SR5:Combat Actions

Unclassified Actions

These actions are very simple activities that don't require the character to take or declare an action to perform.

Delaying Action

There are times when a player wants to see how others act and what happens before making his move; choosing to wait is called a Delayed Action. A Delayed Action must be declared during Step 3A of the Combat Turn Sequence (see Declare Actions). A player can declare a Delayed Action on any of his Initiative Passes and can continue to delay action until a later Initiative Pass. When the character decides to act, he replaces his normal Action Phase for that Initiative Pass with the Delayed Action and then acts on an Initiative Score lower than their own.

During the Declare Actions part of that Initiative Pass, the character must declare that he is intervening at a specific Initiative Score. He can make that declaration when it is time for players with that score to act. Characters who have a Delayed Action and intervene in this manner can choose to go before, after, or at the same time as a currently acting character who would normally take his action on that Initiative Score; any actions they take receive a –1 dice pool penalty. If multiple characters delay their actions until the same Initiative Score, they break the tie in the same manner as Initiative (p. 159).

Characters delaying an action in this manner keep their initial Initiative Score. If the character does not act before the end of the Initiative Pass, they incur the standard reduction of 10 at the end of the Initiative Pass.

Players can also decide to go after the last player’s Action Pass. As long as the character acts before that Initiative Pass ends and the next one begins, there is no problem. If more than one character wants to act last in a Initiative Pass, they act in the reverse order of their Initiative Scores; the character with the highest score goes last. In the event of a tie the characters must either act simultaneously or continue delaying their actions into the next Initiative Pass.

A character can delay his action into the next Initiative Pass and be the first to act. He must still use his own Initiative Score to determine the Action Phases he has for the Combat Turn.

Walking

A character can move up to his Walking rate (Agility*2) per Combat Turn without taking any actions. Moving beyond this rate in a combat turn requires the character to Run or Sprint.

Free Actions

Free Actions are relatively simple, nearly automatic actions that require little effort to accomplish. Examples are saying a word, dropping an object, gesturing, or walking.

A character may take one Free Action during his own Action Phase or at some later point in the Initiative Pass. A character may only take a Free Action prior to his first Action Phase in the Initiative Pass if they are not surprised. Only one Free Action is normally allowed per Initiative Pass, but multiple Free Actions could be allowed by the gamemaster if the situation seems reasonable (dropping an object and speaking a phrase).

Free Actions generally require no Success Test, though special circumstances may warrant one.

Call a Shot

A character may call a shot (aim for a vulnerable portion of a target) with this Free Action; see Called Shots. This action must be combined with a Fire Weapon, Throw Weapon, or Melee Attack Action.

Change Linked Device Mode

A character may use a Free Action to activate, deactivate, or switch the mode on any device that he is linked to by a direct neural interface through either a wired or wireless link. This includes activating cyberware, changing a smartgun’s firing mode, changing a smartlinked shotgun’s choke, deactivating thermographic vision, switching a commlink to hidden mode, turning a device’s wireless functionality off, and so on. Note that it takes longer to interact with some devices, as noted in individual gear descriptions.

Drop Object

A character may drop a held object as a Free Action. If he is holding an object in each hand, he may drop both objects as a single Free Action. At the gamemasters discretion, dropped items may suffer damage from being dropped if they are fragile or dropped in a hostile environment.

Drop Prone

A character may kneel or drop prone as a Free Action, as long as he is not surprised. A character who is surprised may not drop prone.

Eject Smartgun Clip

A character linked to a ready smartgun may use a mental command to eject the weapon’s clip. It still takes a separate Simple Action to insert a new, fresh clip.

Gesture

A character may communicate with a few quick gestures as a Free Action. Characters unfamiliar with the gestures may make an Intuition (2) Test to determine what the gesture means.

Multiple Attacks

A character may use a Free Action to attack multiple targets in a single action (see Multiple Attacks, p. 196 Core) by splitting their dice pool. This action must be combined with a Fire Weapon Action, Throw Weapon Action, Melee Attack Action, Reckless Spellcasting, or Cast Spell Action.

Run

Running uses a Free Action and inflicts Running movement modifiers. Running is any movement that exceeds the character’s Walking Movement Rate in a single Combat Turn.

Speak/Text/Transmit Phrase

One short phrase of verbal communication is a Free Action. If the character wants to speak more, each additional phrase or sentence requires a Free Action. The gamemaster should be careful to control excessive, unrealistic conversations within the span of a single action during a 3-second Combat Turn. If the gamemaster and players prefer more elaborate communications, parameters should be laid out before the mission begins. Characters who are equipped to send text messages through a direct neural interface connection with their commlink may also send short messages as a Free Action.

Simple Actions

A Simple Action is one step more complicated than a Free Action and requires more concentration to attempt.

During his Action Phase, a character may take two Simple Actions, though only one can be an attack action. A character may also take a Free Action with the two Simple Actions.