So, remembering discussions from this, this and this threads (among others), I've decided to throw out the system that\'s been banging about inside my head for a bit:


The "Tempo" Initiative System
The Tempo system represents an alternate way of handling Shadowrun turn-by-turn combat. In the tempo system, each turn lasts one second, and not all players act during the same turn.

Delay
All Actions have a Delay, which determines how many seconds the character must wait before performing another Action. Delay is determined by the type of Action (Free, Simple or Complex), and the character's Initiative Passes. A character's base Delay for all Complex Actions is equal to (5 - IP) x 2, and their Delay for all Simple Actions equals 5 - IP. Free actions effectively have no Delay, and Defensive Reactions reduce their delay by half – so a Full Defense Reaction has a Delay of (5 – IP), while a Simple Defense Reaction has a Delay of (5 – IP) / 2 (round up).

Initiative and Joining Combat
When a character first enters combat, they must make an Initiative test to attempt to join the fray. A character who achieves no hits on this test is completely oblivious for (5 - IP) seconds, and may perform no actions except to re-attempt an Initiative test at the end of that time. Characters who succeed in their Initiative tests have successfully joined (or initiated) combat, with an initial Delay of (5 - IP) x 2, reduced by 2 per hit.

A character in combat may also choose to take a Complex Action to make an Initiative Test at any time that they may take an Action (modifying their dice pool as appropriate, including any Delay modifiers) to attempt to re-establish Initiative and speed up their next action. If they succeed, their Delay is increased by the standard amount for a Complex Action, but is then reduced by twice the number of hits achieved (to a minimum of 0).

Combat Sequence
1. Begin Turn: Each character with a Delay of 1 or 0 may choose to act, starting with the highest Initiative character and counting down to the lowest. Each character resolves their actions in the following manner:
A. Declare Action: The active character first declares whether they are performing a Simple, or Complex Action, and what kind of Action they are performing.
B. Declare Reaction: If the active character's action directly targets another character, that other character can immediately expend their action as well, combining both of their actions into a single Opposed Test. Note that Full Parry, Full Dodge or Gymnstic Dodge is a Complex Defensive Reaction, while a simple Dodge or Parry/Block is a Simple Defensive Reaction.
C. Resolve Actions: The acting player (or players, in the case of an Opposed Test) make their dice rolls and note the results. Any wound penalties or other adjustments to Initiative or IPs take effect immediately, before Delay is adjusted.
D. Adjust Delay: The acting player (or players, in the case of an Opposed Test) adjust their Delays. A character who performed a Complex Action adds (5 - IP) x 2 to their current Delay, while a character who performed a Simple Action adds (5 - IP) to their Delay. Free Actions do not add to a character's Delay.
2. Next Player: The character with the highest current Initiative and a Delay of less than 2 begins at step A. (This may be the same character that just acted).
3. Track Delay: At the end of each second, each character's Delay is reduced by 2, to a minimum of 0.

Interrupt Actions
A character with a Delay of 2 or greater may declare that they are taking an Interrupt Action, either at the 'Begin Turn' step or (for appropriate reactions) the 'Declare Reaction' step. A character who acts outside of their normal Delay takes an Initiative and dice pool penalty equal to half their remaining Delay (round down). Free Actions may also be taken as Interrupt Actions, but receive no Initiative or Delay penalty.

Defense and Full Defense
A normal defensive maneuver (Reaction + Edge vs. Suppressive Fire, Reaction vs. Ranged, or Reaction + Dodge / Reaction + Combat Skill vs. Melee) is a Simple Action, and follows all the Delay rules for Simple Actions and Interrupt Actions. A single Full Defense maneuver is a Complex Action, and follows all the Delay rules for Complex Actions and Interrupt Actions. A Defense Action or Full Defense Action only lasts against that attack, and does not last until the character's next Action Phase. This replaces the "Defender has Defended Against Previous Attacks" modifier on pg. 150 of SR4, as well as the +1 dice modifier for bracing against a charge on pg. 148.

