====== Planning ======

So far, everything has been about discovery – where the terrorists hid the bomb, how tough the casino vault is, etc. These activities (and any associated violence!) occupy half or more of some action movies. As explained under Gathering Intelligence and amplified in Social Engineering, the goal is to score enough complementary skill bonuses – let's call the sum the Accumulated Complementary Total (ACT) – to offset the huge penalty on rolls to initiate the adventure's next act. This penalty might be BAD, 2xBAD, or worse. The pivotal skill roll can vary. There might be several cycles of fact-finding followed by different rolls, each involving progressively higher BAD offset by more ACT.

===== The Big Picture =====

To grasp the situation well enough even to try to plan the mission, job, or operation, one team member must use Intelligence Analysis or its default (IQ-6). Lawmen out to foil crooks can opt to try Criminology. This secret roll – made by the GM – is subject to ACT and BAD or some multiple, as discussed above. Success puts together the puzzle and reveals what the group needs to do next; critical success gives +2 to the planning roll (below). Any failure means the squad doesn't even know where to go, and must score another +1 to ACT before making a repeated attempt. Critical failure means they discover this by reaching a bogus conclusion that leads to a worthless plan and a pointless fight!

===== Permission to Act =====

Lawmen, soldiers, and even spies have rules. The GM may require an Assistance Roll – either as well as the skill roll above (if the boss expects a complete analysis) or instead of it (if the brass prefer to assess the evidence themselves) – at exactly the same modifiers. Success lets the PCs move on to planning. Failure means they need another +1 to ACT to retry. They can act anyway – cinematic mavericks always act – but they'll face automatic failure on any future AR for the mission, Rank loss, or termination...

===== The Mission Plan =====

Action-movie planning ranges from "Synchronize watches!" to an entire montage of equipping, mapping, rehearsing, etc. It's only possible if the "big picture" roll succeeded or critically failed – and on a critical failure, the planning roll is meaningless, as the only possible outcome is random ultra-violence! 

To make a plan, one party member should roll against a suitable skill: Architecture if infiltrating a building, Leadership or Strategy if commanding an NPC force, Streetwise if hitting a rival gang, Tactics if the group will be fighting, etc. Details are up to the GM, who should keep an open mind.

Modifiers: ACT and BAD modifiers that applied to the "big picture" roll; +2 if that roll critically succeeded; complementary skill bonuses for any applicable planning skill above that isn't the master skill; complementary skill bonus for Cartography (in the movies, fancy 3D maps make any mission better!).

Read the planning roll as a complementary skill roll. The GM will apply the modifier directly to the BAD of the part of the adventure covered by the plan; e.g., if the mission had BAD -5, critical failure would mean a disastrous plan that makes BAD -7! Leave the plan itself abstract; whatever heroic tasks the PCs perform on the mission are "part of the plan."

===== The Training Sequence =====

Grand plans in action movies often involve heroes (especially commandos) quickly teaching NPC cannon fodder how to impersonate bad guys, fight back against evil drug lords, and so on. This is rarely shown in detail; instead, there's a montage that ends when the training does.

Each PC who wants to teach a skill must have that skill and make a Teaching roll, at -9 for a day, -7 for a weekend, 0 for a week, or +2 for a month. Any success temporarily grants his students the equivalent of 1 point in the skill, which they can use to help out on the upcoming mission (only). Any failure means the students learn nothing. Multiple heroes can teach the same cannon fodder different skills at the same time.