Held Action Rephrased

[KarinsDad]

Actually, there was a legitimate game mechanic question there ("how does this work?"). Let me rephrase the question.

 

Page 235

 

"he loses any Held Action when the next Segment in which he has a Phase begins, because he can only have one Phase at a time."

 

 

With the rule above in mind, how does a character do the following fairly standard and common action using the game mechanics?

 

"I want to shoot the first guy who comes through that doorway, even if I have to wait one second or ten seconds for that to occur?"

 

Originally posted by KarinsDad

If a character #1 with a speed of 6 is holding an action on segment 4 to shoot the first character that comes through a doorway, then:

 

1) If character #2 comes through the doorway on segment #5, then he gets to shoot him (with a possible DEX rolloff depending on GM).

 

2) If character #2 comes through the doorway after character #1s DEX on segment #6, then he gets to redeclare his held action on his initiative and shoot him (with a possible DEX rolloff depending on GM).

 

3) If character #2 comes through the doorway BEFORE character #1s DEX on segment #6, then he does not get to shoot him since his held action reset at the beginning of segment #6 and he cannot abort to an attack.

 

So, how does this work? I checked the errata, but could not find a reference.

 

Shouldn't it just be that held actions do not reset with the caveat that a character just cannot do two actions in a single segment?

 

The book states that held actions are lost at the beginning of the characters next phase (not sure of the page #, somewhere around 240 I think). This would be very problematic for a speedster with a SPD of 12 if his opponent has a higher DEX. It would mean that holding an action basically has virtually no meaning in this scenario (unless the opponent is holding as well).

 

Originally posted by Steve Long

This is not a question. AFAICT, this is a restatement of the rules and a complaint about how they work. Therefore it's inappropriate for this board, so I've moved it to "HERO System Discussion" in case anyone would like to discuss or comment.

[Steve Long]

The character keeps Holding his Action, again and again, until someone walks through the door. If they happen to walk through the door in the split-seconds in which he can't act, that's his tough luck.