When are conflicts resolved?

[Neil the Wimp]

...or rather, why aren't all conflicts resolved at the end of each page?

Taking the example on pp. 46-7 of the Capes book.  Player order is C A B.  C uses his action to declare a Goal, "Get out early".  A uses his action to claim a side and roll that die.  Much reaction between C and A ensues.  B uses her action to create another Goal ("Assert authority").  As everyone has had all their actions, the Page ends.  A says "There's nothing to Resolve, so that's pretty much it for the Page."

My question is, why is there nothing to resolve?  As I understand it, when everyone's had their actions, players look to see if any conflicts resolve.  C hasn't claimed either side of any conflict, so he doesn't resolve anything.  A has claimed one side in the "Get out early" goal, and he's in Control of that conflict, so why doesn't that Goal resolve at the end of this first page?  If it's got something to do with Claims or Staking Debt, both of those conditions are met at the end of Page 2.  Why is it that neither of the conflicts resolve until the end of Page 3?

Neil.

[Andrew Cooper]

Claiming sides is only done at the beginning of each Page after the first Page of a Scene.  Using an action to pick up a die and roll it is not claiming a side.  An example...

There are 3 players.  Bob, Sue and Fred

Bob starts a scene...
Some free narration occurs.
Bob creates a Conflict - Goal: Spam Man gets a balony sandwich! (Conflict 1)
Sue creates a Conflict - Event: An anvil falls.   (Conflict 2)
Fred creates a Conflict - Goal: Captain Upchuck loses his lunch.   (Conflict 3)
End of Page.  No Conflicts are resolved...

Sue starts a new page.
Sue claims 1 side of Conflict 2.
Fred claims the other side of Conflict 2.
Bob claims 1 side of Conflict 1.
Some free narration occurs.
Sue picks up her die on Conflict 2 and rolls a 4. (Let's assume no reactions for this example.)
Fred picks up his die on Conflict 2 and rolls a 4.
Bob picks up a die on Conflict 3 and rolls a 3.
End of Page.
No Conflicts are resolved.  No one claimed a side on Conflict 3 even though Bob rolled on it, so it remains unresolved.  There were 2 sides claimed on Conflict 2 but the Page ended with the dice having the same value, so it remains unresolved.

Fred starts a new page.
Fred claims 1 side of Conflict 2.
Bob claims a side of Conflict 1.
Sue claims the other side of Conflict 2.
Some free narration occurs.
Fred picks up his die of Conflict 2 and rolls a 6.
Bob picks up his die of Conflict 1 and rolls a 2.
Sue picks up her die of Conflict 2 and rolls a 1... she decides to keep the 4 instead.
End of Page.
Conflict 1 and 2 are resolved.  Fred has a 6 and Sue has a 4, so Fred resolves Conflict 2.  Bob has a 2 and no one else rolled against him, so he resolves Conflict 1.  No one claimed Conflict 3 so it remains unresolved.

Does this make it clearer?  Claiming Conflicts is a step taken at the beginning of each Page after the first one in each Scene.

[Neil the Wimp]

Does this make it clearer?  Claiming Conflicts is a step taken at the beginning of each Page after the first one in each Scene....Using an action to pick up a die and roll it is not claiming a side. 

I think that's clearer.  Are you saying that conflicts can only be Resolved when someone has Claimed a side in them?  If so, that implies that no conflict can ever be resolved on the Page it's introduced, as you have to wait for the start of the next page to allow Claims to happen.  Is that correct?

An example...

There are 3 players.  Bob, Sue and Fred

Bob starts a scene...
Some free narration occurs.
Bob creates a Conflict - Goal: Spam Man gets a balony sandwich! (Conflict 1)
Sue creates a Conflict - Event: An anvil falls.   (Conflict 2)
Fred creates a Conflict - Goal: Captain Upchuck loses his lunch.   (Conflict 3)
End of Page.  No Conflicts are resolved...

OK so far.  But if Fred's action was instead to roll some dice on Conflict 2 (and get a 6), that conflict would still not resolve at the end of this page as no-one has yet claimed either side of it.  Correct?

Anyway, back to your example...

Sue starts a new page.
Sue claims 1 side of Conflict 2.
Fred claims the other side of Conflict 2.
Bob claims 1 side of Conflict 1.
Some free narration occurs.
Sue picks up her die on Conflict 2 and rolls a 4. (Let's assume no reactions for this example.)
Fred picks up his die on Conflict 2 and rolls a 4.
Bob picks up a die on Conflict 3 and rolls a 3.
End of Page.
No Conflicts are resolved.  No one claimed a side on Conflict 3 even though Bob rolled on it, so it remains unresolved.  There were 2 sides claimed on Conflict 2 but the Page ended with the dice having the same value, so it remains unresolved.

Understood.  But, if Fred had rolled a 5 on his die, would that mean that Conflict 2 would resolve at the end of this page?  He's claimed a side and got the higher total. 

If so, that doesn't chime with the example of play in the Capes book on p.48-9 (page 2 of the Training example).  At the start of that page, Alex Claims one side of the "Assert Authority" conflict and Chris Claims the other.  At the end of the Page, Alex's side of this confict has a total of 4 while Chris's side has a total of 3.  In the example in the book, this conflict does not resolve at the end of this page.  From what I understand you're saying, it should.  Someone's claimed a side (indeed, Alex has claimed the winning side) and the totals are different.  Hence the conflict should resolve.  What am I missing here?

And to pose another question.  Suppose Bob has claimed a side in a conflict, but no-one's claimed the other side.  Also suppose that the unclaimed other side has the higher total.  Are you saying that this conflict would not resolve, as the only person with a claim on the conflict doesn't have the hightest total?

Thanks,

Neil.

[TonyLB]

I think that's clearer.  Are you saying that conflicts can only be Resolved when someone has Claimed a side in them?  If so, that implies that no conflict can ever be resolved on the Page it's introduced, as you have to wait for the start of the next page to allow Claims to happen.  Is that correct?

That is correct if you are using an action to introduce the conflict (as all actions happen after the claiming at the beginning of the page). 

If you spend a story token, you can bypass that order, and make a conflict during the claiming phase (the better to immediately claim it!), and then the conflict will resolve after the completion of that entire page ... but that's a comparative rarity.

If so, that doesn't chime with the example of play in the Capes book on p.48-9 (page 2 of the Training example).  At the start of that page, Alex Claims one side of the "Assert Authority" conflict and Chris Claims the other.

Not in my copy.  I've got Alex claiming a side of "Get out early" and Chris claiming a side of "Assert Authority."  At the end of the page, both claimed sides are currently losing, so they can't resolve the conflicts.

And to pose another question.  Suppose Bob has claimed a side in a conflict, but no-one's claimed the other side.  Also suppose that the unclaimed other side has the higher total.  Are you saying that this conflict would not resolve, as the only person with a claim on the conflict doesn't have the hightest total?

Correct.

[Neil the Wimp]

If you spend a story token, you can bypass that order, and make a conflict during the claiming phase (the better to immediately claim it!), and then the conflict will resolve after the completion of that entire page ... but that's a comparative rarity.

Got it, thanks.

If so, that doesn't chime with the example of play in the Capes book on p.48-9 (page 2 of the Training example).  At the start of that page, Alex Claims one side of the "Assert Authority" conflict and Chris Claims the other.

Not in my copy.  I've got Alex claiming a side of "Get out early" and Chris claiming a side of "Assert Authority."  At the end of the page, both claimed sides are currently losing, so they can't resolve the conflicts.

Dash it, you're right.  OK, I think I've got it now.  Next step is to try out the game!

Thanks to everyone for the help.  

Neil.