# Introduction > Have an idea and want to contribute to this blog ? Come chat with us on [Discord](t). # The Golden Rule By Jeremy Price - 2021-03-06 ## What Is The Golden Rule? Fiction precedes rules. There is a duality in Fate, as in many RPGs; 1. You witness, in your mind’s eye, a cast of characters taking actions and having dramatic experiences. This is the fiction. 2. You also witness, with your normal eyes, you and your friends rolling dice, adding numbers, and referring to rules like Create An Advantage or Fate Points. These are the rules. The Golden Rule is that the fiction precedes the rules, and it has a double meaning. It’s not just that the fiction has a higher priority, that when in doubt you’d go with what makes sense in the fiction over what the rules would normally require; in fact that’s the Silver Rule. The Golden Rule is that fiction precedes rules literally and chronologically. When you’re deciding what to do next, as a player and as a character, your initial consideration is what you want to accomplish in the fiction. Once you know what that is, you then look to the rules for how best to model it. ## What’s The Alternative? The alternative, which is the default for a great many players of Fate and other games, is to put the rules first. If the Golden Rule goes like this: 1. Imagine a cool moment you want to create 1. Picture like it’s happening on screen 1. Describe your vision to the table 1. Consult the rules to help model your moment Then it’s opposite, the “rules first” style, is like this: 1. Consult the rules or your character sheet 1. Find a strategically advantageous option 1. Describe, mechanically, what kind of action or skill you’re using 1. Picture & describe how doing that would impact the fiction ## Do I Have To Follow The Golden Rule? No. You can play any game any way you want to. However, Fate was designed with the Golden Rule in mind. Symptoms of not following the Golden Rule include: - It’s a chore to come up with Aspect names when I Create An Advantage - When I use X stunt, I don’t know how it should look “on camera” - When I invoke X Aspect, I don’t know how it should look “on camera” - Feeling like Fate snobs are judging you ## How Do I Embrace The Golden Rule? ### Ask Questions Which Pull The Focus Back To The Fiction | When… | Ask yourself…. | | ------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | | Choosing aspects | What kind of moment am I foreshadowing? | | Making a skill roll | What moment do you want to see on screen? | | Invoking an aspect | How would this look to the audience? | ### Watch For Old Habits If you find that you know what skill and action combo you want to use, but you have no idea how it looks onscreen, then stop. Forget about the skill and the action, and focus on the fiction. Only when you know what you want to see on screen should you return to the skill list and make your choice. ## A Fate Pressure Point: The Bidding War The ‘bidding war’ is what happens when two characters make opposed rolls, and begin invoking aspects to trump each other’s total. This is a pressure point of Fate because it can easily descend into math games and the story can get forgotten. Here is some general advice to keep the bidding war from becoming a slog: - Consider saving your invokes: If it’s the NPC’s turn, consider letting them be awesome now, and saving your invokes for your turn. You can probably take the hit, and if everybody spends every invoke and it’s a zero sum, it’s kind of a waste. - Avoid weak aspects/advantages: It’s tempting to create an advantage that an enemy is **Off Balance**, but do you really want a story about people being off balance? Is it dramatic enough? Is it worthy? Avoid this kind of filler because when you invoke boring aspects, boring things happen. - Have every invoke contribute something: Each invoke can change the scene somehow, because if every invoke leaves a mark then it has more narrative power than just being a +2 to some roll. - Mind your phrasing! First: Describe how your action looks on screen Second: Contextualise your description by telling everyone what you’re invoking to make that happen. # Problematic PC Aspects By Jeremy Price - 2021-02-25 Aspects can be many things, but mechanically an aspect is something you invoke or compel. The narrative truth of the aspect should have some impact on the fiction, even just to create a cool cinematic moment, and the mechanical bonus will help your character get what they want. There are three types of problematic PC aspects which undermine this process, and I see them often enough from new players that it’s worth exploring them here. These aspects are red flags to watch out for when creating aspects for your PCs. The three types are: - Safety Nets Aspects - Redundant Troubles - Meaningless Aspects ## Safety Net Aspects ### What Are They? Any aspect which is always relevant. ### What’s An Example? You’re playing a jumping plumber and your aspect is **I Must Save The Princess**. Everything you do is getting you closer to saving the princess, and this aspect describes that intent. ### Why Is This Problematic? **Because it’s always relevant to everything you do, it’s unclear when to invoke or compel this aspect.