Another team work question: Does every character have to roll the same action?

9 thoughts on “Another team work question: Does every character have to roll the same action?”

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3. Something like a naval battle seems like a really complex task to be resolved as a single roll. I could see a single broadside being a teamwork roll where everyone is Handling their gun crew as a Teamwork action.

4. I think this fits into John’s guitar strings analogy:

   If you want to resolve the engagement with a single teamwork roll, they should all roll the same skill.

   You could also say that each aspect is its own action roll with its own consequences. Teamwork may or may not be involved in some or all rolls.

   It just depends where you want to focus the camera (or how many notes you want to play if we’re sticking with the guitar metaphor).

5. The rules are fairly straightforward on this point, though not exact. You could interpret that to mean any suitable Action I guess…. 

   ‘When you lead a group action, you coordinate multiple members of the team to tackle a problem together. Describe how your character leads the team in a coordinated effort. Each PC who’s involved rolls for the action and the team counts the single best result as the overall effort for everyone.”

   Actual play tends to back up an unambiguous uniform action. John was pretty adamant that the crew ALL rolled Murder to help Canter gun down the goons in the Tattoo Palour basement, though Casper was able to assist (+1D) using another Action – attune I think.

6. I think as written, they are all “supposed” to roll the same action, but as long as it makes logical sense, I don’t have a problem with it.  If you want to Lead A Group Action to break into the Magistrate’s bedchamber, and someone is rolling to pick the lock and someone is rolling to scale the wall to the window, I’m okay with that, probably (though I might ask how you are leading both actions at once) but trying to lead someone to pick the lock while someone else tries to break down the door, not so much.

   In general though, I agree that something like a “naval battle” is too complex for a single action, team or otherwise.   Instead, you might have:

   The gunner leading a teamwork action to deplete a clock for “enemy maneuverability” by destroying sails/cordage/otherwise damaging the enemy ship…

   The officer at the helm performing a setup action to bring the vessel alongside…

   So the captain can then lead a team action for the boarding action.

   And that’s still a pretty simplified version of that kind of thing.

7. I was thinking only of a single maneuver to fire on an enemy ship; not the entire battle. Since Actions aren’t really skills, choosing the most apt overall Action definitely simplifies things for the GM. That would give players of sailors on warships incentive to have high BATTLE scores on top of high HANDLE.

8. I asked this same question on an AP thread, and John Harper said the following:

   ‘When you lead a group action, everyone involved rolls the same action. Otherwise, it turns into “everyone say why they roll their best action.”‘

   What you’re describing, though, doesn’t have to be a teamwork action. I could just as easily be every crew member rolling independently against the “Enemy Fleet” clock, or each rolling individually against different clocks: Enemy Hull for the gunner; Storm to the West for the navigator; Flagging Morale for the commander; etc.

   Alternatively, you could run each of the linked actions as set-up actions, rather than straight-up teamwork.

9. Adam D

   , I’d like to avoid a million setups or individual actions just to send a warning shot across a bow, or even in a battle. I think I’ll just interpret the Action rolled as the characters’ understanding of their roles within the Action. “If you don’t understand the situation, you can’t act appropriately” is current rationale.

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