Improvised Actions         Despite all the Abilities of your character, you will eventually think of something to try that is not covered by a specific rule. Or perhaps you have thought of an action that sounds a little bit like one of your Abilities, but not quite the same. Maybe you have thought of something "extra" that you believe might enhance an Ability you're trying to use. Once you leave the boundaries of what your Abilities spell out that you can do, it falls to the GM to decide the results of your action, and whether there will be a roll to try. This chapter is essentially a grand "Miscellaneous" - when in doubt, the GM can proceed through the following steps to resolve your action. You may want to read them as well, not only to get a feeling for what your character might be able to improvise, but to better understand the difference between you and your character (as first mentioned in Roleplaying).

Step 1: Is it Covered?     Whenever there is a doubt as to whether your character can attempt or succeed at something, the GM will determine if that thing is the subject of an Ability or any other rule. At times, this will be easy - your character cannot shoot a fireball out of their hands if they don't have something like Energy Ranged Attack (Arcana) or a very advanced weapon device. Other times it may not be so obvious. For example, your character might be highly intelligent, and you might ask the GM if you can roll on INT to determine what kind of techs you'll likely find in an Alacrian ruin your party is considering entering. But such a question is explicitly covered by Ruin Lore (Culture) - if you don't have that Ability, you are unable to answer the question, no matter how high your INT. Similarly, you may not use an Ability to replicate the effect of a different Ability. For example, you cannot know the answer to that question about the ruin just because you're really good at binding techs with Tech Binding (Technology).
    Remember: Abilities are, by definition, things which the average person in Lur-Asko cannot do. Characters cannot tame wild animals without Wild Animal Taming (Nature). They cannot pick locks without Lockpicking (Stealth). Trying to use "creativity" to wiggle out of these rules isn't cool - it's just cheating. The GM won't let you remove the incentive to take those Abilities, or cheapen the efforts of other characters who did invest XP to gain them.

    After Step 1, the GM asks themselves the big question: does this make sense? If your idea isn't the subject matter of an existing rule, or seems to introduce additional circumstances that it wouldn't make sense to ignore, they proceed to Step 2.

Step 2: Difficulty & Consequences     If you are attempting to do something exceedingly easy, your character probably just gets to do it. That's why there's no ruleset for successfully eating lunch when you're hungry. As mentioned in Stats & Rolling, dice are only rolled for an action that has a potential for failure. Similarly, no specific rule will resolve your character's attempt to jump from the ground onto an aircraft at cruising altitude; you automatically fail at such an absurdly difficult task.
    Your action might also be easy to resolve if it has little to no consequence. For example, your character might be dextrous, and might decide to try their hand at juggling. You made it to Step 2, since there is no other rule that explicitly covers juggling. If you're in a situation where it might be amusing, the GM might have you roll on DEX to see what happens. But if you aren't doing this to accomplish anything meaningful, you might just get to do it and move on; the game doesn't need to stop and roll for every little character quirk.

    If your action is important or difficult enough that your character didn't get to "just do it," and it is not so difficult as to be absurd, the GM moves on to Step 3.

Step 3: The Simple Rolls     At this point, your action might be resolved through the simple rolling rules in Stats & Rolling: d6 for something easy (but still roll-worthy), d12 for moderate difficulty, and d20 or multi-dice for something hard. If these rules are used, the GM may use them in conjunction with Step 4, especially if there is any question as to what the effect of your action would be. Because you made it through Step 2 above, there will be consequences for failure on the roll. If the nature of your idea was something related to an Ability or existing ruleset, there may already be a roll involved, making this step impossible to apply.
    Sometimes ending at this step wouldn't satisfy the big question, does this make sense? In this case, the GM will move on to Step 4.

Step 4: Risk & Cost     If your action has not yet been resolved, we now get into the bulk of this chapter; this is the most complicated step, but also the one sufficient to direct the GM in resolving any action imaginable. Like many aspects of the game, much of this step will rely on the GM's judgment calls; make your case when describing your action, but respect whatever the GM decides.

    First, an explanation of this step: If a simple roll was not enough to resolve your action, it's likely that it relates to an Ability or specific ruleset, or that it comes perilously close to resembling an Ability in scope or impact. At this point, you are obliged to take a risk or pay a cost in order to enact your idea and gain the benefit you want. The reason for this is simple: you are not your character. If absolutely no risk or cost were involved, your character would already be using your idea, and there would be no need to mention it.
    For example, you might be playing a stealthy character who uses Abilities like Greater Evasion (Stealth) to avoid detection, and who is currently sneaking through a house. Suppose you have an idea as a player: your character should take out their sword and use it to lightly press the floor ahead as they move, checking to make sure no part of the floor will creak when stepped upon. You might mention this idea to your GM, perhaps expecting Easing to your infiltration stealth roll for your idea. Unfortunately, none will come: because your idea entails no additional risk or cost, your character is probably already using such tactics as part of their DEX roll. It's still a cool thing to mention for flavor; if your roll succeeds, it could well be the exact tactic your character used. But you are not your character; do not expect the GM to actually change your character's roll. You have no advantage over another player whose character has equally stealthy DEX or Abilities just because you happened to have an idea, any more than you would if you happened to be good at sneaking through a house in real life! Or, to illustrate the point a different way: suppose your character is actually terrible at stealth. They have no Stealth Abilities and abysmal DEX. Your idea will not save them, since they would probably have never thought of it (or executed it well) in-character.
    Once there is risk or cost involved with your idea, however, it becomes worth resolving using the guidelines in this step. Your character would not always be employing ideas that involve risk or cost beyond normal. If you are prepared to step up and pay, or dare to risk, your idea may indeed save the day. Not only does this principle help keep the game making sense, but it removes the common RPG temptation of endless dithering and planning to avoid danger. The adventuring life is dangerous, and there's no way around it; risk, sacrifice, or get out of the way of the game!