** You don’t know when to spend a Fate Point to make this aspect relevant because it’s always relevant. Ideally an aspect would foreshadow a certain kind of moment, but an aspect which foreshadows every moment actually foreshadows nothing. **Invoking this aspect adds nothing to the fiction** If your jumping plumber is leaping across a chasm, hoping to land on the other side, then you have a dramatic moment where he’s in mid-air and the audience is wondering whether he’s going to fall into the darkness below. If you, as a player, invoke **I Must Save The Princess** to help with this jump, then the audience sees the plumber leaping over the chasm in exactly the same way. It’s not even that now he’s doing it specifically for the princess, because everything he’s doing was always for the princess anyway. Instead of changing the scene or adding anything interesting, this safety net aspect just leaves the story exactly where it was before you invoked it. **Invoking this aspect feels unsatisfying** Since you don’t know when to compel this aspect, and since it adds nothing to the story when you do invoke it, any time you invoke it feels cheap. Because it is cheap. It’s an invocation you can make any time without having to think about what it means or what the consequences are; it’s purely a mechanical boost with no restrictions or meaningful consequences. A safety net aspect is the opposite of “fiction first”, the Golden Rule of Fate. ### What’s The Solution? Before you commit to an aspect, think about what kinds of moments you want to foreshadow with it. These moments should be “on screen” moments; dramatic moments in the fiction. > **An example solution for our jumping plumber:** > > As a player, I want to see my jumping plumber leap high over his enemies and come crashing down on their heads with irresistible force! I’ll think of an aspect which describes both of those elements, and I’ll call it something like **Jump Like A Spring, Fall Like A Rock**. This also provides compel opportunities because it implies that my falling is fast and forceful, giving me limited time to react to things. > > By starting with the fiction, with the narrative moments we want to foreshadow, we’ve created an aspect which is vivid and has obvious use-cases for invokes and compels! ## Redundant Troubles ### What Are They? A trouble which adds nothing to the struggles you are already facing. ### What’s An Example? You’re in a fantasy setting playing an Aragorn-type ranger whose trouble is **Obsessed With Hunting Down Orcs**. Any time you see an orc you can’t bring yourself to let it go; you must hunt it down and slay it. Normally a fine trouble, but if your game happens to be about hunting down orcs and slaying them, then this trouble is redundant. ### Why Is This Problematic? **As with safety net aspects, it’s unclear when to compel this aspect.** Since your trouble is so aligned with your goals and opposition already, it can’t serve as a distraction or a complication. This makes it hard to compel, because the reason the GM would compel a trouble aspect is to create a new problem or complication. A redundant trouble can’t accomplish this, all it can do is emphasise or reiterate the problem/opposition that has already been established. **If you do compel a redundant trouble, nothing much happens.** If the GM wants to compel the player of our orc hunting ranger, what would that compel look like? The ranger was already hunting and slaying orcs so it’s not going to distract him from anything. You could make a particularly nasty orc, but that’s not what the aspect is about. It could be overwhelming numbers of orcs but, again, that’s only a weak association with the actual aspect. But this is what you must resort to because the trouble itself is redundant. ### What’s The Solution? Remember that, as a player, you are incentivised to have a trouble that is easy to compel. Begin by considering what your character’s goals are, and what opposition they might face. Then, think of what might be a complication or a distraction from that goal. This way you ensure that the two sources of drama are not overlapping completely. Bear in mind that for some games, especially ongoing campaigns, there may be episodes or arcs where your character’s trouble is the main source of drama. That is redundancy, but it’s ok because it’s temporary and is a great way to give a PC’s trouble some spotlight for a little while. > **An example solution for our orc hunter:** > > As a player, I want to see my character tracking down orcs and slaying them! But that’s already on the table as the PC’s main goal, so I won’t waste my trouble aspect reiterating it. Instead, I’ll