Time

Time flows at variable speeds, depending on how intense the action of a story is. While in some cases time is measured in real-world units (minutes, hours, days, etc.), time can also be measured in the following dramatic units of time:

Time Units

Rounds

Rounds, also called Turns, last for about 6 seconds, and represent the smallest unit of time measured in a game of Secret Wars. You normally have 3 Actions per Round that you can complete.

Scene

A scene represents a single specific event, such as a combat encounter or a social engagement. Most scenes last several minutes. Usually, buff and debuff spells last a single scene, as do most social manipulations.

Chapter

A chapter represents a collection of scenes that take place over several game sessions, where your party attempts to obtain a single goal. Personal goals are ambitions exist outside the Chapter framework, though they may cause chapters to detour to address them. A Chapter ends when the goal is achieved, and a new chapter begins. 

Usually, a Chapter represents a string of scenes that take place over a day or two in-game. Consider them like a single episode of an episodic TV show. There may be a few conditions that last an entire chapter, such as weather conditions or a curse.

Story

A story represents 3-5 Chapters, telling a complete dramatic arc of related events. Consider this to be a single season of an episodic TV show.

Duration

Most effects are discrete, creating an instantaneous effect when you let the GM know what actions you are going to use. Firing a gun, moving to a new space, or taking something out of your backpack all resolve instantly. Other effects instead last for a certain duration. Once the duration has elapsed, the effect ends. The rules generally use the following convention for durations. 

For an effect that lasts a number of rounds, the remaining duration decreases by 1 at the start of each turn of the creature that created the effect. This is common for beneficial effects that target you or your allies. Detrimental effects often last “until the end of the target’s next turn” or “through” a number of their turns (such as “through the target’s next 3 turns”), which means that the effect’s duration decreases at the end of the creature’s turn, rather than the start. 

Instead of lasting a fixed number of rounds, a duration might end only when certain conditions are met (or cease to be true). If so, the effects last until those conditions are met.