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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Crazy Jerome" data-source="post: 5854375" data-attributes="member: 54877">I really like that, because it is a clean mechanic that easily permits some modular changes for playstyle. If you want something more like what Ainamacar listed, you can make the "defense" die get steadily tougher to use each time it is used and/or interact with the offense die on a scale. However, if you want something more like what I was saying, where defense is constant no matter how much it is needed, then you roll the die once and use as listed. If you don't use it at all, it is your marker to get "disengaged" bonuses.  That's why in the OP I listed movement as one of the things that can cause "engaged". Ultimately, probably would go with something like the opportunity attack test of "leaving a threatened square" as automatically making someone "engaged".  Specific to your point, though, is the larger idea of how this affects flow. A character "engaged" that tries to walk away is trying to "disengage", but they can't readily move far and switch targets against someone that is more free, unless the free target is very close. And in any case, it will be harder to get lose from the person who engaged you, unless someone else is engaging them. Also, I would expect melee characters to have something analogous to the function of 4E "marking" (if very different in mechanics to fit this system) to make it tougher to so escape them. It could be something as simple as a character with a melee weapon causing a penalty to attacks if the creature tried to move first. Characters heavily geared towards front-line work would probably have several options for attacking multiple adjacent opponets and/or slowing down their movement, thus engaging several (also analogous to 4E marking, but somewhat different in method).  For example, three orcs are engaging a paladin on the front line. Another orc is engaging a cleric on the edge of the front line. The cleric has his orc engaged back, and the paladin is keeping two or three of his opponents engaged every round. The orcs want to get free to get someone on a gnome rogue that is freely flipping knives at them every round. They can wait until one orc avoids being engaged. Or they can leave out and take their chances. It is difficult to hit the rogue on the first round, because instead of giving up an opportunity attack, moving away leaves them automatically engaged and attacking with a hefty minus. One doing this on the paladin is suffering whatever special effect the paladin brings to someone trying this, while the one on the cleric is leaving the cleric free next round--not a good plan!  So if you can set everything up just right, and pick the right moment, you can take your chances walking away from engaged, and maybe even make it pay off. But it had better be worth it, because it will mean someone on the other side has an advantage on the next round. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /></blockquote>

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