think about what it costs me to be so obsessed with orcs. Maybe I have a family to provide for, but because I’m always hunting orcs instead of providing food or medicine, **My Youngest Child Is Dying Of Neglect**. That’s a nice dramatic trouble! It gives the GM the job of how to personify that. Maybe a spouse or sibling appears, begging for my character to return to their senses? Maybe someone who can provide steps in to fill the void, and now there’s a rivalry? Many good compel possibilities are now available! ## Meaningless Aspects ### What Are They? Any aspect which includes a reference to something which has not been established yet. ### What’s An Example? My character is **The Shadow-Wizard Ruler Of The High Temple**, and in Session 0 we didn’t establish what a shadow-wizard is or what the High Temple is. ### Why Is This Problematic? **It’s impossible to invoke an aspect which lacks meaning.** If you don’t know what the High Temple is, then you don’t know what it can to for you or for your story. It might have sounded cool at the time, but it’s not useful until it’s meaningful. It will sit there, looking cool on the page, and having no effect on anything, unless and until you establish what it means. It’s a placeholder at best, but it’s not a proper aspect. **Aspects aren’t just for invoking, though; they also grant narrative permission.** A shadow-wizard might be able to use the Stealth skill to wrap an ally in protective darkness…or something else, or who knows because it hasn’t been established! To a certain extent with skills, and a much larger extent with approaches from Fate Accelerated, we depend on aspects to justify and describe how and why certain characters can do certain things. A meaningless aspect either sits there being a waste of space, or (and even worse), a player will try to establish some new narrative permission at some climactic moment. It’s never fun when the hero wins using an ability never seen before and not foreshadowed in any way. Vagueness is often repurposed into versatility, and a meaningless aspect is the vaguest one possible. ### What’s The Solution? Look out for any references in aspect names, especially proper nouns, and make sure you understand what is being referenced. It could be a person, place, a discipline (like magic or some other unusual area of study), it could be a contract or a set of rules (like a genie who is **Bound To A Lamp**). If you do end up with a meaningless aspect, treat it as a placeholder and don’t use it for anything until you have a chance, preferably between sessions, to clarify it with the group. > **An example solution for our “Shadow-Wizard”:** > > As a player, I think Shadow-Wizards sound cool and that’s as far as I’ve gotten. So I’m going to imagine a story about Shadow-Wizards, and I’m going to cut ahead to the first time we see one on-screen. I’m going to ask myself how do they look, what do they want, and how will they get it? > I picture long, dark robes, a desire for secret information, and a mixture of stealth and summoning 2-D shadow minions to accomplish this. I can’t really see them blowing up a building, or putting up much of a physical fight. I will discuss these ideas and parameters with my GM, and then I won’t change the aspect at all. I’ll flesh out the High Temple part of it in the same way as I did the Shadow-Wizard part, but the aspect is perfectly fine once it has meaning and clear narrative permissions. ## Closing Thoughts Good aspects add something to the fiction. They do this by granting narrative permission, through invocations and compels, and just by being true. But however they do it, they leave a signature on-screen and in-story. The Golden Rule of Fate is Fiction First, and that is the solution to all of your Aspect troubles. # Which Fate System Should I Use By René-Pier Deshaies-Gélinas The Fate System comes in different colors and it might be hard at first to understand which version to pick and start using. Let's try to demystify all of that. - Fate Core is the fourth edition of the system and came out of a [Kickstarter](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/evilhat/fate-core) in 2016. - Fate Accelerated _is_ Fate Core but with different dials. Some concepts have been simplified to make it easier to grab the book and start playing as fast as possible. - Fate Condensed is the latest iteration of Fate. Fate v4.5 if you will. It came out in early 2020 and contains all the rules you need to play Fate in a very brief but comprehensive way. If you still don't know where to start, here's a tip: - [Read Fate Condensed](/srds/condensed) for a quick overview of the most up to date rules. - [Read Fate Core](/srds/core) for all its great examples and guides on how to play. - [Read Fate Accelerated](/srds/accelerated) if you want a more simplified version of the system and want to get started quickly. # What's the Math Behind The Fate Dice By René-Pier Deshaies-Gélinas The big thing we need to understand when using Fudge/Fate Dice is that the chances of getting a **+4/-4** versus getting a **0** are drastically very different. Outlining the results in a graph where the **vertical axis represents the chances of getting a result** and where the **horizontal axis lists all the possible results**, you would get something that looks like this: ![](https://gyazo.com/f3bd2203e745c34598e85809a542e0c8.png) So you technically have a 1.23% (1/81) chance of getting a **-4/+4** but a 23.46% chance of getting a **0**. Where it gets crazy is when you start thinking _about the chances of getting a **0** or higher?