Multiple Actions in Volley vs. Defensive Actions

[phredd]

OK, this has been annoying me in combat for a while. I looked it up and did see that there is a section that states it explicitly: A defensive action (e.g. avoid, counterstrike, etc.) is only good for that discrete action. So, if an opponent has multiple actions in a volley against a defender with only one (defensive) action, the defender is hosed.

I think this is bad in two ways.

One is that it seems obstruct the flow of a combat by forcing actions to be very discrete units, hearkening back to the bad old days of DnD. In my head I see the defender dodging blows, bobbing weaving and then he just stops doing that as he stands up straight and lets his opponent whack him while he's waiting for his next action. :x

Secondly, it allows a purely mechanics based tactic for faster characters who have a surfeit of multi-action volleys. Defend on the first action and attack on the second in any volley. Schmucks who can only have one action per volley are at a huge disadvantage. They don't ever get to defend, even if they go into defensive stance and are are all about defense, it doesn't really matter unless their opponent uses one of the attacks that can be countered by natural defenses. A smart attacker can game the system by putting strikes as the second action and destroy their hapless, slower opponent.

Yar! Being on the defensive is bad enough without it being easily skirted around in this way. I think this gives savvy players too much incentive to make mechanics based choices for their characters instead of story based ones.

I'd much prefer that appropriate defensive maneuvers be in effect for a character until their next action comes up, ala the dodge in Champions. Being so defensive is still going to put you on your heels this way, but this would make it more viable and have its own set of consequences that would affect battle tactics.

[Kublai]

I think you have it backwards when relating D+D to BW. In D+D, the combat turn was supposed to be minute or so of heated exchanges and a flurry of moves, and the number of attacks/round was representative of how many "openings" your character had the chance to take advantage of in your opponent's defense. There were no options besides Strike and Cast. In B+W, it's just the opposite. You now have the chance to explicitly dictate every single thrust and parry of your weapon. I like this because it gives me a lot more control and allows for some serious strategy.

Imagining that your character is stopping and standing between Volleys or Exchanges is a mistake. What I imagine happening is that the slower character is just that, slower. The faster character simply can do more things in a given amount of time. If you have two actions and your opponent has three, I think of it as you being barely able to keep up with him for the first two moments, but then he outdoes you in the last moment - too fast for you to react to his lightning speed. He catches you out of position while your slow-butt is still thinking about his last move. It's like a foot race: you both take the 1st step together, at the halfway point you are half a step behind but still in it, and by the end you are behind him. You haven't stopped running, but clearly he is in control.

I see have no problem with some characters having more actions than others and the slower guys not being able to do a thing while the faster guy gets in his "free" shots. There are soo many ways around this when you explore the options available to you in BW combat. Of course, experience is the only path to competence. But, just for instance, movement counts for the entire volley, so you can jog and add the +1 Ob to all his strikes. Armor also works for the entire volley and will protect you from those free strikes. Go aggressive and pummel him before he can get off his free strike.

In the end, though, there is a tremendous advantage to being faster in BW, yes. Does that create motivation for burning faster characters? Yes, but at a cost. In order to get a higher speed, you will have to give up Power and Forte, which means you will be weaker and more susceptible to wounds. You will also have to pump your Perception and lower your Will, which has its own disadvantages. In essence, to get the higher Relfexes for combats, you will be sacrificing other areas of skill including Social skills. I feel the system balances out all aspects.