Full Autofire Weapons
So long as a character does not take any other action, Full Bursts and Suppressive Fire may be maintained as a Free Action; the character simply holds down the trigger and continues spraying. The firing character does not re-roll each second, but continues to use the number of hits originally achieved, losing 1 hit per second the attack is maintained. A character defending against Suppressive Fire must make their Reaction + Edge test each turn, while a character defending against Full Autofire continues to subtract hits from the original attack each time they successfully roll Defense.

Movement
All characters have a base Walking and Running speed determined by their Agility and Metatype. A character's base Walking and Running speed are rated in meters per second, and are determined as follows:
Dwarf - Walking: Agility / 2 (round up); Running: Agility
Human, Ork - Walking: Agility; Running: Agility x 2
ELf - Walking: Agility; Running: Agility x 2 + 1
Troll - Walking: Agility + 2; Running: Agility x 3

Thus, a Dwarf with an Agility of 5 would have a base Walking speed of 3 m/s, and a base Running speed of 5 m/s. Likewise, an Elf with an Agility of 4 would have a base Walking speed of 4 m/s, and a base Running speed of 9 m/s. Digigrade cyberlegs and inline skates each multiply a character's base Running speed by 1.5 (round up).

Characters may use a Free Action in any round to move up to their full running speed, but take a -2 dice pool modifier to any tests attempted while moving faster than base Walking speed. A character may also Sprint as a Simple Action in any second, making a Strength + Running test and adding +1 to their base Running speed for every 2 full hits. Characters with digigrade cyberlegs and inline skates multiply the number of Sprinting hits achieved by 1.5 for each system (round up). A character may use their Free Action each second to maintain this increased speed until they their Delay refreshes or they take an Interrupt action (whichever comes first), losing 1 net hit per second.

Vehicle Movement
A vehicle\\\'s base Cruising and Racing Speeds are given by its Acceleration rating. Cruising is the equivalent to a character’s Walking movement, while Racing is the equivalent to Running. Speed is its top-end cruising speed in kilometers per hour, but should not be used during Tempo combat. A Pilot, Rigger or driver may make a Maneuver test to increase a vehicle’s Racing speed; this is identical to a character performing a Sprinting test. For each hit achieved, add (Cruising / 5) meters per second to its base Racing speed. The driver may use their Free Action each second to maintain this increased speed until they their Delay refreshes or they take an Interrupt action (whichever comes first), losing 1 net hit per second.

Swimming
A character’s base Swimming rate is equal to half their Walking rate in meters per second (round up). A Strength + Swimming test may be made as a Simple Action to add +1 meter per 2 hits.

Climbing
A rappelling character falls at a rate of 4 meters per Simple Action expended, +1 meter per 2 full hits on their Strength + Climbing test. Likewise, characters climbing upwards may ascend 1 meter per 2 full hits on their Strength + Climbing test.

Jumping
A character may jump forward from a running start at top speed makes an Agility + Gymnastics Simple Action, and propels themselves forward 2 meters per hit, while a character leaping vertically propels themselves upwards 1 meter per 2 hits. Use the rules as given for targeted jumps. A character jumping their maximum distance (vertically or horizontally) will remain airborne for a brief moment, and will be unable to perform any Climbing, Jumping, Running or Sprinting actions during the following second.

Falling
A character in free-fall begins falling at 5 m/s, increasing at +10 m/s until they reach terminal velocity at 40 m/s. Thus, a character will fall 5 meters in the first second, 15 meters further in the next second, 25 meters further in the third second, 35 meters further in the fourth second, and 40 meters further in the fifth and subsequent seconds. Falling damage is determined by the total number of meters actually fallen that second or the second before (whichever is higher) - so a character can take a maximum falling DV of 40.

Example
Sammie Sam and Shit-End square off in a dark alley. Their eyes lock, and years of animosity and hatred flash before their eyes. They each drop into their combat stance. Sam has an Initiative of 7 (3 IP), and Shit-End has an Initiative of 4 (1 IP). Sam rolls 3 hits; with 3 IP, his Delay is 4 [(5 - 3)x2], and 3 hits reduce that to 1, letting him act immediately. Poor Shit-End only rolls 1 success. With 1 IP, his Delay is 8 [(5 - 1)x2], giving him a net Delay of 7 and a full 3 seconds to stare at Sam before he realizes what's happening.

