Just discovered Beacon and I'm obsessed! Still trying to wrap my head around some of the mechanics. For the Skald ability Encore, do you spend 1 MP to channel, but then still get another standard action? Meaning, this lets the Skald do other things while still being able to channel songs?
"At the beginning of any round, if you successfully released a Channel ability in the previous round, you can spend 1 MP to immediately Channel".
Yes, if in Round 1 you released a channel ability, then at the start of round 2, you can spend 1 MP and start channeling. This don't count as a turn, doesn't take an action, so you're free to do whatever you want during your 2nd turn.
Skalds are very good at chaining together channel effects each round, as long as they have the MP to continue.