Afraid
Resolution

anyway.
A Penny for Your Thoughts

Afraid

Conflict Resolution

These are different from Dogs in the Vineyards' resolution rules in some important ways. Read carefully!

Name the stakes and the opening arena. Set the stage.

Stakes
Read "stakes" to mean the thing at stake itself, not the possible outcomes. "What's at stake is where I go," for instance; "what's at stake is my survival;" "what's at stake is her trust." The winner of the conflict gets to resolve the stakes: resolve where I go, resolve my survival, resolve her trust.
The people on each side of the conflict may feel free to name their characters' preferred resolution of the stakes. Strictly, however, you aren't committing to that resolution if your side wins. You're speculating how you might resolve the stakes if you win, that's all; idly speculating.
But now here's a nuance: you can name the stakes implicitly by only speculating how you might resolve them. "If I win, he chops your head off with his axe," for instance - what I'm really saying is that your head is at stake.
Once everyone in your group can read the stakes implicit in a declaration of intent, there's no need for any especial formality. Formally, explicitly naming the stakes is useful as a learning tool and when you require absolute clarity; otherwise, feel free to play casual.
The stakes can include changes to the characters' circumstances. Simply include the circumstances - explicitly or implicitly - when you name the stakes.

Arenas
Research or study: acuity only.
Social, talking: acuity + heart.
Athletic: body + heart.
Fighting: body + will.
Murder: acuity + will.

Roll stat dice, relationship dice if you've got any assigned to your opponent or the stakes, and bond dice if you have a true bond.

Take turns challenging and answering (raising and seeing), in best pair order.

If you bring a trait or a belonging concretely into a challenge or answer, roll its dice right then. They're available to you as you make your challenge or answer.

A challenge is an action your character's opponent can't ignore, and two dice.

An answer is your character's response, and dice to match the challenge's.
One die = reverse. Keep the die for your next challenge or answer.
Two dice = block or dodge.
Three or more dice = take it. Take fallout dice equal to the dice you use to answer, of a size appropriate to the details of the challenge.

Non-physical challenge: d4 fallout.
Physical but non-violent challenge: d6 fallout.
Violent but non-murderous challenge: d8 fallout.
Murderous challenge: d10 fallout.

Roll your fallout dice at the very end of the conflict, alongside resolving its stakes.

Group conflicts
Challenge in best pair order.
When you challenge, everyone you name in your challenge has to answer, in best pair order.
When a group NPC challenges, each of its members can make an individual challenge, and all share the same two dice.
When a group NPC answers challenges, the GM's answering dice stand for that round's future answers, up to the number of its members. The GM must add dice to her standing answer if necessary to match subsequent challenges' dice, taking it; or she may set dice temporarily aside from her standing answer if possible, to block or dodge or reverse.

Escalating
When you escalate on your challenge:
Make your challenge, appropriate to the new arena.
Roll the dice for the new arena's stats, if you haven't already.
Your opponent can escalate to match immediately, by committing to respond in kind. Otherwise, your opponent can escalate to match on this or any subsequent answer, by responding in kind.
It's an opportunity for others to join the conflict.

When you escalate instead of answering:
You don't have to answer the outstanding challenge. Instead, make a challenge, appropriate to the new arena.
Roll the dice for the new arena's stats, if you haven't already.
Your opponent can escalate to match immediately, by committing to respond in kind. Otherwise, your opponent can escalate to match on this or any subsequent answer, by responding in kind.
It's an opportunity for others to join the conflict.

If your opponent escalates, you can't later escalate instead of answering if you're responding in kind.

If the game's running in two or more concurrent scenes, cut between them at the moment of escalation.

Giving
When you give:
The conflict ends. Your character's opponent wins the stakes.
You don't have to answer any outstanding challenge.
You get to keep your two best dice for a followup conflict ("cutting your losses").

