Multiple Actions
You can almost always defend as a free action as many times as required. If you don't know it's required you might not be able to apply bonuses like Roles, but at worst you should always be able to use base Level.
Sometimes, though, you want to do more than one thing on your turn, like hit more than one opponent, or rally the troops while you continue to fight, and those aren't free actions. Here's how you do those things.
Splitting Actions
Doing multiple things is distracting, but your EL determines how much you can divide your attention. Split your EL among the intended actions; each portion becomes the EL for that action. Have EL8, but want to hit two goblins? Give them each a roll at EL4. Simple.
Roll them in whatever order serves the story.
Free Actions
The swashbuckling hero is a classic trope, laughing as he defends against a room full of the villain's henchmen. Points spent on defense can only be applied against attacks you knew were coming, but skill allocated exclusively for defense can still be used as a free action, and so used more than once in the same turn.
Cross-Role Splits
Sometimes you'll want to use different abilities in an exchange: rally your troops while fighting, shoot while moving but maintain stealth, or memorize a floor plan while charming an heiress. The trick for this is order - not to do them, but to assign points of split.
Calculate the EL for each role. Start with the lowest EL and assign points to it, then reduce ALL your ELs by that amount. Move to the next lowest remaining EL and repeat until you've assigned points to everything you want to attempt.1
Split Action Example
A PC has Performer EL10 and Warrior EL20. She assigns 8 points to rally her gang (Performer), reducing both ELs by 8 to Performer EL2, Warrior EL12. She assigns 6 points from Warrior to attack, reducing both by 6; Performer is eliminated, Warrior becomes 6. She puts her remaining 6 Warrior points into active defense for the turn.
Notes
- Barrage Effect? Generally, splitting is most helpful when targeting different opponents or using different abilities. Multiple attacks on the same target with the same ability gain very little numeric benefit - the advantage is tactical flexibility, not raw numbers. It can mitigate possible failure by offering several rolls, but you can get more value at less risk from combining them and manipulating the dice pool. Describe it however you like - one roll might have been the accumulated effect of four smaller hits, if you prefer. ↩