Second one: Sam readies his cyber-spur, which is a Free Action, and closes the distance to Shit-End at a run. He drops into a full charge (a Complex Action), as Shit-End widens his eyes and backs up at walking speed, trying desperately to dodge out of the way (a Simple Action). Sam's Agility(4) + Unarmed Combat(3) pool gives him 7 dice, +2 for the charge. Shit End's Reaction(2) + Dodge(2) give him 4 net dice, which his net Delay of 7 / 2 reduces to 1. Poor Shit-End; good thing he's a troll. Sam rolls his 9 dice and gets 3 hits; Shit-End rolls his measley die and - miracle of miracles - gets one. That's 2 net hits for Sam, forcing the troll to resist 6S damage. He does, easily. Sam’s Complex Action ups his Delay by +4, to 5; Shit-End’s Simple Defensive Action ups his delay by +2, to 9. Then the turn ends, lowering Sam's Delay to 3 and Shit-End's to 7.

Second two: Both of them are still recovering, and cannot act. Sam's Delay drops from 3 to 1 and Shit-End's drops from 7 to 5.

Second three: Sam gets another action, and attempts to eviscerate the poor Troll with his spur. He rolls Agility(3) + Exotic Weapon (Spur)(4), getting 2 hits. Shit-End realizes that the puny guy isn’t actually going to hurt him much, and just takes the hit. He winds up taking 3P damage, which hurts a little – his Initiative drops from 4 to 3. Sam’s Delay goes up by +4, to 5 again, and then the turn ends, dropping both character’s Delays from 5 to 3.
Second four: Both of them are still recovering, and cannot act normally. But Shit-End is wiley, and sees an opportunity: he declares an Interrupt Action – an unarmed melee attack. Sam declares a Full Gymnastic Dodge. Shit-End rolls Agility(2)+Unarmed Combat(5)+Boxing(2) +Edge(1), -3 for his current DV, for a total of 6 dice – and gets 3 hits. Sam rolls Reaction(5)+Dodge(4)+Gymnastics(3), -3 for his current DV, for a total of 9 dice – and gets only 2 hits. Ouch. Sam gets walloped by an 11S troll punch, and goes flying backwards after soaking 2 of it. The remaining 9 boxes of damage reduce his Initiative to 7 and all dice pools by 2. Worse, he glitched his damage resistance test, and the GM rules that he’s Disoriented, adding +5 to his current Delay on top of the +2 from the Full Dodge. So Sam’s Delay goes from 3 to 10, and Shit-End’s goes from 3 to 11. Then they both drop their Delay by 2, to 8 and 9.
(note: in a normal game, this would have been the end of the first turn).

Second five: Both of them are still recovering, and cannot act. Sam’s Delay drops from 8 to 6 and Shit-End’s drops from 9 to 7.
Second six: Both of them are still recovering, and cannot act. Sam’s Delay drops from 6 to 4 and Shit-End’s drops from 7 to 5.
Second seven: Both of them are still recovering, and cannot act. Sam’s Delay drops from 6 to 4 and Shit-End’s drops from 7 to 5.
Second eight: Both of them are still recovering, and cannot act. Sam’s Delay drops from 4 to 2 and Shit-End’s drops from 5 to 3.
(note: in a normal game, this would have been the end of the second turn).

Second nine: Both of them are still recovering, and cannot act. Sam’s Delay drops from 2 to 0 and Shit-End’s drops from 3 to 1.
Second ten: Both combatants grapple each other, growling and grunting. They engage in an Opposed Strength + Unarmed Combat test (one wonders what the hell Sam is thinking), as Shit-End delights in crushing the life out of his old foe. Shit-End wins, of course, dealing enough damage to knock Sammie Sam flat out, and the combat is over.

I rather like this system. It reminds me of Action Points, from any number of RPGs (but Fallout comes to mind initially) with a few modifications. Quite nice.

Do you mind if I cross-post this on RPG.net if you haven't already?

Actually, allow me!

Hrm. One minor numeric update: The numbers actually match the old IP system much more accurately if Delay drops by 6 each turn instead of 2, and a Complex Action's Delay is equal to (24 / IP), while a Simple Action's delay is equal to (12 / IP), and anyone with a Delay of 5 or less may act "normally" in a turn. Does that seem too complicated, though?