_. Because the probabilities are going to stack, you get 61.73% chances to get a **0** or higher. If you were playing with a D20, the graph would look something like this: ![](https://gyazo.com/e0b5fe1e29850e1dcec93bd0a43b1bc3.png) That flat line means that basically, you have equal chances of getting each result separately which, by consequence means that the outcome of a roll tend to also be "flatter". ## Closing Thoughts Since Fudge/Fate Dice statistics have this bell curve quality to them, the end result will have a big tendency to stay in the **-1 ==> 1** range. This makes even getting something like a **+2** exciting. Getting a **+4** on the other hand is truly cause for celebration. ## More Stats | Result | Odd of rolling | Odd of rolling this or higher | | ------ | -------------- | ----------------------------- | | -4 | 1.23% | 100% | | -3 | 4.94% | 98.77% | | -2 | 12.35% | 93.83% | | -1 | 19.75% | 81.48% | | 0 | 23.46% | 61.73% | | 1 | 19.75% | 38.27% | | 2 | 12.35% | 18.52% | | 3 | 4.94% | 6.17% | | 4 | 1.23% | 1.23% | # How to GM Fate By Jeremy Price ### The Fate Mentality - Take inspiration from movies and TV, not from video games. - In D&D you start with what's true about the world, and cool moments come out of following the realistic (in that world) consequences of PC actions. - Fate is the other way around; you begin with the cool moments you want to create, and you then establish whatever facts about the world you need to get you there. ### Prepping Fate - You need a story problem which is urgent, and catastrophic if ignored. - Look at the PCs' aspects, and the game aspects, and see what problems those imply. - Make them open-ended, like "aliens are attacking". - Then think about what details you need to solve the problem, like "how many aliens, who's the leader, how are they invading, where and when?" - Answering each of those questions is a problem in its own right, and each scene should answer one or two of these questions. - Think of who would oppose the PCs, and prepare them and their minions. ### Running Fate - Think in terms of scenes, and montage anything that doesn't deserve to be a scene. - Each scene needs a story question to answer (that's how you know when the scene is over), and a source of opposition (that's how you give your problem agency and urgency). ​ ### Misc Tips - Don't roll unless success and failure are both interesting - Don't set up enemies just to be knocked down; PC's are damn resilient and failure is fun anyway - Don't forget how much narrative agency the players have. If they spend a fate point and say there's a secret door, then there's a secret door now. Forget about maps and plot twists; you're not showing your players something you made earlier, you're making it with them as a team. Don't take that away from them! # Fate Scene Checklist By Laurence Macnaughton If you feel stumped or overwhelmed during a scene, quickly go down this list and ask the players a few of those questions. ## The Checklist - What are you trying to achieve here, and why? (PC goal) - What does success look like for you? (Success result) - What’s at risk if this goes badly? (Failure result) - Where are we? Describe it. Interior/exterior, day/night? What do we see, hear, feel, smell/taste? - What's dangerous or interesting here? What impedes movement or sight? What can the PCs use? (Situation aspects) ny free invokes? - Do we need a map? (2-4 zones) - Who else is here? (NPCs) What do they want? What are they doing? - Who or what stands between you and your goal? (NPC and/or Obstacle) - How will you achieve your goal? - "I'll try to Take Them Out." = **Conflict** - "I'll try to \_\_ before they \_\_." = **Contest** - "I'll try to \_\_ this situation." = **Challenge** ## Goal Ideas (for PCs or NPCs)

Build • Capture • Catch • Change • Convince • Defeat • Defend • Deliver • Destroy • Discover • Escape • Explore • Find • Follow • Gain • Get • Guard • Impress • Kill • Learn • Negotiate • Protect • Reach • Reconcile • Rescue • Save • Sneak • Solve • Start • Steal • Stop • Traverse • Uncover • Win

