Taking Cover...

[Pbartender]

Though with the Cover thing, it gets a little tricky. Is the block your action of getting behind the upturned table--where one can argue that popping up to shoot constitutes the "do something else" that removes the block--or is it the upturning of the table--meaning it persists even as you pop up to shoot?

That's where I was getting hung up too...  Until I took a different point of view and decided that invoking/compelling the aspect constitutes that particular bit of luck when the shot hits the cover, or you just happen to duck down behind the cover at the right time.

[admiralducksauce]

In effect making it a supplemental action to gain a +1 to your defensive roll by taking cover.  I kind of like that.

Thanks.

Until I took a different point of view and decided that invoking/compelling the aspect constitutes that particular bit of luck when the shot hits the cover, or you just happen to duck down behind the cover at the right time.

But I saw this here and wanted to riff on this a bit, too. You could simply assume that some measure of cover is the default, thus leaving truly hard cover or full concealment to Aspects. I know I don't map out my zones with the level of detail of, say, a Gears of War map. If you look at combat from a POV that assumes that "normal" cover is rolled up into your standard Athletics defense, then there's not really a problem with the by-the-book maneuvers and blocks.

But then I came back to the "supplemental action to take cover" idea, and I think I might try something like this:

Taking Cover:
Taking cover is a supplemental action. Like any supplemental action, it imposes a -1 penalty on your primary action for the exchange*. In return, you gain a +1 bonus to all defense rolls until your next action. The GM may require the presence of an appropriate Aspect before you can take cover**.

* Because you're popping up quickly to return fire instead of taking measured shots. Or because knife-fighting over a waist-high wall is cumbersome. Or because you're crouched in an awkward position while trying to dig out that potion.

** I don't think it'd be necessary to invoke an appropriate Aspect - after all, at that point you're back to using the normal rules. But I'd let you take cover as long as an Aspect was simply on the scene, like "Dark Shadows" or "Waist-High Walls" or "Toppled Bookshelves".

Making this a supplemental action stops a player from using their supplemental action to move, which makes sense to me. One precludes the other nicely without requiring special cases. Given equal skill levels, it does skew combat towards a stalemate, since incoming attacks will hit less often while outgoing attacks... will still hit less often. Hmm.

Writing that made me realize I'll probably just stick with the "normal combat assumes a normal amount of cover" and not worry about it.   But it's there to pick apart if it could help your own games.

[Pbartender]

Taking Cover:
Taking cover is a supplemental action. Like any supplemental action, it imposes a -1 penalty on your primary action for the exchange*. In return, you gain a +1 bonus to all defense rolls until your next action. The GM may require the presence of an appropriate Aspect before you can take cover**.

* Because you're popping up quickly to return fire instead of taking measured shots. Or because knife-fighting over a waist-high wall is cumbersome. Or because you're crouched in an awkward position while trying to dig out that potion.

** I don't think it'd be necessary to invoke an appropriate Aspect - after all, at that point you're back to using the normal rules. But I'd let you take cover as long as an Aspect was simply on the scene, like "Dark Shadows" or "Waist-High Walls" or "Toppled Bookshelves".

That's more or less what I was thinking of...

Making this a supplemental action stops a player from using their supplemental action to move, which makes sense to me. One precludes the other nicely without requiring special cases. Given equal skill levels, it does skew combat towards a stalemate, since incoming attacks will hit less often while outgoing attacks... will still hit less often. Hmm.

Of course, this okay.  The enemy could feasibly out-maneuver him and tag for effect to eliminate or negate the aspect that grants cover.

Plus, it'd be easy enough to add a stunt that negates the penalty...  There's already stunts and powers that allow that for other supplemental actions.

Either way, I think we've got lots of different ways to handle it now.

[sinker]

I wasn't certain Invoking for Effect worked that way...  but it does give me an idea.

Invoking for effect works any which way the GM (and the table) wants it to. When you invoke for effect you're creating a bit of narrative. It's up to the table as to how that narrative is best represented mechanically and even at the same table there's no one way that will always work best.

[UmbraLux]

How do you guys handle this?

How do you want to handle it?  An invoked aspect* makes for a good temporary defense boost.  The same aspect might compel choosing a different target or be invoked to effect a miss.  A block may be more appropriate in static situations.  For more tactical games you may even want difficulty modifiers.  Using it as barrier or armor may also be appropriate.  Which best fits the situation your group is building?

*Aspects may be the result of declaration, maneuver, scene, or perhaps even consequence.  How the aspect is created is often less important than how it's used.

Is there a good way to allow someone to, for example, shoot at an enemy from around a corner and still gain some benefit from hiding behind that corner?

This is fairly easy for speed based characters, they can move across zones and still fire.  For others it may be modeled as a block - though it would take an action to set up.

[noclue]

I don't think that makes any sense for a non-evocation block. If you overturn a table and crouch behind it, the table isn't going to suddenly not be there anymore 20 seconds later if you didn't put a little extra effort into flipping it in the first place. The table, and your cover, will keep protecting you until either you move or it's destroyed.

That's just because in real life God has an unlimited supply of fate points.