SCENES 

The game is fueled by a conversation between players and their gamemaster (GM for short). Players describe their actions to the GM, who in turn narrates how the world reacts up to the next player acts. Often, GMs ask their players what their intentions are if the stated action was unclear, or a player might even ask for more detail regarding a prior description.

Scenes

Whether fighting monsters, exploring ancient ruins, or investigating mysteries, this back and forth between a GM and player is the basis of Heart & Steel. Although everything happens through conversation, the rules use the guidelines below to structure play into scenes. Scenes divide play into recognizable chunks, like the scenes of a movie, play, or episode of a TV show.

Freeplay scenes are the most common type of scene. During freeplay, the players may freely describe their character's actions without the need for tracking time. They might be chat with townsfolk, explore an environment, or simply roleplay amongst each other.

Montages span a longer period of time, but could be anything from 5 minutes to several days. During a montage, all players act together towards a common goal. Each player can perform a single task, which is resolved by a roll. If all players have performed their task and the montage isn't resolved, a new round of tasks begins. Montages occur during a journey, infiltration, or similar group effort.

Encounters take place over a series of rounds. During a round, each creature takes a turn, where they can move and take an action, in that order. Once every creature has taken a turn, a new round begins. 

Downtime occurs during respites, or any other significant time jumps. The player characters have time here to pursue their own goals, such as undertaking projects and crafting. Downtime always occurs is safe havens.