I have read the FAQ time and time again- and I think I understand the timing structure of the game. I just had a question on one fuzzy area our noob group had.

Say its the beginning of the Challenge phase. It is Player 1 is the first player, but Player 3 has an Challenge Phase action and Player 1 does not have an immediate Challenge phase action. Does Player 1 basically "pass" his action phase- or does Player 3 have to wait until Player 1 makes the first action?

Also- what is the standard etiquette on announcing that you have an action- without constantly asking every player whether they have an action or not?

Thanks everyone!

DarkJodo said:

So in your scenario, Player 1 passes, Player 2 passes, then Player 3 plays his Challenge action. Then Player 4 passes, Player 1 passes again, Player 2 passes again, then Player 3 passes. All players have passes consecutively (4-1-2-3, in this case), so the Player Action window closes and you move on to the first Framework Action, which is where the Active Player gets to initiate his first challenge.

Note that initiating a challenge is NOT considered to be taking a Challenge Action.

DarkJodo said:

Courtesy demands that you make sure people are truly passing up their opportunity to take actions before and between challenges, but it's not like you have to go around the table and ask everyone individually. A general "is it ok if I move to a challenge?" question from the active player is just good sense. You get a feel for it, eventually.

DarkJodo said:

As far as etiquette, let me first say that I have yet to play outside of my own group, or at any kind of a tourney, so take this with a grain of salt. I think it is something each play group establishes, depending on whether you are just casual players or competitive players. It might not be a bad idea, in order to foster a solid understanding of the game's timing, to have the frameworks printed out for reference, and then have each player in turn declare aloud whether they do or do not have an effect to use. It may be cumbersome in the beginning, but I think you'll find that over several games you'll establish a rhythm among your players and maybe even non-verbal cues (pointing at each player in-turn) that will speed this up. Without this rhythm, there may be times where it appears that a player waits to see if you do something and then says, "Oh wait, I'm the first player, so before you do that, I'll do this". Because each effect resolves completely before another begins, allowing this effectively gives that player the ability to interrupt things that they normally wouldn't be able to. Its one thing if it occurs while you and others are learning the game, but at some point you'll want to start being more strict about allowing such timing mistakes.

For jousts, I'd say a good way to work it is for the First Player to control the progress through the framework. Since they will always have the first opportunity to do actions, they can either do them, or indicate that they have passed the opportunity by asking their opponent if they have anything to do before moving to the next framework. For melee, I think it requires each player to be responsible for indicating their intent at the proper time, or as ktom said, ensuring their opportunity doesn't get missed.