Proposal: Measure Twice, Blowtorch Once
Rename “Preparation Actions” to “Preparation”, repeal its subrules, and reword the rule to the following:-
Each Agent has a piece of Groundwork, which is either blank, or a specific Prep and (if that Prep specifies a required Target) a described Target for it. Groundwork is tracked privately by the Concierge. Preps and their Effects, required Targets and Onsite/Offsite statuses are:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Prep !! Target !! Status !! Effect
|-
! Back Door
| A lettered Spot that does not contain an Artifact || ''Offsite'' || Until the end of the next Break-In, the specified Spot is considered to connect to “Grounds” for the purpose of determining whether Routes submitted by Burglars are complete.
|-
! Camera Trap
| A lettered Spot || Onsite || Any time a Burglar’s Location becomes equal to the specified Spot, that Burglar is considered to have Encountered a Camera Trap.
|-
! Distraction
| A number from 1 to 12 || Onsite || Burglars are not considered to have the same Location as Guards while the Minute is the specified number, even if their Location values are the same.
|-
! Power Cut
| none || Onsite || Burglars are never considered to encounter Camera Traps, the Alarmed effects of Artifacts do not apply, and Keycards can’t be taken.
|-
! Training
| A Skill and a Flaw (which are not Opposites of each other) || ''Offsite'' || The Agent’s Skill and Flaw are set to the specified Skill and Flaw.
|}An Agent is Capable if there are at most 2 other Agents whose Fame is greater than or equal to theirs, or if there are at most 3 other Agents whose Infamy is greater than or equal to theirs.
If a Capable Agent’s Groundwork is blank or an Onsite Prep, they may change their Groundwork as a virtual action. When an Agent’s Groundwork is set to an Offsite prep, its effect is applied immediately.
If any Preparation Actions were taken during the current phase, they have no further effect. If any Training Preparation Actions were taken during the current phase, the Concierge should undo their effects. The Concierge may repeal this paragraph from the ruleset once those effects have been undone, or if no such actions were taken.
Add a step after the third in the bullet list in “The Break-In”:-
* Apply the effects of all Groundworks which are Onsite Preps; these apply until the end of the current Break-In
Maybe a bit strict that Agents can’t change their mind about a Preparation Action, even when it’s one of the three that won’t take effect until the Break-In actually starts. This alters the rule’s structure to be a variable that players can set and (if they aren’t Training or Back Dooring) switch to something else any time before the Break-In.
This doesn’t blank Groundworks after the Break-In, so an Onsite Groundwork will continue taking effect on subsequent Break-Ins as long as the Agent doesn’t change it again, even if they are no longer Capable.
ais523: