I started writing a long reply with way too much detail, then I remembered I can explain it out of the book itself. Without going into specifics (and with apologies to David Petersen for copy-pasting from his book) here is how a Conflict (arguments, speeches, chase scenes, wars, and of course, combat) plays out.
"To play out the tense, tactical nature of a
conflict, we use a specific structure. Each team
chooses three actions from the following list in
advance: Attack, Defend, Feint, Maneuver. Each
action has a different effect on how you test.
And each action interacts with the other actions
in a different way.
Actions are chosen in sets of three, then revealed
one at a time. Once everyone’s actions are
revealed, we play out the interaction—roleplay
and make tests.
Here’s how it works: Each group privately
chooses three actions—1, 2, 3—and notes
the choices on the back of the seniormost
mouse’s character sheet. It’s traditional for the
seniormost mouse on your team to choose your
team’s actions and note them on his sheet.
Once everyone’s picked, the GM says, “Action 1,”
and reveals his first action. Then the player
teams reveal their first actions. Once all the
actions are declared, resolve them according to
their descriptions and the interaction chart at
the end of this section.
Resolve Actions 2 and 3 in the same way: The
GM announces his action, the other groups
announce theirs. Roleplay, describe how your
characters are undertaking the action, then roll
the dice."
After that, a new round begins until the Disposition score (essentially, the HP) of any side is not decreased to 0.
The problem is that there is no reliable interface for simulating the hidden cards and revealing your actions like this. Any ideas?
