Awareness
This Ability is important in combat.
Awareness is the practiced discipline of alertness and wariness of one's surroundings. It is used for rolls to notice or pick up on sensory information, but is also important in combat, adding to the Join Battle roll that determines a character's starting Initiative and allowing her to notice hidden enemies.
Join Battle
Join Battle is a reflexive action that automatically occurs for all characters at the beginning of combat. It measures a character's responsiveness and readiness when violence breaks out and things turn ugly—how fast can she drop into the mindset of a fighter, and how ready is she to take command of the pace of battle?
Join Battle is a (Wits + Awareness) roll. Count out the successes gained on this roll, then add three. This is your starting Initiative rating in the first round of battle. Because Join Battle is a commonly-used value, a space is provided to record it on your character sheet. Join Battle cannot be botched.
If a character joins the scene in the middle of an alreadyongoing fight, her player immediately rolls Join Battle to determine starting initiative.
Scavenging for More Ammunition
Scavenging for more ammunition is a (Wits + [Awareness, Survival, or War]) action with a difficulty dictated by the Storyteller based on availability of the needed sort of ammunition nearby. Scavenging more arrows might be difficulty 1 to 3 depending on the battlefield, scavenging rocks for a sling is almost certainly always difficulty 1, and scavenging firedust is likely impossible on most battlefields.
Traps
Traps work the same way as environmental hazards, save that characters are allowed a (Perception + Awareness) roll to spot them before setting them off, and they usually take effect instantly, with no ongoing interval.