Actions

An action is anything that a creature does, and anything capable of performing actions is classified as a creature.

Overview
Actions encompass anything from a wave of the hand to a three day long shifting channel and beyond. Most actions will have some tangible requirement or cost to perform, and all actions take some amount of time. This Time Cost may be negligible, or it may severely limit the application of the action. The Time Cost of an action is based on the amount of time that the action consumes, usually rounded to the nearest second.

Attacks
Performing an attack against something is the main way to deal damage to it. Any attack will either utilize +Mind or -Mind to initiate, hit, or complete the attack, regardless of the method used to deal the damage unless that attack is completely wild, called a Null attack. A +Mind attack represents a purposeful and reasoned attack, while a -Mind attack represents an attack based on muscle memory and instinct. A Null attack represents an attack that you have little to no control over. Any reaction against a Null attack will take +1 AD. Using shifting, the Attribute used is determined by what shifting is used, using anything else, it is determined by the creature. Any simple attack against a creature's focus will not require a check to make, but may still require a check to be made to contest a reaction. For more information on Combat Reactions, see Focus.

Shifting
See also: Attributes and Colour.

Shifting is a method where a creature attempts to perform things outside of their form's capabilities. Shifting takes EP, and may require the creature to make a check. If the action is trivial to the creature due to a mix of proficiency, ease of the action and correct stats, it may be assumed to complete the action without a check at the discretion of the GM. Failing a shifting check may result in an adverse effect, with the extent of the adverse effect depending on the shifting being attempted. Shifting cannot be attempted if a creature is Grounded.

Shifting is a free-form action, where a creature may attempt to do anything they can think of, and the difficulty and punishment of the related check will depend on how hard the action is. The Attribute required to make the check is determined by the action being made, in accordance to the table on the attributes page. Interacting with a material is much easier if you can directly interact with it, meaning actions at a greater distances, especially ones unrelated to the earth, will be more difficult.

Certain actions that require a creature to spend time forming the image of what it is attempting to do will allow it to channel that action while performing other minimal tasks to effectively reduce the time spent casting it. Incredibly complex channels will not get this luxury, and will require its own discrete action.

As shifting is directly tied to a creature's beliefs and colour, if it attempts to perform anything that would go against its beliefs, it must take DD as a punishment at the GM's discretion. Additionally, if it shifts in a way that aligns strongly with its beliefs, the GM might award it with AD.

Additional Shifting
There are a few other notable actions that are treated as shifting, however they have their own rules.
 * Healing - Healing yourself requires 1EP and 1 second per HP recovered. A creature may also attempt to heal themself for XHP over 1 second by spending XEP and making a +Name check, with the difficulty of the check depending exponentially on the amount restored. A creature may also attempt to heal another for XHP by spending XEP, Y seconds and a +Spirit check. The difficulty of the check will depend on how high X is and how low Y is.
 * Saving a Life - Saving a life is a risky task that is fairly easy to perform. If a creature is dying, another creature may attempt to save its life by spending half of its current HP to give it to the dying creature based on a +Spirit contest against the dying creature's -Recovery check. This action may be performed by ANY creature, regardless of their shifting ability.

Movement
Movement is a special action that does not require its own time-period to perform as it can be performed simultaneously to other actions, provided that the other action doesn't require the creature to be stationary and isn't a major action. The speed that a creature can move at is dependent on the terrain being traveled and creature's species as well as any Trait or Attribute bonuses to its speed. If a creature desires, it can sprint at twice its normal speed for 1 EP per second, however doing so counts as a discrete action which cannot be performed at the same time as other time-consuming actions.

Different forms of transport, such as flying, swimming, standing or crawling, take 1 second to swap between as a discrete major action.

Ranged and Skilled Actions
Certain actions, such as precise or skilled actions, will require a check to make. The check required is dependent on the action, but will usually involve -Body (fast, sleight of hand type actions) or +Mind (precise, difficult actions). Unlike melee attacks, ranged attacks require a +Mind check against the target's passive -Body to hit, but are immune to reaction penalties from the Defender.