number of times each combat action is prepared next to that action's name. If you wish, you can also use the Refocus common action at any point during the event. This takes 10 minutes of uninterrupted concentration and allows you to change the combat actions you have prepared.

The number of combat actions you can prepare depends upon your class level. You can prepare one combat action from a particular class for every level you have in that class. For example, a 4th-level disciple can prepare four disciple combat actions at a time. If you want, you can prepare the same combat action multiple times, to a maximum of three. The same character, for example, could prepare three Lesser Healing Winds and one Minor Healing Aura, but not four Lesser Healing Winds.

There are several ways to exceed these limits. For example, non-human characters can prepare one additional combat action when they are members of a class for which their race has an affinity, the Specialty Action skill grants a character additional uses of actions in which they have specialized, and certain treasure can be used to store and perform actions. See these character options for more details on how they work.

Using Combat Actions

In order to use a combat action, you must first meet that action's performance requirements. For example, most spellcasters must recite a verbal when using their combat actions, and most fighting classes are restricted by the kind of weapons they can use to deliver their combat actions. These performance requirements must be met at the moment the action is used and must be immediately followed by the action's tagline.

Refreshing Combat Actions

Combat actions are expended as soon as they are used. However, they can be refreshed (i.e., made usable again) by using the Rest common action. The amount of rest required to refresh an action depends upon its frequency. After one minute of rest, all of your encounter ("E") actions refresh. After 10 minutes of rest, all of your adventure ("A") actions refresh. Daily ("D") actions refresh at dawn each day.

Story Actions

Story actions are used outside of combat to gather information, bypass obstacles, and accomplish other story-related goals. They obey the following rules:

• They may only be used in play at an event as part of an adventure or story line, and only outside of combat.
• A plot member must be present to adjudicate their effects.
• They may take time to perform at plot's discretion.
• They may have a limited chance of success. See Using Story Actions below for more details.
• Their usefulness and chances of success may vary from one adventure, story line, or plot member to the next.

Using Story Actions

Unlike combat actions, story actions do not need to be prepared ahead of time and are not expended when used. However, they always take a minute to perform, and because their effects are variable depending on the circumstances and the story, they can only be done with a plot member present to decide their effects, if any.

Story actions are further limited because they may have a chance of failure. When declaring a story action to the plot member on call, that plot member may state a difficulty to you. You must then choose a number between 1 and 10, which the plot member uses to determine if you succeed. The possible difficulties and their chances of success are as follows.

• Very Easy (90%) - The plot member secretly chooses a number between 1 and 10. Every other number is a success. "Only a 6 fails."
• Easy (70%) - The plot member secretly chooses three numbers between 1 and 10. Every other number is a success. "Only 1, 3, or 5 fails."
• Medium (50%) - The plot member secretly chooses evens, odds, high, or low. Those numbers are successes. "Odds succeed."
• Hard (30%) - The plot member secretly chooses three numbers between 1 and 10. Those numbers are successes. "Only 5, 6, or 7 succeeds."
• Very Hard (10%) - The plot member secretly chooses one number between 1 and 10. That number is the only success. "Only 9 succeeds."

Note that a plot member may ask for a number without stating a difficulty or may arbitrarily decide whether or not a story action succeeds, at his or her discretion.

Cabin Actions

Cabin actions are used to fortify your cabin and belongings against intrusion and theft. They obey the following rules:

• They may only be used at the start of an event during check-in, and only on the cabin you are sleeping in during that event.
• They last the entire event.
• You can only use one at a time. Cabins with multiple occupants can have multiple defenses, but only one per occupant.
• Just as with combat actions, multiple cabin actions with the same effect do not stack. For example, a single cabin can have a Seal defense and a Cabin Guardian, but not two Seals or two Cabin Guardians.

Using Cabin Actions

If you wish to use a cabin action, you must declare it to the logistics marshal during check-in. This action applies to that cabin's occupants and any goods stored inside of it for the entire event. As above, you can only use one cabin action per event, and only on the cabin you're sleeping in for that event. Furthermore, you cannot declare a different cabin action later on; you're stuck with your choice for the entire event.

Downtime Actions

Downtime actions are used to create consumables or enchant equipment with special properties. They obey the following rules:

• They may only be used online during downtime; they can not be used in play at an event. Because of this, they do not appear on your printed character sheet.
• The effects of downtime actions (e.g., items, bonuses, etc.) may be used in play normally.
• They consume reagents with each use.
• To use a downtime action, your level must be at least one fifth the action's rating, rounded up. The Ritual Specialization skill allows you to increase your effective level for this purpose.

Building Special Actions

Although it's not something most players need to understand, special actions are built using a system of components and ratings. Every action is defined by five different types components that combine to determine how an action works and what it does. These include its Effect, Intensity, Method, Duration, and Meta components. Each of these components has a numeric rating based on how powerful it is. For example, the Sleep effect component has a rating of 7, the Burst method component has a rating of 3, and the Pierce meta component has a rating of 2.

An action's level is equal to the highest rating of any of its components. For example, the Sunder action uses the One Swing method component (rating 1), the Ruin effect component (rating 4), and no intensity, duration, or meta component, so its level is four.

An action's rating is derived using each of its component rating in the following formula: (Effect + Intensity) x (1 + Method + Duration + Meta). The rating it then used to determine other characteristics, such as the frequency of combat actions.

Some components used in downtime actions have an associated cost multiplier that determines the relative value of reagents consumed when the action is used. The actual value of reagents consumed is determined by multiplying the action's rating by the sum of its components' cost multipliers. For example, the Create Minor Healing Potion downtime action has a rating of 10 and a total cost multiplier of 0.3, so the total cost of reagents consumed when using it is 3 gold pieces.

Other characteristics of a special action, such as its name, the classes or races that can use it, the type of reagents consumed when using it, or the properties it bestows upon treasure, are defined individually with each action.