Ending the conflict
If you give, you lose.
If it's your turn to challenge and you can't or won't, you lose.
If it's your turn to answer and you can't or won't, you lose.
The stakes resolve in the winner's favor.
Everyone rolls their fallout dice and assigns fallout.

Fallout
Fallout roll:
Any 1s: 1 experience fallout.
2-7: short-term fallout.
8-11: long-term fallout.
12-15: injury fallout.
16-19: requires first aid.
20: dead or dying.

Experience Fallout:
Two circumstances become false;
Add a trait or relationship at 1d6;
Add a die to a trait, relationship or tradition;
Change the die size of a trait, relationship or tradition by one;
Add 1d8 and 1d6 to your unassigned Relationship dice;
Add 2d4 and 1d6 to your unassigned Relationship dice; or
Add a belonging to your sheet.

Short-term Fallout:
Give your two best fallout dice to your opponent for the followup, if there is one; or
One circumstance becomes true.
GM only:
Reveal any single fact from your monster writeup. It must be something that the players don't already know.

Long-term Fallout:
A circumstance becomes true;
Lose a die from a Stat;
Change a trait, relationship or bond to d4s; or
Two circumstances become true, plus gain a trait or relationship at 1d4.
GM only:
Give your two best fallout dice to your opponent for the followup; or
Reveal one of the following from your monster writeup:
- The name or face of a victim, slave or acolyte whom the PCs have not yet encountered;
- A bond from the monster's character sheet (not one named for a victim); or
- The specific access that the monster has to a victim or slave whom the PCs have already encountered.
It must be something that the players don't already know.

Injury Fallout:
Choose one Long-term Fallout, and choose one of:
Lose a trait, relationship or bond;
Two circumstances become true;
Lose a die from a stat; or
Require first aid.
GM only:
Give your single best fallout die to your opponent for the followup; and
Reveal one of the following from your monster writeup:
- The name or face of a victim, slave or acolyte whom the PCs have not yet encountered;
- A bond from the monster's character sheet (not one named for a victim); or
- The specific access that the monster has to a victim or slave whom the PCs have already encountered.
It must be something that the players don't already know.

Reflection Fallout
Everyone gets reflection fallout whenever:
A player character dies;
A victim succumbs to the monster; or
A victim's released from the monster.

Reflection Fallout:
Choose one Experience Fallout, and choose one of:
Add two dice to your stats;
Add three dice to any combination of traits and relationships;
Add 1d10 and 2d6 to your unassigned Relationship dice;
Add 3d4 and 2d6 to your unassigned Relationship dice;
Gain a bond at 1d6 (+1d4 if it's supernatural); or
All circumstances become false.

First aid conflicts
The first aid provider rolls acuity + the victim's body for physical first aid, or heart + the victim's will for psychological first aid, plus relationships, bonds and traits as usual.
GM rolls dice for the injury as a nonhuman opponent.
When the provider takes a blow, he or she takes d4 fallout and the victim takes d8 fallout, both.
Only one first aid conflict is allowed in a row; if the outcome demands another first aid conflict, the victim needs real medical care or will die (various forms of psychological death included).

Real medical care:
The victim takes another long-term fallout.
All circumstances become true. The victim is lost (in a hospital unit somewhere), in trouble (drips, monitors, surgery, restraints), unprepared (anesthetized, practically naked) and alone.

Dying:
There are two circumstances under which your character will die.
First, when you roll a 20 for fallout.
Second, when your character's life is at stake in a conflict, and the winner of the conflict resolves that your character loses her life.
There's no recourse; under those circumstances, your character's dead.

When your character dies, make a new character at once.
Choose a background, but ignore its listed dice.
Instead, give your new character the same number of dice, the same sizes, as your deceased character had. You can trade the dice around freely: take d6s from traits or relationships and put them in stats, or vice versa; take any dice from traits or relationships and put them in the other.
Follow your new character's background for bonds and circumstances.

Now, when a PC dies, notice that every player gets reflection fallout. You do too, for your new character.