What's the timing of paying for strikes?

Hi all! My friends and I have been getting back into VTES with 5th Ed. after a few years of torpor, but we've been a bit rusty on some of the finer details of the rules, and also feel like the 5th Ed. rulebook is a bit patchy and not always the easiest to navigate.

Anyway, the question that came up last time we played was: when exactly are strikes paid for in combat? My thought was always that strikes would be paid for during the "Choose Strike" point of the Strike step, but I think someone else in the group found it counterintuitive that Rötschreck would end combat and send you to torpor before strikes resolved, but still force you to pay for the (ultimately unresolved) strike you chose.

If anyone can help clear this up, that'd be great, and bonus points if you can direct me to any part of the rules that explicitly speaks to this

You pay the cost when the card is played.

The only exception to this is actions which are paid on resolution.

It looks like this is covered by www.vekn.net/rulebook/2-card-types under Requirements for Playing Cards, see here:

A number in a red drop represents blood cost (the amount of blood the vampire must burn).

I agree that it could have a line to clarify timing. Maybe an entire paragraph on paying cost since there's a distinction between actions and other cards.

Thanks for your answer, Ke!

Ke. wrote:

I agree that it could have a line to clarify timing. Maybe an entire paragraph on paying cost since there's a distinction between actions and other cards.

Yeah, I think something like that would be good. It's a bit weird that it's never explicitly addressed within the current rulebook.

Ke. wrote:

The only exception to this is actions which are paid on resolution.

More accurately: Actions (Not just action cards but actions such as rescue from torpor) are paid when they successfully resolve.

You don't have to pay for blocked or canceled actions.

Every other card is paid when they are played.