{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/tabletop-systems--t179","type":"mechanic","id":"tabletop-systems--t179","lang":"en","title":"Worker placement and action selection","summary":"Workers reserve actions in a shared offer, so placement both grants a benefit and denies an opponent an opportunity.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/tabletop-systems--t179/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/tabletop-systems--t179.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/tabletop-systems--t179.md","aliases":[],"tags":["Cards, dice and tabletop mechanics","Mechanics and variants"],"sourceIds":["source-eceba0e40b661634","source-1701f69d697ae522","source-846ef4d83cbcd747"],"sources":[{"id":"source-eceba0e40b661634","title":"PuzzleScript: Rules","url":"https://www.puzzlescript.net/Documentation/rules.html","verifiedAt":null},{"id":"source-1701f69d697ae522","title":"Wizards of the Coast: Magic rules","url":"https://magic.wizards.com/en/rules","verifiedAt":null},{"id":"source-846ef4d83cbcd747","title":"D&D Lords of Waterdeep","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/644390/","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"Workers reserve actions in a shared offer, so placement both grants a benefit and denies an opponent an opportunity."},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### Mechanic variants\n\n<a id=\"t179-variants\"></a>\n\n- Exclusive spaces accept one worker. <a id=\"t179-v1\"></a>\n- Extra payment permits repeating an occupied action. <a id=\"t179-v2\"></a>\n- Specialists improve a particular space type. <a id=\"t179-v3\"></a>\n- Worker retrieval opens another action round. <a id=\"t179-v4\"></a>"},{"id":"example","title":"Design example","body":"Occupying a sawmill now supplies timber and prevents a rival from finishing construction on time.\n\nPrototype check: Test useful fallback actions after a first choice is blocked, especially for the last participant."},{"id":"context","title":"Context and limits","body":"Tabletop mechanisms allocate limited actions and hidden information through cards, dice, positions and commitments. Each overview separates player actions, state changes and alternative rules. Examples are hypothetical design scenarios, not claims about a named game. A prototype check states an observable question for the next iteration. Existing detailed references remain separately linked from the direction map."}],"relations":[],"placements":[{"catalogId":"tabletop-systems","id":"t179","title":"Cards, dice and tabletop mechanics","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/tabletop-systems/#t179","categoryIds":["mechanics"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Worker placement and action selection","description":"Workers reserve actions in a shared offer, so placement both grants a benefit and denies an opponent an opportunity.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/general-lords-waterdeep-01.webp","width":1440,"height":810,"game":"D&D Lords of Waterdeep","sourceUrl":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/644390/","originalUrl":"https://shared.akamai.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/644390/ss_a4698d5147a5e26bbc925faff402ec66085a6225.1920x1080.jpg?t=1647889655","credit":"Playdek, Inc. / Playdek, Inc.","rights":"Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Publisher-distributed screenshot from Steam; all rights reserved. Excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.","caption":"An agent occupies an action space on the shared board","alt":"An agent occupies an action space on the shared board","markers":[{"x":66,"y":61,"label":"An action space provides the chosen resource"},{"x":52,"y":7,"label":"The Assign an Agent phase calls for placing an agent"}]},"tips":["Show occupied spaces and alternative benefits before a worker is spent."],"examples":[{"title":"D&D Lords of Waterdeep","url":"https://store.steampowered.com/app/644390/"}]}},"endsAt":null,"provenance":"Original bilingual editorial overviews authored for gamemechanics.pro on 2026-10-20 and reviewed on 2026-10-21. Scenarios are hypothetical design examples; prototype checks describe work to perform, not completed playtests. Primary sources support the stated techniques and implementation context, not every proposed variant.","license":"CC-BY-4.0","codeLicense":"MIT","attribution":"gamemechanics.pro contributors","catalogKey":"catalog/tabletop-systems"}}