This is a rather complete intiative system...nice job!

Makes me think of Exalted and Scion's 'tick' combat system, but much more intricate.

It essentially is the 'tick' system White Wolf sometimes uses, modified slightly to take into account passes, and only three action types, and I myself have suggested it before in initiative threads.

My only problem with this is the in-game combat time is significantly increased. I would suggest measuring delay in quarter-seconds, with Simple Actions taking (6 / IP, round normally) and complex actions taking (12 / IP).

Also, problem with this section

So, someone with one pass who scores no hits on initiative is moving before someone who scores one or two?

I would instead recommend they act on a delay of (10 - Hits), or something similar. Initiative enhancement already adds to your reaction. You do not need to make your starting initiative also determined by passes.

How do you figure that? Based on how OP has this defined, if you didn't get a hit on initiative (regardless of how many IPs you get), you don't act at all. You are delayed for 5-IP seconds and then get to roll the Initiative Test again to see if you can join in on the action.

I can see some desire to drop to a shorter timeframe, but really, that is up to each table and the level of realism you want. I'd agree, that the one IP dude that gets 0 hits on his test and then has to wait 4 seconds to "try again" is kinda brutal. The method is pretty sound, its just the realism "feel" may need to be tweaked a bit more.

Well, having tested it a bit, (5 - IP)x2 "flows" much better than (12 / IP), because the numbers are more 'back-of-brain' graspable without having to calculate. And yeah, totally flubbing your Initiative Test is kinda brutal, especially for the 1 IP folks. The other guy, who has a Delay of (5 - IP)x2, will always act first - since his Delay will be dropping by 2 per second (while the guy who flubbed doesn't even have a delay).

Hrm. I can see (8 - Hits) working out reasonably well; heck, even (4 - Hits) might work, given that your average person isn't going to get more than 2 to 3 hits. People with 0 hits will get a Delay of 0, and only Critical Glitches cause a 4-second delay (followed by another attempt).

Does that sound doable?

Mis-read how getting no hits on the initiative was worded.

Anyways, I still say 1-second frames are to long. And my problem with your starting action score is that it involves your passes at all. Initiative passes do not measure how fast you react, they measure how fast you act. As such, they should have nothing to do with your initial starting score, only affecting how long your recovery time from an action is.

As for the starting delay, (4 - Hits) may work if you still insist on 1-second frames, but is far to low if you use my recommended 0.25. Also, alternatively, you could have initiative score determined normally, and determine starting delay from that - [X-(Initiative+Hits)].

Well, the problem I have with 0.25-second ticks is that it inserts way too many 'dead' ticks between actions, and turns per-tick movement into even more of an exercise in bean counting. 1 second per action is perfectly precise enough for my purposes, since it's approximately the length of a standard SR4 IP. And using [X - (Initiative+Hits)] is a little too harsh on the low-Initiative people; everyone should have some sort of chance to get the jump on other people.

This is indeed much like the tick initiative system, only more complicated than I think it needs to be. Why does delay get reduced by 2 each second? Why can you act when your delay is greater than zero but less than a certain number? What does this gain you that simply having delay be the number of seconds till your next action doesn't accomplish?

It gains you the ability to deal with fractional Delay amounts, without actually having to deal with fractions.

Example: a Delay of 3, -2 each turn, is different than a Delay of 2, -1 each turn. In the second case, I'm always going every other turn. In the first, I go one turn, then skip, then go two turns, then skip, then go two turns, then skip. Reducing delay by 2 each turn lets you "bank" the odd point.

To be honest, I'm considering re-writing this from scratch, using an Action Point system instead. It winds up with the same result, but (I think) makes quite a bit more sense from a player perspective.

Please do, wanna use it for my new campaign's first game.

Ok! Check this version out:

The 'Tempo' Initiative System
The Tempo system represents an alternate way of handling Shadowrun turn-by-turn combat. In the tempo system, each turn lasts one second, and not all players act during the same turn.

Action Points and Pools
All Actions have an Action Point (AP) cost, which represents how difficult and complicated they are to perform, as well as roughly how long they tend to take. Action Points are determined by the type of Action (Free, Simple or Complex), and whether it is an Action or a Reaction. Complex Actions take 5 AP; Simple Actions take 3 AP; Complex Reactions take 3 AP, Simple Reactions take 2 AP, and Free Actions take 1 AP.

