When Is a Weapon Ready?

A weapon is “ready” if it is in your hand and ready to attack. It takes
one turn to ready a weapon from its scabbard (but see Fast-Draw,
p. 194). A few special rules:
Changing Grips: Some long weapons require one extra turn of
readying to go from a one-yard to a two-yard reach, or from a two-yard
to a three-yard reach, or vice versa. An unready weapon may be re-read-
ied to any legal reach, regardless of how you used it before; this is just
part of the Ready maneuver.
Unbalanced Weapons: A few large and unwieldy weapons are car-
ried out of line by their momentum when you attack. Unless your ST
is at least 1.5 times that required to wield the weapon, they become
unready after you attack with them; to use them again, take a Ready
maneuver. If you fall down, lose your balance, or are stunned, and your
weapon is one that requires readying after each use, it becomes
unready!
Holstering: It takes one second to return a pistol to a holster.
Scabbarding: It takes two seconds to return a weapon to a scabbard
or belt-loop.
Action
Pick up a heavy object in one hand (weight up to 2¥BL)
Pick up a heavy object in two hands (weight up to 8¥BL)
Open an unlocked box, briefcase, chest, door, etc.
Find a loose item in a box, briefcase, pack, etc.
(if it’s not hidden)
Find an item in your own pocket
Write a brief note
Read a brief note
Swallow a pill or potion
Light a candle, cigarette, fuse, match, torch, etc.
Replace a weapon in its scabbard, drop a small item
into your pocket
Search an unresisting person fairly thoroughly
Put on a suit of armor
ground with a single Ready maneuver
(not a free action!). For the purpose of
readying, treat a buckler as a weapon,
not as a shield.
Long actions. Many physical
actions take more than one second to
complete. In combat, choose the
Ready maneuver each turn until you
are finished. This is not a specific
maneuver, but a “generic” choice that
lets you do one second’s worth of any
multi-second action. The GM decides
how many turns each action takes; see
Typical Long Actions (p. 383) for exam-
ples. Some things (like piling up rocks
to stand on) can be interrupted in the
middle if necessary, to take any neces-
sary maneuver or other action. Other
things (like ritual magic) can’t be
interrupted; if you stop in the middle,
you must start over.
Time
2 sec.
4 sec.
1 sec.
2d seconds
1d seconds
5 sec. per sentence
2 sec. per sentence
2 sec.
2 sec.
2 sec.
1 min.
3 sec. per piece (30 sec./piece
for a vacc suit or battlesuit)
If an action takes a long time, you
can help the GM keep track of events
by counting the seconds each time you
announce the maneuver. For instance,
to reload a weapon, you would say,
“Reloading my gun – one second” on
your first turn, and, “Reloading my
gun – two seconds and finished” on
your second turn.