If characters and / or creatures wish at any point to avoid conflict, or look to resolve it without starting or continuing a fight, they can take a new path through or around it:
Run off
If those running off aren’t surprised but the other side is, unless they’re overly conspicuous they can run off without being spotted. If neither or both sides are surprised and the characters try to run off, you as the GM may check the creatures’ or NPCs’ grit to see if they give chase. If they don’t give chase, the character(s) escape. If they do give chase, follow the steps in during conflict, as each side may wish to do more than just run, for example hide or knock things over or lock doors behind them, and you may want to check grit after each round or so if the chasers wish to keep chasing. Drained or stressed rules may apply, and you may roll on complications tables during the chase.
Dodge & Parry
If both sides are in a fight, a combatant in melee with an enemy can state their intention for this round to dodge & parry attacks whilst backing off from the immediate danger, even just to shift strategically to a better vantage point or if the enemy is proving too difficult to fight. If the combatant trying to do this then wins initiative, they roll a flat 1d6, but with a +1 given this defensive approach, moving without taking a hit on a 4 or above. If they lose initiative, their enemy takes a -1 on their usual 1d6 roll with modifiers for any attacks on that combatant.
Parley
During any negotiations or conversations with creatures or NPCs, you as the GM may check their grit to see how they react. The player(s) may also roll checks against, for example, characters’ traits like presence. Over and above mere survival, you may wish to explore with the player(s) what might be important to their character(s) in this moment, what might be crucial right now to those in which they’re in conflict, what each side might not be understanding about the other side’s identity, concerns, needs, or beliefs, how both sides might wish the conflict to resolve even if that means compromise or surrender, and putting aside the main reason for the conflict, what positive or underhand things both sides might need to try or suggest to resolve the issue or to ramp it up. The character(s)’ approach in this sense, and what’s happened up to this point, may result in modifiers being applied to the grit checks or trait rolls, although ideally, if everyone’s enjoying roleplaying through the conflict, the parley will flow and conclude organically without the need for rolls.
Innovate
If the player(s) come up with an alternative way through or around the potential conflict, you should try to be open to it, having neutrality and no set resolution in mind. Use complications and grit checks if necessary to keep challenging the character(s) and to help the scenario flow organically, but try to refrain from enhancing the conflict or consequences if the players, as a group, are all giving the impression that they’d have much more fun moving past it than engaging with it right now.
what's next?
Ok, so from here you might want to...
...move onto how to use grit in this game
...return to the rules of the chaos intro
...or dive into the character creation rules
Remember, though, that you can navigate anywhere on the site using the menus on each page, and if you ever get lost, roll 1d6 and we'll see what perils you encounter!