What you can and can't do in Capes

Game Flow:

• SCENE:
  -The First player frames a scene for the Scene.
  -The First player becomes the Start player for Page 1.
  -Once a Page is completed with no unresolved Conflicts left, the player to the left of the First player becomes the new First player and a new Scene begins, or you stop playing.
  
  
• PAGE:
  
  • PICKING CHARACTERS:
    -Anyone may choose as many currently unchosen existing or new Characters as they like to play for the rest of the scene. If there is a conflict, resolve in turn order. The first Character each player chooses in each Scene is free and each subsequent Character costs a Story Token.
    -Anyone may add a new Conflict at the cost of one Story Token.
    
    
  • CLAIMING PHASE:
    -Anyone may add a new Conflict at any time during the Claiming phase at the cost of one Story Token.
    -Anyone may Claim any side of a Conflict unless at least one of her characters is allied to an opposing side of the conflict AND none of her characters are allied to the side she wishes to Claim. Equivalently she may claim any side to which at least one of her characters is allied or any side of a conflict in which none of her characters are allied with a side. If there is a conflict, resolve in turn order. The first Claim each player makes in each Page is free and each subsequent Claim costs a Story Token.
    
    
  • FREE PLAY:
    -Anyone may narrate anything they like within the bounds of the Code, as long as it does not resolve any Conflicts.
    -At some point the Start player ends Free Play by taking an Action.
    
    
  • ACTION PHASE:
    -Beginning with the Start player and continuing in turn order, players take a number of Turns equal to their number of Characters, one for each Character.
    -Once each player has gone, continue in turn order. Each player may either take one Turn at the cost of a Story Token, or pass. This continues until all players have passed consecutively.
    
    
    • TURN:
      -Choose to either create a new Conflict or use one of your Character's Abilities.
      -Before and/or after you use an Ability, you may Stake Debt/Split however you like, Schism as you wish, and use any number of Inspirations.*
      -Briefly narrate something related to the Conflict or Ability use. If Debt from a Drive was staked and it is not clear the Drive was applicable, narration should touch on the Drive.
      
      
      • CREATE CONFLICT:
        -You may introduce either a Goal or an Event. A Goal is a statement that X does/has/etc Y and may be vetoed only by a player of X. An Event may be vetoed by anyone.
        
        
      • USE ABILITY:
        -You may use an Ability either to raise a single Inspiration by 1 point (max 6) or to roll a die.
        -You must use an Ability rated at least as high as the Inspiration's current value or the die's current value.
        -If you roll a die, you may choose to accept the new value or reject it, turning the die back to its original value. The Character whose Ability was used is allied with a side that this decision didn't hurt (you choose if there are multiple such sides).
        -If you accepted the new value, every player immediately has exactly one chance to React (to this die only!) or pass, in turn order starting with you.
        -If you rolled a die on a Conflict, after all Reactions are finished, if there is a controlling side of the Conflict (side with the largest total) with at least one person allied to it, and if the last person to narrate was not allied with the controlling side, that last person must say "AND THEN..." and at least one person allied to the controlling side must complete the narration of the action.
        
        
        • REACT:
          -You must use an Ability rated at least as high as the die's current value. Roll the die and narrate.
          -You may choose to accept the new value or reject it, turning the die back to its original value. The Character whose Ability was used is allied with a side that this decision didn't hurt (you choose if there are multiple such sides).
    
    
    
  • RESOLUTION PHASE:
    -In turn order starting with the Start player, each player Resolves any Conflicts in which he has Claimed the controlling side (side with the largest total), or Gloats if narration would violate the Code.
    -Remove all Claims from Conflicts.
    -The player to the left of the Start player becomes the new Start player and a new Page begins.
    
    
    • RESOLVING:
      -Narrate the resolution of the Conflict. If it is an Event, the event must occur. No such restrictions apply to Goals.
      -All Characters with Debt Staked on a losing side get twice that much Debt back, in the appropriate Drive.
      -All players of Characters with Debt Staked on a winning side must give out Story Tokens equal to their Staked Debt, as they see fit, according to the following rules: No player may give himself a Story Token, ever, no matter what. Srsly. First, if the creator of the Conflict has a Character allied to a losing side or has no Characters allied to any sides in this Conflict, someone must give him 1 Story Token (if there are any to be given out). All other Story Tokens must be distributed to players with Characters who are now or once were allied with a losing side according to the quality of the players' opposition. If no such players exist, the remaining Story Tokens are not distributed.
      -The Claimant creates Inspirations until all dice are accounted for.
      -Remove the Conflict. It is Resolved.
      
      
      • CREATING INSPIRATIONS:
        -Pick a die. Pick a second die, from a different side. If they are equal, remove the two dice.
        -Otherwise, create an Inspiration whose value is the difference between the two dice (1-5). If the higher die came from your side, the Inspiration is yours. Otherwise, give the Inspiration to any person besides you who has a Character allied to the side the higher die came from.
      
      
    • GLOATING:
      -Instead of breaking the Code, narrate Gloating. As many times as you like, set the highest non-1 die on your side to a 1 and gain a Story Token.
      -The Conflict is not Resolved.
  
  
  
  
• *STAKING DEBT
  -You may Stake Debt from at most one Drive of the Character whose Ability you will or have used this Turn.
  -You may Stake at most the Drive's Value in Debt per Conflict. (If your Hope Drive is 3, you may Stake at most 3 Debt from it onto any single Conflict, though you can Stake more spread out over multiple Conflicts)
  -You must only Stake Debt on sides with which the Character is allied, or will become allied as soon as his Ability is used this Turn.
  -You may place your Debt under an uncontrolled die on your side to control that die.
  -You may Stake 1+ Debt to split a controlled die into 1+ new dice. You must set the values of the new dice and old die such that they sum to the original value of the old die and are split as evenly as possible, and you must place your newly Staked Debt under the new dice so that you control them.
  -If you are about to Schism, you may Stake to split an uncontrolled die, and leave the uncontrolled die behind.
  
  
• *SCHISMING
  -You may take as many dice you control as you like from any one side to a brand new side (you may not merge them with an existing side), unless it would leave one of the original two sides with 0 dice.
  
  
• *INSPIRATIONS
  -You may raise (not lower) any die to the value of one of your Inspirations, using up that Inspiration. Narration must touch upon, however tangentially, the resolution of the Conflict that the Inspiration came from.