3.1.2.1 Reaction eligibility

A character may react to another's action (or reaction or follow-on) only if the character's proposed reaction meets three criteria:

• The character must be aware of the action (or reaction or follow-on) to which he/she wishes to react. A character is always considered to be aware of activities in hexes adjacent to him/her (except for the hex directly behind him/her). A character will be more aware of activities taking place to his/her front than to his/her rear. In cases of doubt, the referee may require the character to make a dice roll using his/her Combat + PE.
• The reaction must be a response to the existing chain of events rather than initiation of a completely new chain of events. The referee's discretion will often be necessary to rule what counts as response. For example, it is Cogan's phase. He sees his friend Erik engaged with an orc, and so advances and attacks the orc. Cogan is allowed to initiate this action because it is his phase. The orc is allowed to react to this by standing and attacking Cogan, since this is a valid response to being approached in this way. The orc cannot react by standing and attacking Erik instead, since that would be initiation of an unrelated chain of events.
• The proposed reaction must be appropriate for the action (or reaction or follow-on) to which the character wishes to react. This is normally reasonably obvious. The following table gives some guidance.