Ok, so tonight we played this map and we have a rulling question. The mission says "A figure can spend 2 movement points to retrieve a spice barrel without using an action". Because of that, the Imperial player argued that he could use the abilities "Order" and "Executive Order" from the Imperial Officers to retrieve the spice barrels with other figures. Is that correct?

The issue comes from reading the rulebook. There says that "Retrive" is an interaction, and since an interaction is an action, you can't do anything during the interruption besides the movement action.

The nomenclature is perhaps a bit more complicated than it has to be, but in short: yes, the Order and Executive Order can be used to retrieve the barrels.

The longer answer is that a figure can Interact as an action to retrieve something, but retrieving something does not necessarily require an interact.

From the RRG for "Retrieving Tokens":

Quote

A figure adjacent to or in the same space as the token can perform an interact to retrieve the token.

So in most cases a figure can perform an interact (which takes an action) to retrieve a token, but that doesn't mean that is must be done that way. In this case the mission rule says that you can retrieve it using movement points. Both Order and Executive Order give movement points, so the figures that get them can use the points to retrieve the spice barrels.

Yes, movement points from Order and Executive Order, Command, Tactical Movement, and other such sources can be used to retrieve barrels out of your own activation.

Using the Interact action is the most usual way to retrieve things, but it doesn't preclude using other ways to retrieve things without spending actions. The restriction is that Nexu cannot spend movement points to retrieve barrels because Non-Sentient says it cannot interact, and thus not retrieve.

Note that the Interact action is not used to retrieve during your own activation either. You are spending movement points. Also note that because it isn't an action, you don't need to end movement to be able to retrieve, you can be sharing a space with a figure as long as you have enough movement points to both retrieve and end movement legally.

(Also note that Order and Executive Order and Command do NOT give Move actions, they allow to perform a move. Performing a move isn't an action. A Move action allows to perform a move, and performing a move gives movement points according to Speed.)

2 hours ago, ManateeX said:

So in most cases a figure can perform an interact (which takes an action) to retrieve a token, but that doesn't mean that is must be done that way. In this case the mission rule says that you can retrieve it using movement points. Both Order and Executive Order give movement points, so the figures that get them can use the points to retrieve the spice barrels.

I think I'm reading too deep into the rules, but I really want to make sure we are doing it right haha. The interaction does not cost an action, but it never stops being an action per se. Because of that, I think you can only do when you can do actions in general, and that's only during your own activation, not during interrupts.

Yes, you seem to be inventing something that isn't there. All text are abilities. Abilities that cost actions are actions. (The limit of special actions also apply if you don't spend an action.)

The mission rule for retrieving doesn't include "during your activation", so it doesn't require it to be during your activation. (As opposed to dropping, which requires to be your own activation.)

(If you are not convinced by the wording, I happen to know that the design intent is that retrieving out of your activation is allowed.)

Not being actions also mean that you can drop and retrieve without ending movement, i.e. even when you would not be able to perform an action (or attack). (You need to end movement to be able to perform an action or attack.)

11 minutes ago, NoahChoice said:

I think I'm reading too deep into the rules, but I really want to make sure we are doing it right haha. The interaction does not cost an action, but it never stops being an action per se. Because of that, I think you can only do when you can do actions in general, and that's only during your own activation, not during interrupts.

The actual rules read:

Quote

A figure can spend 2 movement points to retrieve a spice barrel without using an action. A figure can carry only 1 spice barrel.

It's pretty cut and dry. A figure needs to spend movement points that they have (either by performing a move action, or by any other means) to retrieve a token.

Retrieving the token only burns those movement points, and does not require an action.

Furthermore, any remaining movement points can be spent for actual movement.

The Empire definitely benefits from a lot of cheap, fast, mobile units in this one. That's what I did, and it wasn't even close.

39 minutes ago, NoahChoice said:

I think I'm reading too deep into the rules, but I really want to make sure we are doing it right haha. The interaction does not cost an action, but it never stops being an action per se. Because of that, I think you can only do when you can do actions in general, and that's only during your own activation, not during interrupts.

Hahaha I also think you might be reading too deeply into the rules . But yeah, like the two posts above mine said, the only things that are actions are those that are specifically called out as actions and use one of your two actions for the turn.

If it helps you feel more confident about the answer, this is a bit of a thing in organized skirmish right now. One of the maps in rotation has similar wording to this mission, something along the lines of "...a figure can spend 2 movement points to retrieve a crate...". I don't know if you've got any of the expansions, but some of the more recent ones have "companions" which act like figures but have a bunch of additional rules, one of which is "a companion cannot interact". For the same reasons that we've been talking about above, it's been ruled that companions can still pick up crates on this map - which has caused one particular figure, the ugnaught tinkerer and their junk droid companion, to be super-awesome on this map to the point where they're almost broken. Trust me when I say that if there was any possible way to rule that these sorts of "spend movement to pick up something" situations count as an interact action, someone would have found it long ago to stop the junk droid menace

3 minutes ago, ManateeX said:

For the same reasons that we've been talking about above, it's been ruled that companions can still pick up crates

Careful now. Companions can Claim crates in one of the missions, but cannot retrieve crates in the other (because retrieving is form of interacting).

That is correct, thanks A1bert.