## Tips - Ask them what they want. Put trouble in the way. - End the scene on a disaster, cliffhanger, twist, or intriguing clue: "Now you need to go to [PLACE] in order to [GOAL] or else things will get even worse." - If you're stumped about the game world, ask the players. - For inspiration, look at their character sheets. Everything the player put on it is something they want to be part of the game. - If the story isn't moving forward, add danger. Give them an immediate threat to react to. > More by Laurence Macnaughton on https://laurencemacnaughton.com/ # Moments in Fate ## Context In Fate, characters can do anything, but in terms of rules and meta, there are only [4 actions](/srds/condensed/taking-action-rolling-the-dice/?goTo=actions) a character can do. They can **Attack** someone or something, **Defend** themselves or someone else's, **Create an Advantage** or **Overcome** an obstacle. Lets compare this quickly to the [Powered By The Apocalypse](http://apocalypse-world.com/pbta/) System where the players have a set of **Moves**. Those moves are basically actions that a character can do and each **Move** has a game mechanic attached to it. For example, in [Monster of the Week](https://www.evilhat.com/home/monster-of-the-week/) you have: **Kick Some Ass**, **Act Under Pressure**, **Help Out**, **Investigate a Mystery**, **Manipulate Someone**, **Protect Someone**, **Read a Bad Situation** and **Use Magic**. In PBTA games, **Moves** vehicle something that Fate Actions have a hard time doing: they clearly layout multiple examples of how the rules can be bent to match what a player wants to do. But **Moves** have a big downside to them. Since there is no general underlying mechanic for them, it is harder to know what to do when a player character does something that doesn't match any premade **Move**. Fate Actions, on the contrary, shine in this situation since they are generic on purpose. That is in part because Fate's Golden Rule: > _Decide what you’re trying to accomplish first, then consult the rules to help you do it._ > > \- [Running the Game | Fate Core](/srds/core/running-the-game?goTo=the-golden-rule) That being said, since Actions are so far on the other side of the game mechanic spectrum, they can be daunting to work with. For example, they make it harder for new or _temporarily indecisive_ players to know what they can do during a session. Also, because they are very broad and generic, you need to stretch the original definition of the words to make them match certain situations. (e.g. You can use the **Defend** action to oppose someone else's **Create An Advantage** action.) While it's very useful to have generic terms that empower our characters to do basically anything, imposing restrictions or _initial_ guidelines can actually boost creativity. Which is why I want to try to create a generic list of what I will refer to as **Moments**, or "Fate Moves" if you will, using the 4 Fate Actions as a base structure. ## Creating a Moment To create a **Moment**, you can follow the following recipe. | Quantity | Ingredients | | -------- | --------------- | | 1 cup | **Player Goal** | | 1 tbsp | **Action** | | 1 tsp | **Skill** | For example, if a player wants to be on someone's tail in a space battle, you could create a moment called **Getting on Someone's Tail** that would look something like. > #### Getting on Someone's Tail > > Use **Create an Advantage** C and **Drive** to be on someone's tail and gain the upper hand in a space battle. While there is more than one way to bake a pie, this recipe will get you started so that you can create your own list of **Moments** that is best for your setting. ## Moments are not set in stone Even if use **Moments** as a starting point for your Fate campaign, the GM and the Players should always be aware that this is _only a guide_ and if a player wants to do something that isn't on the list, nothing should be stopping them from going for it. Fiction First! As a GM, if one of your players is trying to do something that is not part of the your pre-made **Moments**, it is part of your job to **create a Moment on the spot** by matching a **Skill** with one of the 4 **Actions** and describing the possible outcomes. ## Getting Started If you are looking for more concrete examples of how this can be applied, here's a list of **10 Moments** I think are relatively generic and outline the general idea behind all of this. The following examples are based off the default Skill List which you can [read more about here](/srds/condensed/getting-started?goTo=skill-list). Enjoy! > ### Harm Someone > > Use **Attack** A and **Fight / Shoot / Provoke** to deal damage to another character. > > [Attack | Fate Condensed](/srds/condensed/taking-action-rolling-the-dice/?goTo=attack) > ### Defend Yourself > > Use **Defend** D and **Athletics / Fight / Will** to protect yourself from immediate danger. > > [Defend | Fate Condensed](/srds/condensed/taking-action-rolling-the-dice/?goTo=defend) > ### Brace Yourself > > Skip your turn and gain a **+2** to all your **Defend** D rolls until the end of the turn > > [Full Defense | Fate Condensed](/srds/condensed/optional-rules?goTo=full-defense) > ### Protect