QUOTE (Rand @ Sep 3 2010, 12:01 PM)

I did forget to mention that I was also looking at having armor & body be a fixed number too (it automaticaly takes away a certain number of damage levels), so that with the combined dropping of 2 dice rolls per attack, the combat will be faster for the players and gm, but take longer for the characters and npcs (so, response times can actually mean something). Of course, if the player wants to have a better defense they can always take an action and use active defense.
If Body + Armor reduce the DV on a 1:1 basis, that alone will make combat much less lethal and take more rounds. Right now, they reduce the DV on a roughly 3:1 basis if you roll, or 4:1 if you buy hits.
RAW example (dice rolls from
Random.org):
Alice fires her Ares Predator IV at Bob. She has Agility 5, Pistols 4, and a Specialization in Heavy Pistols, for a total dice pool of 11.
Alice rolls 3, 5, 2, 2, 6, 3, 6, 2, 1, 5, and 5, for a total of five hits.
Bob has Reaction 4 and Move-by-Wire 2, for a total dice pool of 8. Bob elects not to go Full Defense.
Bob rolls 6, 5, 3, 6, 3, 3, 3, and 5, for a total of four hits.
Alice has one net hit, for a modified DV of 6P.
Bob has 5 Body and an a lined coat (6/4), for a total soak pool of 11.
Bob rolls 4, 2, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, and 3, for a total of zero hits.
Bob takes 6P damage and is at -2 to all actions thereafter, assuming no other wounds.
Fixed-soak example (dice pools are the same as in previous example):
Alice shoots at Bob. She rolls 1, 3, 1, 1, 5, 4, 5, 2, 1, 3, and 6, for a total of three hits.
Bob again elects not to go Full Defense. He rolls 3, 3, 5, 4, 2, 1, 3, and 5, for a total of two hits.
Alice has one net hit again, for a modified DV of 6P.
Bob's fixed soak of 11 reduces the DV below 0, Bob takes no damage.
Basically, this rule will make small arms next to useless. Do you want to run a game in which the default weapon is an assault cannon?