    Again, there cannot possibly be a highly specific rule for every improvised action, but the charts below provide general categories of risk, cost, and benefit. The greater the risk or cost, the greater the benefit; this is not only fair in a gaming sense, but realistic. Your characters are savvy enough to automatically dismiss any idea that presents far too much hassle for a negligible benefit. If it's being mentioned by a player and resolved through these rules, it's assumed to be a reasonable tradeoff in-character. Depending on the nature of the idea, you may or may not know the exact risks and benefits before attempting it, but will have at least some idea.
    It is always up to the GM to determine the scope of cost, risk, or benefit that are allowed to come into play from a given action, and this includes bending these already-vague rules. As always, the GM decides this using the big question: does this make sense? Therefore, you cannot simply say to your GM, "I'd like to spend 10 insight to gain 1 Easing in this roll." But you are welcome to work with your GM to come up with an application that makes sense; consult the examples after the charts to see these rules in action.
    Depending on the context, the risk, cost, and/or benefits might be split or shared between party members. As a general rule, most ideas will involve costs that can be split, but risks and benefits that apply to all.

Cost	Point Value
Insight (never alternate insight)	1 per 10 insight
Charge (technological)	1 per 20 charge
Fatigue/Exhaustion	1 per 20 fatigue / 5 exhaustion
Time	1 or 2, depending on how long. The exact amount of time will vary with the nature of the action, but will always be enough to be mentionable.
Other Materials	0 to 2, depending on the scope and relevance of the materials used, and whether they will remain usable afterwards (that is, whether this is a true cost).

Risk	Point Value
The possible bad consequence is both minor and improbable	0 to 1
The consequence is either minor but probable, or improbable but significant	2
The consequence is both probable and significant	3

Possible Benefits	Points required
Easing to an existing roll	Equal to the amount of Easing
Reduction in a cost called for by an existing rule (insight, charge, exhaustion, time, etc.)	Equal to point value of the cost in the above chart
Accomplish something that seems possible, but is beyond the scope of a simple roll from Step 3	1 to 3, often in addition to a simple roll.
Cause damage to a character or object using unusual means	-1 per 24 damage (18 drive) to a single target.  Target should receive a stat roll no harder than d20 to avoid the damage. -1 per 6 damage (4 drive) if the damage will follow AoE rules. -1 to cause the AoE to follow "using caution" hit chances. -1 more point if the target(s) will suffer an additional effect, such as a knockdown or energy damage effect.

Examples of Step 4 Improvised Actions     -A player noticed the GM describe several quartz chandeliers hanging from the ceiling of an Alacrian ruin. In an ensuing fight with some techs, the player wants her character to shoot at the chains holding a chandelier, dropping it onto the enemy. She has a weapon sufficient to break the chain using Damaging Objects rules. Using the Step 4 charts, the GM decides she is taking a risk that is both probable and significant (3 points), because she might waste her turn, and the chandelier might fall on friends engaged with the techs. The GM also asks her to spend 10 insight (1 point), in order to judge the complicated timing of the attempt. The damage is treated as an AoE, with 3 points devoted to AoE damage (18 damage, 12 drive) and 1 point devoted to knocking down affected targets.

-The party is faced with a difficult climb, and the players describe a series of safety lines they want to use to make the climb safer. Someone brought a large amount of rope they are willing to contribute to the attempt, not all of which will be retrievable - the GM considers this 1 point of Other Materials. Everyone is willing to spend several hours setting up and testing the lines, which the GM considers 2 points of Time. The only player whose character took tiers in Athletics wonders if he can contribute anything more, and works with the GM to describe a way in which his character can spend 10 points of insight to double-check everything (1 point). With so much exhaustive preparation, the GM allows the party a total of 4 Easing in their climbing rolls.

-A player wants his character to throw sand in the eyes of an enemy to add Hindrance to their melee defense roll. Since Expert Attack (Close Combat) is an Ability that already describes using advanced tactics to add Hindrance to melee defense rolls, the GM does not allow this (but would allow the player to use the sand idea as descriptive flavor if his attack succeeds). The player still really wants to try, though - it's a really important round in combat, and it's been mentioned that the room was covered in sand. Using the Step 4 charts, the GM decides to allow the player to spend 10 insight to add 1 Easing to his melee offense roll instead.