Likewise, all characters have an Action Pool, which represents the amount of attention and focus they may devote to performing an Action. A character may only perform an Action whose AP are less than or equal to their Action Pool, unless they perform it as an Interrupt Action. Each character's Action Pool is increased by their IP score each turn, to a maximum of 6.

Initiative and Joining Combat
When a character first enters combat, they must make an Initiative test to attempt to join the fray. A character who achieves no hits on this test is completely oblivious for one seconds, and may perform no actions except to re-attempt an Initiative test at the end of that time. Characters who succeed in their Initiative tests have successfully joined (or initiated) combat, with an initial number of AP equal to the number of hits achieved.

A character in combat may also choose to take a Simple Action (spending 5 AP) to make an Initiative Test at any time that they may take an Action (modifying their dice pool as appropriate, including any Interrupt Action modifiers) to attempt to re-establish Initiative and speed up their next action. If they succeed, they receive a number of AP equal to the number of hits achieved. Edge may be spent on this Test. This rule replaces the 'Initiative and Edge' rules for spending Edge to go first or to gain an extra Initiative Pass (SR4, pg. 134).

Combat Sequence
1. Begin Turn: Each character with AP to spend may choose to act, starting with the character with the highest (Initiative + AP) rating and counting down to the lowest. Each character resolves their actions in the following manner:
A. Declare Action: The active character first declares what Action they are performing, and spends the appropriate number of AP.
B. Declare Reaction: If the active character’s action directly targets another character, that other character can immediately expend their action as well, combining both of their actions into a single Opposed Test. Note that Full Defense is a Complex Defense Reaction, while a simple Dodge or Parry/Block is a Simple Defense Reaction. The Reactng character then spends the appropriate number of Action Points.
C. Resolve Actions: The acting player (or players, in the case of an Opposed Test) make their dice rolls and note the results. Any wound penalties or other adjustments to Initiative or IPs take effect immediately.
2. Next Player: The character with the highest current (Initiative + AP) begins at step A. (This may be the same character that just acted).
3. Gain Action Points: At the end of each second, each active character's Action Pool is raised by their IP score, to a maximum of 6.

Action Pools and Glitches
Unless the GM feels that another effect is more appropriate, most Glitches that occur in Tempo Combat should simply reduce a character's Action Pool by 1 AP if the glitched test was a Simple Action, or 2 if the glitched test was a Complex Action. Particularly brutal glitches might subtract a full 1D6 from the character's Action Pool at the GM's discretion. Critical glitches should always have more disastrous effects, and are beyond the scope of this rule.

Interrupt Actions
A who needs to act but does not have enough AP in their Action Pool may declare that they are taking an Interrupt Action, either at the 'Begin Turn' step or (for appropriate reactions) the 'Declare Reaction' step. A character performing an Interrupt Action takes a dice pool penalty equal to the net number of AP they are "short", and their Action Pool goes negative by twice this amount. A character may not perform more than a single Interrupt Action per turn, and may not perform an Interrupt Action if their Action Pool is already 0 or negative.

Defense and Full Defense
A normal defensive maneuver (Reaction + Edge vs. Suppressive Fire, Reaction vs. Ranged, or Reaction + Dodge / Reaction + Combat Skill vs. Melee) is a Simple Defense Reaction which costs 2 AP, and follows all the rules for Interrupt Actions. A single Full Defense maneuver is a Complex Defense Reaction which costs 3 AP, and follows all the rules for Interrupt Actions. A Defense Reaction or Full Defense Reaction only lasts against that attack, and does not last until the character's next Action Phase. This replaces the "Defender has Defended Against Previous Attacks"? modifier on pg. 150 of SR4, as well as the +1 dice modifier for bracing against a charge on pg. 148.

Walking, Running and Sprinting
All characters have a base Walking and Running speed determined by their Agility and Metatype. A character's base Walking and Running speed are rated in meters per second, and are determined as follows:
Dwarf: Walking = Agility / 2 (round up); Running = Agility
Human, Ork: Walking = Agility; Running = Agility x 2
Elf: Walking = