Double-targeting in conflicts

[boredoom]

Another question about conflicts: can a character target the same character with more than one action in the same round? It doesn't seem to be specifically prohibited, but could lead to situations that are difficult to adjudicate, like if character A both tries to shoot character B and convince him to join his cause in the same round. Or maybe the stakes of the conflict might prohibit some actions?

[Brennan Taylor]

Yes, you can target the same character with more than one action. The target would need to defend against each individually. You'd just need to work out how it plays out, since if you shoot the target dead, you can't exactly convince him to join your cause. Of course, it could make some tactical sense, since the target may wish to resist the shooting more vigorously than the convincing.

[Nathan P.]

Also, remember that conflicts are about your goal, while actions are what you take to acheive the goal. So "convince him to join our cause" - thats a goal. Your action could be "shoot him," or it could be "talk sense to him," or both (shoot first, ask questions at the same time...?)

A good habit to get in to (and something that Brennan is good at) is noticing when a declaration of stakes is an action, and saying "Thats an action. Whats the goal/Why are you taking that action?"

Which, by the by, made an interesting dynamic whereby the more experienced GM had an edge on the inexperienced players in conflicts. If someone says they want to shoot someone, then the GM teases out their stakes, the GM already knows what action that player is probably going to take in the reveal. The GM can then just declare his stakes, and note his actions - I know there were a couple times when Brennan declared what was happening on the reveal, and I was all "whoa, didn't see that coming."

So thats a neat strategic/player skill level. Kinda reminds me of BW scripting, actually.

[boredoom]

Aha, this all makes sense. I'll make sure to keep the distinction between goal and action in mind.

Which, by the by, made an interesting dynamic whereby the more experienced GM had an edge on the inexperienced players in conflicts.

This happened to me too! I bin bamboozled by Brennan!