Time
It’s something that pervades every single facet of a tabletop RPG. How long does it take for you to get across the room to attack the orc in front of the chest? How long does it take for you to get across the continent to get to the dungeon that the orc is living in? It is something that is important in nearly everything you will do at the table when you sit down and play. And for that very reason, most games spend a lot of time talking about how long it takes a character to do something. Even games that boast a stronger narrative focus spend a good deal of their time talking about structured play and how it functions.
Combat is one of the biggest examples of structured play in an RPG – after all, conflict is the key focus in a lot of character growth, and armed conflict is very easy to emulate in most tabletop RPGS. These combats are defined by things such as “rounds,” “turns,” and “actions” that all carry firm measurements of time. Even in the broader definitions of conflict, such as a social arena like a debate or political meeting you will find many of these same terms and time limits apply.
But sometimes there are events that need to happen within the narrative that don’t handle structured play as well as a combat. Impending events that happen on a broad scale. Countdowns that take several hours instead of seconds or minutes. An enemy army approaching. These kinds of events are hard to replicate in terms of combat rounds. True, you as the GM can simply decide that they happen when they happen. If that better serves the narrative, then by all means have the army simply get there when they get there. But if you want to ratchet up the tension, you need to find a way to replicate their approach in a way that’s quantifiable and meaningful.
Onslaught at Arda I, published by Fantasy Flight Games for their Star Wars Age of Rebellion roleplaying game introduced into their line the concept of the Action Track. In the third act of the adventure, the PCs must prepare themselves before an Imperial agent and Rebel traitor land on planet with their hostage. Each area the PCs travel uses up one unit on the Action Track, and exploration of that area uses up another one. When all of the units have been used, the agent arrives on planet. If they choose to explore one area longer, it means that there is one less area they can get to in order to help with their preparations.
The Action Track is a simple, quantifiable, and super flexible system. Within the book they point out a number of different ways. The units on the Action Track can stand for any number of things – units of time, diminishing resources like fuel, or overall completion and success on long term competitions. I’ve thought up of a few scenes in some of the media that I’ve watched that could have been modeled with an Action Track.
Helm’s Deep
“Look to my coming, at first light, on the fifth day. At dawn, look to the East.”
This example shows how the Action Track can be used alongside standard structured play in order to show the passage of time in large scale battles while still allowing the player characters the chance to shine in personal combat. Saruman’s army was approaching Helm’s Deep in order to crush the power of Gondor once and for all. Gandalf left to find the banished Rohirrim, asking Aragorn only to hold out for his return. Each day can be split into several units, allowing the PCs to spend their time shoring up defenses, preparing weapons and armor, rallying and training troops, or preparing themselves in other ways. When the army finally approaches on the final night of the action track, several units can be used to conduct the overall battle, interrupting every so often for the PCs to engage on a personal level. When the countdown ends, Gandalf makes it back to rout the army.
Water
Much of the Galactica‘s potable water has been vented into space, a result of Cylon sabotage. The damage can be repaired, but now their water supplies are low and they must find a new source. The Action Track here represents how much water they have left. As they take action to find a planet with water supplies and conduct business as normal aboard the ship, the units get used up at whatever rate the GM prescribes in the situation for maximum drama. If the Action Track runs out, they run out of water and they start dealing with the repercussions of that.
Hail Hydra
Project Insight is also days away from being launched, which Hydra agents within S.H.I.E.L.D. are planning on using for their own ends. Meanwhile, Nick Fury is attacked by a mysterious assassin and presumed dead, leaving S.H.I.E.L.D. in a vulnerable state. Rogers and Romanoff need to figure things out what is happening before Project Insight launches. This is an example of a long term countdown with key events happening as certain milestones are reached on the countdown, ending with a short term countdown that can be handled through structured play should the PCs uncover the plot in enough time to stop it.
The Bomb
An artist who can paint the future gets a vision of the city being destroyed. He knows when it’s going to happen, and he knows some of the key players involved. But he doesn’t know how he’s going to stop it. The first season of Heroes is a prime example of a long term countdown to an event. The action track ticks away as Sylar and other powerful individuals are able to accomplish their goals. Can the PCs stop it?
Those are just a few examples of ways that I can see the Action Track being used in television and movies within the past few years. I’m sure there are many, many more of them out there. The key things that make this mechanic so great is that it’s simple, it’s quantifiable, and it’s adaptable. Check out Onslaught at Arda I if you haven’t yet and think about how you can use the Action Track in your own games.
Ben Erickson
