## AMBUSHES AND SURPRISE ROUNDS

Normally, initiative already takes care of which characters in a conflict are more aware of their surroundings and can promptly react to danger; however, if one side gets the jump on their foes, the Game Master may opt to give those characters a free round of actions before anyone else can act.

This is known as a surprise round.

- Warning: This optional rule greatly favors the ambushers; a full round of actions is a massive advantage. If you don't like the possibility of a character being defeated before even being able to contribute to the conflict, don't use this rule.
- If you are using Superiority Points, a surprise round can become even more dangerous if the ambushers manage to overwhelm their foes with additional actions.

See next page for the mechanics governing Superiority Points.

## PLAYERS OUTSIDE THE CONFLICT

If one or more Players are controlling no characters during a conflict scene, they can still influence its outcome: once per conflict round after any character performs a Check, a Player whose character is not present on the scene can choose a single die rolled in that Check and force it to be rerolled. Multiple Players can even work together to have the same die be rerolled more than once.

The goal of this rule is to keep Players involved even when their characters are absent from the conflict scene or have been defeated.

If you use this optional rule, describe how your character is "fighting in spirit" alongside their ally and helping them overcome the challenge!

### OPTIONAL CONFLICT RULES

Below you can find a few options for customizing conflict scenes in your game. Any number of these can be adopted, as long as the entire group agrees on them; you also have the option to use them only during specific conflicts that you think would benefit from an additional tactical layer.