Future Imperfect - New Combat System

Fiddly, fiddly, fiddly. That is how much of the game is working right now. We are implementing a ton of ideas, and many are pretty well done, especially in terms of efficiency. But still, there are a thousand and one things to consider at all times. There has to be a better way!

The current combat system is basically original Deadlands with some upgrades and modifiers to handle a broader spectrum of situations with the action cards. The time has come to break away from the roots, and sprout anew. I give to you, a new combat system.

Declarations

At the beginning of each round all participants will declare their intended actions in reverse Reflex order. Highest die goes last, with training (soon to be called pool) breaking ties. In the event of a tie, roll a die, cut the deck, or otherwise randomize order. Declarations do not need to be specific. It is acceptable to say: I will take cover behind the counter and shoot the closest bad guy with my needler. Any character who wishes to use a piece of equipment must declare it will be used, otherwise a penalty of 3 will be added to the action difficulty.

Initiative

After all characters have declared their intended actions, initiative order is determined. Each player draws a card and performs a Reflex check, the given number being their Initiative. Next, check the Initiative section of the card and find the speed of the action declared to be performed. There will be 4 numbers here, one for each quartile. You may choose any quartile to take your action as long as your Initiative number is equal to or greater than the listed TN. If your Initiative number is not equal to or greater than the number for the 4th quartile you have no action that round, but still use your full defensive value. If a CF is shown, you have no action and are considered surprised for defense purposes.

Action rounds are 2 seconds long, therefore each quartile is approximately one half second. When multiple characters act in the same quartile, actions occur in order of descending impulse values.

Action Speeds

Each action has an associated speed, Fast, Normal, Slow and Very slow (FNSV). Some examples are given below:

Fast: standard attacks with the fast attribute, movement ONLY, acuity checks, preparing a defense.
Normal: standard attacks, reloading, movement while doing an action with the fast attribute.
Slow: slow attacks, movement while doing a normal action.
Very slow: Very slow attacks, movement while performing a slow action, skill checks.

Weapons and equipment have speed attributes listed. See the hand to hand combat section for the speed of unarmed melee actions.

Ancillary Actions

Some actions can be considered a combination of multiple smaller actions, such as aiming and firing or fast drawing a weapon and firing. In this case, use the main action speed and add a penalty to the TN for each quartile, based on the ancillary action. Each weapon has an aim value which is the initiative TN penalty for making an aimed shot. Weapons and equipment also have a quick draw value, which acts as the Initiative TN penalty for readying that item and using it. When performing a quick draw, use the quick draw skill instead of standard Reflex to determine action speed.

No Action

Any character who does not generate an Initiative number high enough to act in this round may reduce the penalty by one when determining initiative in the next round. This can carry over to successive rounds if multiple actions are missed.

Defense

Any character that is not surprised may declare them self to be using a defensive posture during the declarations phase. Add a penalty of 2 to all Initiative TNs, but also add a penalty to each attack targeting you equal to the die type level (1 for d4, 2 for d6, 3 for d8 etc).