Joining an Extended Contest

From: Brian Curley <bkcurley_at_...>
Date: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 12:46:37 -0600

Premise: Our six heroes are confronted by a party of four broo. The broo achieve surprise and decide to attack. Each broo attacks one hero, leaving two heroes untouched.

Question: Four of the heroes are going to have their starting APs determined by the abilities they use to resist the broo attacks. After the initial surprise round, how do you determine when the two heroes who weren't attacked act?

Should the unimpeded heroes act first because their actions aren't restricted by an opponents actions? Should they act last because everyone else is already *in* combat?

A similar situation also arises concerning how a hero would join an extended contest that's already under way (i.e. a hero happens on a fight already in progress, an ongoing debate, etc).

Is there a clear statement in the rulebook that I'm just missing?

BKC