Multiple Characters Creating Conflicts

[The Mule]

Hello, I've had Capes for a while and gotten the hang of the system, but recently I've been trying to write a web-page to facilitate internet play, and in trying to "automate" as much of the system as possible I've come across one or two things I can't quite figure out.

First, how exactly schisming works.  From searching through this forum I've found a few informative posts that seem to throw some light on the problem, but seem to end with "Well, this is going to need some errata," and I can never find much of a conclusion.  Schisms seem enough of a border case that I'm not worried about this one, just curious if anything came of it.

Second, when you have multiple characters on your turn, I can't quite tell if you choose between "make 1 conflict or act with all your characters" or if you choose between "for each character you have, make 1 conflict or act with that character".  Basically, if I have two characters, can I introduce two conflicts on my turn?  Can I introduce 1 conflict and use an ability on a character?

There's some good examples in the book of multiple characters, but I can't find any good situation that covers this.  For now I'm just saying that each character gets to make a conflict or use an ability, creating the possibility of multiple conflicts in one person's turn.

Regards,
Mule

[Dominic Claveau]

Hi, I won't say I'm an expert so don`t take what I write as 100% certain but I'll try to answer you and other people can correct.

About schism, let's say character A (played by Allen) his helping charater B (played by Bob) to demolish character C (played by Catherine). On the side AB, the dice shows now a 5, for example. B, in blind egoistic rage, cannot let A win with him, this is HIS FIGHT, so Bob stakes one debt on the side AB (he must have rolled once on this side trying to raise the dice or on the other side, trying to reduce the dice, meaning that he`s allied with A). That lets Bob split the 5 into a 3 and a 2, keeping the 3 against C and leaving A with only a 2. So, even though there`s only one debt staken on the AB side, schism lets you split the dice but they don't add together anymore against C. This is a good way for Bob to maybe take away a potential inspiration from Allen.

Also, Bob could roll once on the C side and raise the dice. He would seem to be allied with Catherine, but at the last moment, he stakes a debt and splits the dice on C side, leaving Catherine with a smaller dice and maybe in a losing position. Bob (and his character) are treacherous now.

The important thing is that you HAVE to roll on a side in a way that helps that side before you can schism. Well that's my understanding.

If you have multiple characters, since each player takes actions for each of his characters and that actions are either rolling, creating a conflict or raising an inspiration, I'd say that yes, you have the choice for each character. So, on your turn, you can have A creating a conflict and B taking an action, or both creating conflicts or acting. Don't forget that you have PAID one of your precious story token to introduce that second character, so it's only normal that if you play more character in a scene, you have more control over what's going on.

I hope it helps you but don't hesitate to ask further questions if I'm not clear.

Have fun,
Dom

[Garth]

I have nothing to add beyond what Dom said, but Mule, I'd like to hear more about this webpage.  I've *really* been wanting to try Capes out, but have nobody to really play with.