Within a Pause
(related to the Pause game.)
The crux of the action in Pause occurs in the Pauses themselves. Pauses are essentially what other story-telling games would call encounters. Pauses provide Players the opportunity to resolve the major conflicts in the story.
Pauses are comprised of two primary elements – investigation and combat. Both of which are essential to mending the Break within the Pause. Through investigation, a character can figure out where the Break is and how to fix it. Through combat, the characters can fend off an enemy threat long enough to actually fix the Break.
Character Progression
Due to the relative rarity of Pauses, the characters who survive grow stronger from their trials after each Pause. All surviving characters gain an extra Trait point to place into whichever trait they wish that is not already at five points. An extra point in HEA grants the character an extra box of health. An extra point in KNO grants the player an extra Domain point. The survivors are also allowed to gain one of the following rewards in addition:
- An additional point of starting Personal Time for all forthcoming Pauses
- An additional light wound of damage for their Anchor's weapon mode
- An additional Domain point to spend.
Locked Out Characters
Characters who are Locked Out at the end of a Pause may not immediately return to the normal Time Flow with the survivors, if at all. They are considered as Lost. At the Coordinator's discretion, the Locked Out character is at risk of corruption by the forces of chaos, potentially turning the character into a terrible enemy for the survivors later on in the story. Also with permission, the Locked Out character's Player may be able to continue role-playing as said character.
If the Coordinator allows, a character that has become corrupted becomes more powerful than a normal character due to the exposure to the terrifying forces beyond the Time Flow. However, the corrupted character also loses his or her Anchor, as he or she is no longer tethered to the normal Time Flow. With this restriction, the corrupted character gains both two trait points after the Pause, as well as one of the aforementioned bonuses, save for the Anchor bonus.
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