Declaring actions and simultaneous actions

[slaughterj]

Just got 2nd ed expanded and revised and was reviewing and a few things came up:
1. It appears that you declare an action and take it, which means you can't do two actions at once. For instance, if I want to run from one alley to the other alley across the street (say 20 meters) and in the middle of the run I want to take a shot at the stormtrooper that I know is there but can only see during the middle of the run, it seems I cannot do this. (Maybe I can declare one action to walk out there, then wait and take a shot out there, and then declare a final action to walk away? But see#2 below.) Is this correct? (It seems that when the rules were changed to each side alternating taking an action, that such typical cinematic fare got lost in the shuffle of rules balancing.)
2. Can you declare multiple actions and use each one as a movement? That doesn't seem exactly right, but I see nothing that disallows it. This seems really open to abuse though, e.g., I declare 10 actions, and intend to all-out run in each one across the smooth terrain, so it is unlikely I will stumble and I will get really far away.
3. It seems you can't "hold" your action, but I'm wondering how you shoot someone who is doing #1 above or something even more simple, e.g., popping up from behind cover, shooting, and dropping back?

[Xynar]

[slaughterj]

[garhkal]

[Liam (Gunman) Kissane]

This is how I would handle the situations in my games:

1: You can make simultanious actions (running and shooting) with MAPs, then an additional penatly would apply to the blaster shot, dependant on the terrain difficulty.

2: You cannot make more than 1 move action per round. Period.

[Gry Sarth]

I agree with Liam. Simultaneous actions are certainly possible and only one Move action is allowed per round.

1 - You declare 2 actions. You make your running roll and everyone else make their first actions. Then you make your blaster roll and then finish your move action, with noa dditional rolls necessary.

2 - I would declare 2 actions. One blaster, one dodge. Standing up from cover is a free action but ducking back down when there's incoming fire classifies as a dodge. If any trooper is holding their action for when you pop up, they get to roll blaster against your dodge.
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[slaughterj]

[cheshire]

[Gry Sarth]

To clarify the situation where the trooper might shoot at you while you're running past the alley trying to shoot him, this is how I would handle it:

It really depends on whether the trooper knows you're coming his way or not. If he's expecting you to run by, then he can hold his first action until you show up for him to shoot you. But he still has to beat your initiative roll in order to shoot you before you shoot him, even though your shot is your second action, because he postponed his action. If he isn't expecting you to come running past, then he's only allowed to try and shoot you after you've fired, thus alerting him.
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[jmanski]

Or roll both the PCs and the troopers blaster- the higher one hits and the lower one was too slow. That way they fire at the same time.
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Blasted rules. Why can't they just be perfect?

[slaughterj]

[slaughterj]

[Gry Sarth]

That's why you don't have to take the rules at face value. Holding actions is perfectly reasonable, and a widely used house rule. Being fast means you act precisely when you mean to, not before that.
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[slaughterj]

To clarify my example, here's the situation: The PC fled a group of troopers, who gave chase. The PC is now hiding in an alley down the street, and the troopers are searching down the street for the PC, expecting the PC to be hidden nearby. The PC's alley has a dead-end, but the one across the street does not, so the PC decides he wants to run across the street to the other alley. However, the PC hears the troopers coming (ordering people out of the way, etc.), so while running across the street, the PC wants to take a shot at a trooper. Therefore, in summary, the PC starts out of sight of the troopers and will finish his move out of sight of the troopers, both sides are *generally* aware of the other, and the PC wants to shoot during his movement (e.g., when he first spots a trooper while running across the street).

There are several apparent problems with the rules with this scenario
1. Actions appear to be taken by alternating between sides.
2. Actions appear to be taken individually, not simultaneously (since they alternate).
3. One can't hold their action.
4. Only one move action can be taken in a round (haven't seen this rule, but expect it exists based on above comments).

Because you alternate actions, it seems you cannot designate both a move and shoot action at the same time. Therefore if you are in a totally hidden location at the start and end of your move, you would not have the opportunity to shoot (this is further reinforced by rule #4 above, which would indicate only being able to move before or after another action). And if troopers went first, they could not hold their 1 declared action to shoot you when you appear, enabling you to run by unscathed (though not being able to shoot back). It appears that some rules bending or breaking is necessary to run the game effectively in its current state.

[slaughterj]