Someone from Danger > > Use **Defend** D and **Athletics / Fight** to place yourself between immediate danger and someone in order to try to protect them. > > When doing this you expose yourself to possibly suffering the effects of any failed rolls. > > [Defend | Fate Condensed](/srds/condensed/taking-action-rolling-the-dice/?goTo=defend) > > [Exchange | Fate Condensed](/srds/core/challenges-contests-and-conflicts?goTo=the-exchange) > ### Stop Someone > > Use **Defend** D to oppose someone from trying to **Create an Advantage** against you. > > [Defend | Fate Condensed](/srds/condensed/taking-action-rolling-the-dice/?goTo=defend) > ### Act Under Pressure > > Use **Overcome** O to see if you can succeed the challenge. > > [Overcome | Fate Condensed](/srds/condensed/taking-action-rolling-the-dice/?goTo=overcome) > ### Provide Support > > Figure out who has the highest level in the skill among the participants. Each other participant who has at least Average (+1) in that skill adds a +1 to the > highest person’s skill level. Supporters face the same costs and consequences as the person making the roll. > > [Teamwork | Fate Condensed](/srds/condensed/challenges-conflicts-and-contests?goTo=teamwork) > ### Investigate a Situation > > Use **Create an Advantage** C and **Investigate** to try to find something to help move the story forward. > > [Create an Advantage | Fate Condensed](/srds/condensed/taking-action-rolling-the-dice/?goTo=create-an-advantage) > ### Find Something Useful > > Use **Create an Advantage** C and **Notice** to try to find something you can use to your advantage. > > [Create an Advantage | Fate Condensed](/srds/condensed/taking-action-rolling-the-dice/?goTo=create-an-advantage) > ### Manipulate Someone > > Use **Create an Advantage** C and **Deceive / Rapport** to convince someone to do what you tell them to do. > > [Create an Advantage | Fate Condensed](/srds/condensed/taking-action-rolling-the-dice/?goTo=create-an-advantage) ## Thanks Thanks to Jeremy Price and Seelie Squire for letting me bounce ideas with them during my thought process. You are awesome. --- > #### Quick Action Reference Sheet > > [The 4 Actions | Fate Condensed](/srds/condensed/taking-action-rolling-the-dice/?goTo=actions) > > ##### Overcome > > - **If you fail,** discuss with the GM (and the defending player, if any) whether it’s a failure or success at a major cost. > - **If you tie,** it’s success at a minor cost—you’re in a tough spot, the enemy gets a boost, or you may take a hit. Alternatively, you fail but gain a boost. > - **If you succeed,** you meet your goal and the story moves on without hiccups. > - **If you succeed with style,** it’s a success and you also get a boost. > > ##### Create An Advantage > > Your outcomes when creating a new aspect are: > > - **If you fail,** you either don’t create the aspect (failure) or you create it but the enemy gets the free invoke (success at a cost). If you succeed at a cost, the final aspect may need to be rewritten to benefit the enemy. This may still be worth it because aspects are true. > - **If you tie,** you don’t create an aspect, but you do get a boost. > - **If you succeed,** you create a situation aspect with one free invoke on it. > - **If you succeed with style,** you create a situation aspect with _two_ free invokes on it. > > With an existing known or unknown aspect the outcomes are: > > - **If you fail,** and the aspect was known, the enemy gets a free invoke. If it was unknown, they may choose to reveal it to get a free invoke. > - **If you tie,** you gain a boost if the aspect was unknown; it stays unknown. If the aspect is known, you get a free invoke on it instead. > - **If you succeed,** gain a free invoke on the aspect, revealing it if unknown. > - **If you succeed with style,** gain two free invokes, revealing it if unknown. > > ##### Attack > > - **If you fail,** you fail to connect—the attack is parried, dodged, or maybe just absorbed by armor. > - **If you tie,** maybe you barely connect, maybe you cause the defender to flinch. Either way, you get a boost. > - **If you succeed,** you deal a hit equal to the difference between your attack’s total and the defense’s effort. The defender must absorb this hit with stress or consequences, or else be taken out. > - **If you succeed with style,** you deal a hit just like a success, but you may reduce the shifts of the hit by one to get a boost. > > ##### Overcome > > - **If you fail** against an attack, you take a hit, which you must absorb with stress or consequences. Regardless, the enemy succeeds as described for their action. > - **If you tie,** proceed according to the tie result for the opposed action. > - **If you succeed,** you don’t take a hit or you deny the enemy’s action. > - **If you succeed with style,** you don’t take a hit, you deny the enemy’s action, and you even get a boost as you gain the upper hand for a moment.