I have a few questions regarding the new Assist Action.
Does “ask the GM what you can do to help. If you accomplish it…” mean that the character might have to make another roll to accomplish an action before they can assist?
Because if so, isn’t that just “Set-Up” but with an increase in position instead of effect? Speaking of which…
If you then “improve their position by one step” must your assistance, in the fiction, improve their position?
Because I often find that improving your position is hard, at least the way I run things. You’ve charged headfirst into the central compound of the Lampblacks in an attempt to rescue a captured teammate; everything you do is Desperate. If a player asked me, “what can I do to improve this position?” rather than “what can I do to help?” I would say “do you have a magic wand to hand?”
Essentially, so far, I’ve been taking Position to be at least a little literal. When you’re trying to Prowl through the streets of Whitecrown, you’re Daring, there’s very little things I can think of that would make you Dominant. Maybe if you managed to make the vast majority of the Bluecoats patrolling the District to disappear. But that’s a Mission, not an Action.