Reactions & Off-Turn Actions
Sometimes the right moment to act is someone else’s turn: a shield raised as the axe falls, a ward that flares as a spell lands, a dash to a friend’s side. These are Reactions (and other off-turn actions).
MyRPG uses one economy for all of them: Action Load.
The Core Rule
- A Reaction costs Action Load, exactly like an action on your turn.
- Use the one “can I act?” rule: you can take a Reaction if (Aspect − current Action Load) ≥ its Action Cost (see Dice Pool).
- Action Load you spend off-turn is still spent—choosing to react now means less to do later in the round.
- There are no free, unlimited Reactions. If a Feature says “once per round” or “costs 0,” that is the Feature’s exception, written on its card.
💡 Holding Action Load back on your turn is a real choice. A character who spends little on their own turn has more room to protect friends on everyone else’s.
🃏 Reactive Feature Cards
Every Feature Card tagged Reactive lists:
- Its trigger (“When an ally within 5 feet is targeted…”)
- Its Action Load cost
- Any once per round / scene limit
Your limit is simply what you can afford in Action Load. Domains never add a separate reaction-count cap. Reactive cards are marked ⚡ in their heading.
Reaction Attacks
A reaction attack is any attack you make on someone else’s turn. There are no automatic “attacks of opportunity”: moving away from an enemy is safe unless that enemy has a Feature or spell that gives them a trigger. This keeps movement simple for most tables—nobody has to track who is threatening whom. Domains and spells that want to feel “sticky” opt in instead.
Common triggers:
- Leaving reach: Punish Withdrawal (Weapon Master), Challenge Step (Aegis), No Retreat (Fury), Parting Shot (Warden), Companion Snap (Beastbond), Rail Guard (Seafarer), Stinging Aside (Skald), Thorn Lash (Warding)
- Reaction cantrips: Parting Spark (Arcane), Chastening Light (Divine), Snapping Vine (Nature; the same cantrip cast as a Reaction)
- A miss: Opening Strike (Aegis and Weapon Master) triggers when an enemy in your reach misses someone—not on movement.
- Stronger punishers: Forced Exposure (Skirmish) can also stop the mover, and Zone Denial (Aegis) punishes movement anywhere within your reach.
Every reaction attack still costs Action Load as normal; you can make one only if your Aspect − Load ≥ the cost. When a Feature says you move “without provoking reaction attacks”, none of these triggers can fire on that movement.
Converting Other Resources
Some Features let you trade a different resource for Action Load relief. These conversions are always written on the Feature that allows them. Examples:
- “You may mark 1 Stress to reduce the Action Load cost of Opening Strike by 1.”
- “Once per scene, Reinforce costs 0 Action Load.”
Conversions only apply to the Feature that names them. You cannot mark Stress to lower Action Load in general unless a Feature says so (for example Fury’s Frenzy).
Reaction Domains
Two Domains are built around acting on other people’s turns:
- Aegis — martial responses: shield walls, interposing, striking at openings
- Warding — magical responses: reinforcing allies’ spells, barrier shells, counterpulses
Characters in these Domains can still act normally on their turn. Their Base Cards simply reward keeping Action Load in reserve.
⚖️ GM tip: If reactions start making every attack miss, use enemies with feints, multiple attacks, or area effects. Pressure on Action Load is the natural counter.