Rules/Status Actions

Status Action System Overview (PLAYTEST ONLY)

Action Points

 Characters can use their status to generate action points once per story. (Once per week.) When a character's status is used for an action within the realm of that status, each dot of status generates 3 Action Points. If you can justify using your status in another status realm, it generates 1 Action Point. This means that a character with Politics 3 can generate 9 Action Points for taking actions within the realm of Politics Status, but only 3 Action Points if they try to take actions in Education, Religion, Medicine, etc. Once a status has been used to generate even a single Action Point, it will generate no additional points until the start of the next week.

Combining Status

 Characters with status in multiple areas can combine their Action Points from all their various status into a single action in a single status realm so long as they can justify how the outside status helps with the action they're taking. For example, a character with Status 3 in Politics, Status 2 in Unions, and status 1 in Education can generate 9 points for a Politics action with their Politics Status, 2 for their Union Status, and 1 for Education Status for a total of 12 Action Points.

Teamwork

 Characters can help each other with status actions. One character may contribute to another character's status action as though it were their own, though they are not in control of its objective. If they want to help out, they can only work towards the objective of a given action, not alter it in any fashion.

Status Actions

Act

 Characters wishing to initiate productive activity within the realm of their status would use the Act status action. This reflects using your position, reputation, and authority to create inertia in one direction or another. When you contact staff to take this action, you will describe what you are trying to achieve and how, and Staff will assing a target you will need to reach for that action to take place. For example, a character with Education status wants to start a music program at their local elementary shcool. They are a principal with status 3, and staff decides that convincing the school board will take a total of 20 action points. They devote all 9 of their actions for the first week of actions, then another 9 the next week. By the third week's actions they've reached the 20 point target and have convinced the school board to allow the music program to be formed.

Counteract

 Characters who become aware of a status action underway by another PC or NPC can instead take a counteract action. Action points dedicated to the counteract action subtract on a 1:1 basis from the accumulated action points for the action they are trying to stop. It should be noted that without a reveal action being taken, it's impossible to know the target number that's required, how far along the project happens to be, or who is responsible for driving it forward. Counteract actions can be concealed with Conceal points.

Conceal

 Conceal is a sub-action that chracterss can take while taking another action, such as Act, Counteract, Attack, Reveal or Promote. Concealing an action means that any public reference to the action in the news, or trade journals, or even gossip will not have your name attached to it in any fashion. Characters would have to take a Reveal action and dedicate more points to it than you have invested into Conceal in order to acquire any information about you or the specifics of the action underway, such as its point point goal, its objectives, and how far along it is at the moment relative to its target number. Characters taking actions over time due to a high point target treshold can contribute points to conceal with each action, further occluding the action from prying investigators. In order to add concealment points to an action, you must dedicate at least 1 action point to the action itself. You cannot conceal progress you are not making and actions you are not taking.

Reveal

 Reveal is an action a character may take on another character, or on an action being taken by another character or NPC. When used on a character, it may reveal actions they are presently backing in a given status arena. If they have dedicated action points to concealment, the reveal action must exceed those points in order to provide any information. Conceal points are removed from the action they conceal on a 1:1 basis when reveal actions are taken against them. This is why continuing to dedicate conceal points to ongoing actions is often a good idea. When used on an action, it can reveal one piece of information per point that exceeds the concealment points protecting the action. The succeeding player may distribute their overflow points to any of the following categories. Supporters and counteractors can have more than one point dedicated, to try and uncover everyone. But this distribution must be decided all at once, and no reveal points may be carried forward to another action.

• Objective: What the action is hoping to achieve, in some detail.
• Target: How many action points are needed to achieve the action.
• Progress: How many action points have been contributed to the action thusfar.
• Supporters: For each point dedicated to this information, this will reveal one individual who is supporting this project and the status they're using to support it and what their status is, starting with the highest action point contributor and then additional contributors from most contributions to least.
• Counteractors: For each point dedicated to this information, this will reveal one individual who is countreacting this project, starting with the highest counteraction point contributor and then additional contributors from most contributions to least.

Attack

 This is a direct attack against another character's status. This can be a very risky action to take, as most people don't take kindly to having their influence and efforts challenged. The target threshold for this action is always 10 x Status Dots of the target. So if you're attacking someone with Status 5, your action threshold is 50 right out of the gates. The person being attacked is informed an attack is underway immediately. They will not know who is attacking them unless they perform a reveal action and surmount any conceal points dedicated to the attack action. Attack actions may be counteracted with counteract actions. Once an attack action has met its threshold, the attacked character has 14 days to either counteract the attack or find others with status willing to counteract the attack to bring the action back down under the threshold. If on the start of day 15 the attack has enough points to succeed, the target loses one dot in status, and their XP is refunded under sanctity of merits. Subsequent attacks now have a lower threshold to meet, and the target will have to regain the lost status point as normal.

Endorse

 Endorsement actions are a means for characters to help others justify their status purchases. The target for an endorsement action is 10 x the target's current status+1. So a character with status 2 that people are trying to get to status 3 would have a 30 point target threshold. Once that threshold is reached, the character has a justification for a status purchase. It should be noted that reaching status 4 and status 5 in this fashion may not be possible if there's another character in the way, or if the leadership of the group is barred to PCs for whatever reason. Work with staff in such situations, to see if the status can't be justified without assuming the position it represents. Characters cannot endorse themselves.