does this mean that PtL "resolves" (gives stress) before his free action kicks in

No, not unless you chose to resolve it that way.

The trigger for Jake, PtL, Experimental Interface, ect... is after an action which is the same timing for gaining the stress. That means you have the option on what order to resolve things in.

So you can chose to use that trigger of "after" for PtL or other actions that trigger on it, before you receive the stress from PtL.

That I absolutely understand, but that was case before the recent FAQ since it was covered by "If a player has multiple effects that resolve at the same time, can he resolve them in any order? - Yes."

What is the new PtL FAQ addressing?

What is the new PtL FAQ addressing?

It is just making the idea of nested actions official. FFG was emailed as part of a earlier discussion involving, the Dauntless title, Experimental Interface and Push the Limits. Most of us felt that the "resolving effects in any order" covered it, but not everyone agreed.

So FFG was just making it clear how PtL and other similar effects work.

There was a persistent opinion that a triggered effect wouldn't actually be resolved until the current effect resolved - so if you used Jake/PtL to Target Lock then Focus, PtL would finish resolving (giving stress) before Jake's ability, so he couldn't take the actions.

The FAQ put that one to rest - abilities trigger whenever their conditions are met, and create a subroutine (if you'll pardon the term) to resolve before continuing on with whatever was happening before, even if what was happening before was another effect.

Vanor put up a very nice chart for Jake with PtL on the previous page that covers the proper flow perfectly.

"stress" is not an "ability" it is a condition which kicks in the moment you perform the free action from the PtL "ability".

I'm afraid that none of what you say is correct, based on a discussion we've already had and an answer we've gotten from FFG. Experimental Interface Q In fact it's possible to preform 3 free actions and end up with 3 stress if you're using the Decimator.

The stress is not assigned the moment you preform the free action. It happens after you perform the free action. Jakes ability also triggers after you perform a focus action. So since both PtL stress and Jakes ability trigger on the same event, you get to decide what order to resolve them in.

So yes you can use Jakes ability with PtL.

I do follow your your logic, really. But, I must play devil's advocate a bit longer.

The stress is a component of the ability and doens't have the "after" language - it says "then". So in what sense is gaining a stress an "after" ability that you can choose to resolve after some other "after" ability?

What is the new PtL FAQ addressing?

It is just making the idea of nested actions official. FFG was emailed as part of a earlier discussion involving, the Dauntless title, Experimental Interface and Push the Limits. Most of us felt that the "resolving effects in any order" covered it, but not everyone agreed.

So FFG was just making it clear how PtL and other similar effects work.

So what I am getting from it is this - the term "after" is an interrupt that can take place immediately following the triggering condition? Is that correct? And if that was FFGs intention, they went about it horribly.

The stress is a component of the ability and doens't have the "after" language - it says "then". So in what sense is gaining a stress an "after" ability that you can choose to resolve after some other "after" ability?

Because the action is the trigger. The stress is not a triggered ability, it's just the next step in the process.

Triggers interrupt the normal flow of operation, and you execute the ability. So just like, say, Gunner goes off before the next attack (which would be the next step) the additional action from PtL goes before the "Then, gain 1 stress." The mental proximity you're probably applying right now (the stress is "closer" than the next attack) doesn't really have anything to do with it - the next thing you do is the next thing you do.

So what I am getting from it is this - the term "after" is an interrupt that can take place immediately following the triggering condition? Is that correct? And if that was FFGs intention, they went about it horribly.

"After" doesn't really make it a triggering condition. The fact that there's a condition ("...you perform an action") makes it a condition. "After" tells us when you execute the ability in relation to the condition.

All abilities in X-wing take effect immediately upon the triggering condition.

To rephrase buhalins explaination a little...

There was some uncertainty whether something like PTL was a single effect with multiple components, so the whole effect including stress would need to resolve before the next effect, or if it was a series of effects that resolved individually one after the other, with opportunities for additional effects to occur in between.

To rephrase buhalins explaination a little...

That's the way I thought of it originally but Buhalin convinced me otherwise, because I had a flaw in the fundamental way I was thinking of PtL.

After isn't a trigger really, it's a timing window, although I do sometimes refer to it that way as a shorthand, which I really shouldn't...

I think Buhallin's use of the term "subroutine" couldn't be more apt, because that's exactly the way it's happening. It's very much like an if..then statement: If {trigger condition} is met, then go off and do this subroutine, before returning back to this point, and carrying on.

It would just be easier to just have Jake do a focus action first and then use his barrel roll/ boost action and then use PTL to do a target lock and receive the stress token.

It would just be easier to just have Jake do a focus action first and then use his barrel roll/ boost action and then use PTL to do a target lock and receive the stress token.

There are times when the order matters. For example, if you need to Boost first, then Barrel Roll in order to get into a prime shooting position, you would need to first Boost, then Push the Limit to Focus, and use that Focus to trigger the Barrel Roll.

EDIT: Or, if we stick with your example, our desired TL recipient might no longer be in range after we roll around an asteroid (or whatever). Thus we need to first Target Lock, use that to trigger PtL in order to Focus, then use that Focus to trigger Jake so we can Barrel Roll.