Scenes

At the beginning of each scene, all players except the GM draw cards from the deck until they each have seven cards in their hand.

A scene is a sequence of events during which the GM narrates what the characters find and what happens to them. During a scene, characters are constantly performing actions, with little to no rest periods in between, and usually within the same location.

Scenes are the main building blocks of the story, like the scenes of a film. They are an important concept because they determine when the players and the GM replenish their hands of cards.

A player’s hand of cards rep-resents their PC’s stamina: A full hand are fresh and eager, while PCs with very few or no cards in their hands are exhausted and probably demoralised. When characters take a break long enough to restore their energy, it usually means they have reached the end of the scene.

There is no set duration or type of event that unequivocally determines the end of a scene, and it is up to the GM to determine when a scene ends. "E.g. The player characters plan to enter a temple in the city of Tenochtitlan. They wait for nightfall to avoid the crowds, silently enter the building, and search for the treasures inside. They encounter two temple guards, and after fighting them off, they get the gold and make a run for it. This sequence of events can be played out as a single scene, or be broken down by the GM into several scenes. For example entering the temple without being seen could be one scene, fighting the guards another scene, and escaping to safety would be the final scene."Making scenes longer (more challenging) or shorter (easier) is a great way for the GM to adjust the difficulty of the game.

During a scene, the characters will be constantly performing actions. If an action does not trigger a Round or it is not confronted, it is considered successful by default.

When performing unconfronted actions, the mood around the table should be relaxed and conversational. The GM must ensure that all players enjoy a similar amount of time in the spotlight, and allow everyone to describe what their characters do during that period.

If there is some kind of in-game conflict — such as a fight, an argument, a chase, or any other type of fast paced or competitive situation when characters try to outperform others — it is time for a Round, which sets the order in which characters declare actions, and use counteractions to confront them