Each time a player is called upon to perform an action, the dealer needs to determine two things about that action: What rating it will refer to and what its POSITION will be. An action’s position implies its potential consequences, and will be either SAFE or UNSAFE. Safe actions produce no complications for the acting player if they are successful, and the complications from a failure are less severe than an unsafe action. Unsafe actions will often cause complications even on a success, and will have severe complications for the whole team on a failure.
The dealer should decide what the position for the character’s action will be once the player has had a chance to clarify the narration of how they will perform it. If multiple players are performing an action at once (i.e. against the same dealer hand) the most dangerous action amongst them is used to determine the position for this round of actions. Consider the following factors when determining position or narrating to establish your position:
- How broad or wide-reaching an effect are you trying to have?
- How much resistance are you likely to face while performing the action?
- How susceptible is the target of your action to the methods you are using?
- What hazards could endanger you in the event of an accident?
- How feasible is this action for you to perform alone?
Once you have heard the rating and position for a potential action, you may always choose to back away from performing it. However, dungeons and the Jackrooms are inherently unsafe places, and one should not expect most properly-consequential actions to be safe.