GMMichael
Guide of Modos
Slower doesn't always mean worse. I have no problem with a slow-motion combat game as long as it's super-immersive. What I don't want to do is get bored out of my mind watching another player make slow decisions.While I find my preferred method slower, I find the resulting decision spaces interesting.
To reiterate
- Attacker to hit
- Defender decides whether to spend reaction to defend
- If defender defends roll defense
- On defense fail or no defense, attacker rolls damage
- Armor reduces damage
It's that second step that makes it interesting: the decision of whether to spend the portion of your action economy to defend - especially in Free League's games.
I also strongly dislike armor as to-hit-penalty.
I like that second step too. To me, the decision to save the action isn't "I do nothing." It's "ouch, you took 4 damage. What happened?"
I wonder if a good way to trim some time off the process is to make the decision to roll a declaration: if the attacker rolls a damage die at the same time as attack roll, it's random damage. If not, it's halfmax damage (I think that a good name for it - halfmax. Tyrion would approve). Same for defender: roll protection at the same time as parry (defense), otherwise it's halfmax.