Torm - A Few Combat Problems

[Chris Lekas]

Still working through the combat system point by point and I have come across a problem. The core of the combat Initiative and Actions mechanic works as follows:

Actions
An action is two seconds of time which normally contains a character's single attack, move, etc. Every one can take a number of actions per round equal to their Reflexes. A round is the period of times it takes for all characters to use all of their actions.

Initiative
Initiative is a Wits roll + Ref as a modifier for the first round of combat, and a Reflexes roll + Wits as a modifier for all other rounds. In the first round of combat everyone takes one action, going from highest to lowest in initiative rolls. Then the person with highest init can take up to his max actions, followed by second init who can take up to his max actions. Actions can be freely held to be used later in the round. This continues in cycles of initiative until all actions have been taken. If a player has unused actions and is attacked, he may use one of his remaining actions to dodge. After the first round of combat, a second initiative roll is made as stated earlier, and the process restarts, this time with players free to take as many actions as desired on their first initiative. A character can only freely take a number of actions equal to their Stamina in a row. Every additional action taken consecutively costs 2 fatigue.

Example: Aran, Bethany, and Caleb enter combat. Aran has a 4 Wit, 3 Ref, and a 3 Sta; Bethany has a 3 Wit, 5 Ref, and 2 Sta; and Caleb has a 6 Wit, 2 Ref, and 3 Sta. They each roll Wits and then add their Ref for Init. Aran rolls a 22, and adds 3 for a total of 25; Bethany rolls a 15, and adds 5 for a total of 20; and Caleb rolls a 34, adds 2 and gets a total of 36. So the first round of combat begins. Caleb will take one action first, with which, since he already has a dagger drawn, he moves behind a table. Aran will then take his one action. He decides to draw his broadsword and take a defensive stance. Finally Bethany decides to grab her bow and knock an arrow with her one action. Then Caleb will get to go again, but since every one else has more actions than him, he decides to wait and see if he needs to use his one remaining action to dodge. Aran goes next. He has 2 actions remaining and a two Sta, so he can take them both at once with no penalty. He decides to first run towards Bethany with his first action, and then take a swing at her with his second. Bethany decides to dodge, using one of her four remaining actions, and is successful. Now it's Bethany's turn. She has three actions left after dodging. She decides to move to the corner of the room where her pack and equipment are, and then take a shot at Aran with her bow, using a total of two actions. She saves her last action because she only has a 2 Sta and she can't afford to spend that much fatigue this early in the fight. Caleb decides that his table covers him well from Bethany's arrow fire, but Aran is a threat. So he throws his dagger at Aran, hitting him in the shoulder. Finally Bethany can take her last action since she is the only one with any left. She decides to set down her bow, and pick up the spear she left with her pack. That is the end of the first round. All the players will then make a second Initiative roll that will last them for the rest of the combat, this time Rolling Reflexes and adding Wits. Then the combat will start again, but this time everyone will be able to take as many of their action as they want right off the bat.

-End Mechanics-

The problem I'm having is this. A person with a high Reflexes and a low Stamina can end up with a lot of actions remaining at the end of the round after everone else has acted. So they will either consistantly blow a lot of fatigue at the end of every round (Very bad) or they will have to forfit many of their actions simply because they had more than anyone else wich I am also not pleased with.

I have considered changing the mechanic to "A player may not take more actions in a *round* than their Stamina without spending fatigue" but this still doesn't sit quiet right.