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<blockquote data-quote="Doctor Proctor" data-source="post: 5142980" data-attributes="member: 78547">Just to toss in my .02 on the question of why using Total Defense all the time is impractical, I would say to chalk it up to a &quot;heat of the moment&quot; sort of thing.&nbsp; It's literally impossible to be 100% vigilant and alert for hours on end.&nbsp; Just ask anyone who has ever been a cop or in the military and they'll tell you the same thing.&nbsp; Part of what &quot;combat&quot; and things like &quot;total defense&quot; are trying to abstract is the sudden surge of adrenaline accompanying danger, and the way that it speeds up your reflexes and increases your awareness of your surroundings.&nbsp; Fighter pilots used to&nbsp; talk about something called &quot;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situational_awareness" target="_blank">situational awareness</a>&quot;, which is basically knowing what's going on around even when you aren't directly looking at it and being able to predict what it will do in the near future.&nbsp; Basically, in combat they're able to achieve a heightened level of SA where they can manage the speed of combat and track threats much faster than normal.&nbsp; This is essentially &quot;total defense&quot;.&nbsp; That's why it doesn't work well as an out of combat mechanic.&nbsp; Without the danger and adrenaline there won't be that heightened state of awareness needed to achieve that level of SA.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Doctor Proctor, post: 5142980, member: 78547"] Just to toss in my .02 on the question of why using Total Defense all the time is impractical, I would say to chalk it up to a "heat of the moment" sort of thing. It's [I]literally[/I] impossible to be 100% vigilant and alert for hours on end. Just ask anyone who has ever been a cop or in the military and they'll tell you the same thing. Part of what "combat" and things like "total defense" are trying to abstract is the sudden surge of adrenaline accompanying danger, and the way that it speeds up your reflexes and increases your awareness of your surroundings. Fighter pilots used to talk about something called "[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situational_awareness"]situational awareness[/URL]", which is basically knowing what's going on around even when you aren't directly looking at it and being able to predict what it will do in the near future. Basically, in combat they're able to achieve a heightened level of SA where they can manage the speed of combat and track threats much faster than normal. This is essentially "total defense". That's why it doesn't work well as an out of combat mechanic. Without the danger and adrenaline there won't be that heightened state of awareness needed to achieve that level of SA. [/QUOTE]

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