New method of "Reactions"

[greenstuff_gav]

so, there's a been a few different approaches to "reactions", mainly in the Close Combat thread.
while my work on inquisitor has been dead since april, i had a bit of a brainstorm while driving an hour out of my way to make a delivery.
I'm still not the most eloquent of people nor the smartest so bear with me...

At any time during the turn, a Player Character can choose to utilise one of its actions to interfere with an opponents current action; be this dodging out of a melee strike or rolling to avoid an incoming shot.
The reacting character may make a dodge or parry as per normal, however each action will cost them an action for that turn.
However, if this reaction roll is an automatic pass ( 01-05 ) the characters luck / skill does not use up an action.
For example, a speed 4 character may dodge an incoming gunshot. regardless of if the dodge is successful or not, during its activation, this character may only roll 3 Action dice, unless their dodge was an Automatic Pass, in which they roll 4 dice per normal.

this will allow more flow to combats; balance between attacking and defending, higher speed characters may get more solid hits in but then leave themselves open to counter attacks should they fail to deal with  their target.
For action-filled gunfights should add a bit more flow too; in many action films the protagonist bursts into a room, fires off a load of shots then spends several minutes ducked in cover (out of actions to dodge!); videogames represent this with regenerating health; in Inquisitor you are regenerating actions!

so just a quick thought that rattled around my head today!

[Van Helser]

The issue I have with this idea is that the high initiative characters that you'd expect to be better at reacting to things won't get to react, as they would presumably have already had their turn before the slower-witted characters (who have dodged their attacks) get to turn on the speedy bullies!

I always wondered if Speed 1-3 characters shouldn't get a reaction at all, Speed 4 and 5 characters get one per turn, and Speed 6+ get two per turn. These actions would be free, and couldn't be hoarded for later in the game etc.

The rules would need tweaking too, so that any character could attempt to dodge, rather than it be a special ability. Rolling on half initiative would be a simple fix.

Ruaridh

[MarcoSkoll]

The idea of spending (re)actions from the character's next turn doesn't quite gel for me in the same way as the method I'm playing with, saving them up in advance.
In theory, the borrowing method does simplify the player's decision making (no umming and ahhing over how many reactions to save)... but I think Inquisitor is a game that thrives on giving players a wide range of choice.

The other problem that often came up when I play-tested borrowing actions from next turn was speed penalties, stunning and out of action - characters often found themselves flubbing their reaction, taking injuries and ending up unable to pay back the reactions they'd borrowed.

[Alyster Wick]

What about doing a base number of reactions (say, each character gets two per turn) but they need to pass an I test in order to use them? It's simple and has the added benefit of having your odds of success match up with a stat test.

The exception to this would be when you go into "overwatch", as that is a deferred action rather than a reaction.