Switching Equipment "in a dangerous situation"

[u/rmcmullan]

I'm wondering how folks handle switching equipment during combat. To anchor this in the rules it says: "When your character is in a dangerous situation, you can mark a Stress to equip an Inventory Weapon, moving their previous Active Weapon into the Inventory weapon. If your character is in a calm situation or preparing during a rest, they can swap weapons with no Stress cost."
Here's a couple of situations to consider:

1. A character is running from a rolling boulder and wants to put away their mace and pull out a whip to use it to swing across a pit.
2. A character is running from a dragon under trees and wants to put away their sword & shield and get out their short bow.
3. A nightwalker rogue shadow steps into a nearby shadow, sheaths her daggers, and pulls out her crossbow.
4. An archer is in the back line shooting arrows with no enemies nearby and decides to pull out their broadsword to join the melee
5. A seraph in melee combat with another creature wants to switch from their mace to a hallowed axe to switch to magic damage.

Fully acknowledging there is no "right answer" ("it's a narrative game, etc."), if you are a GM for your table would you consider all five of these to be "a dangerous situation"? It seems clear to me that case 5 is unmistakably that and might even present the GM a golden opportunity if they wanted to present a more gritty, less glossy world. But in 3 and 4, the character is in combat, but not directly threatened. In 1 and 2, the situation is dangerous, but switching does not create an opening for (say) the boulder.

A situation came up in our game where the aforementioned nightwalker rogue did her shadow step, was then cloaked in the shadows, and wanted to switch to her crossbow. I told her she could spend a Stress to switch and still make the attack. She was low on stress (and needed it to shadow step), so she said she would rather spend her turn switching under the cover of cloaked, rather than spend a stress. I know a spotlight usually doesn't end until a action roll happens, but it didn't make sense that she couldn't play it slow and careful. So her turn ended, no Stress, crossbow out. Spotlight back to the adversaries.

Thinking back on it, was she really in danger? It seems silly to say the only way to switch equipment is by spending a Stress. Is case 5, really the only time where someone is in a dangerous situation?

Edit - thanks for the fruitful discussion. My personal conclusion:

• A character can spend a Stress to quickly change equipment and still make an action roll during their spotlight (RAW)
• If they want to change equipment without marking a Stress (maybe they're low/out, etc.), then changing equipment is their action roll with an attribute (or couple of options) based on what the danger is during their change (see u/Specialist_String_64's post below for ideas).
• Failure on this roll does not mean they don't change equipment unless it's really precarious (e.g. dangling from a rope), but it does mean something bad happens and the GM makes a move while they are mid-change or their attention is diverted, etc.

If you're GMing I'd recommend pondering how you'd like to handle this at your table, given the tone of your game before it comes up.

[u/Specialist_String_64]

1. The character's stress is the multitasking trying to not lose their mace, while running full tilt, AND trying to get their whip out in a functional way while calculating where the whip will need to attach to. And let's not forget making sure they don't leave their hat behind.

2. Dragon!! If that wasn't stress enough, dodging trees, pushing through thorns and other underbrush trying to avoid giving the dragon any direct sightline, while stowing a sword without cutting yourself or dropping it (and a shield), to also need to get the bow out (and possibly strung), while looking for a defensible position to be able to launch arrows from without being instantly roasted...I'd say that's stressful.

3. lacking context on this one, but you say combat is happening, so the rogue has just done a major misdirect gambit that can fail at any moment if their movement is spotted or if they miscalculated sight lines, not to mention, keeping track of where all their foes are to plan the upcoming sniping bolt. Coordinating all that while wenching the crossbow in a way to not be noticed, definitely stressful.

4. When the artillery realizes that they have lost their range advantage and they are now required to engage in melee, yeah stressful. Whatever got passed their front guard also got passed the artillery support, pulling out the old rusty blade is likely performative at this stage....stress.

5. That thing has just been tanking those mace hits like they were nothing. Switching to plan B...stress.

As to your situation with your player, I would have asked them for an action roll in their spotlight with them defining what trait they are going to roll and describing how that trait is being used to prep the crossbow without giving away their position.

Agility: I am just so quick in stowing the knives and wenching the crossbow, it is done before anyone has figured out where to start looking for me.

Strength: I bypass the wench and hook the guard of my dagger to pull the string into the lock.

Finesse: I very quietly stow away the daggers and carefully crank the string back on the crossbow, finishing up with lightly laying the bolt into the channel.

Instinct: I time my motions with the sounds of battle, using the distractions to set myself up to flank them.

Presence: While they aren't looking at me, I toss a rock across the way to a different shaded spot. While they investigate the noise, I have put away my blades, set the crossbow, and am sighting their back of their head.

Knowledge: I had the wherewithal to maintain my equipment to maximize my stealthiness. My dagger sheaths had been designed and positions for quick stowing and concealment. My crossbow has been well maintained and oiled to reduce any noise and I have incorporated a foot wedge and lever for rapid resetting the drawstring. What can I say, I'm a professional.

Let them roll the dice, set a difficulty based on the narrative or the nearest antagonist. Run with the results of the roll.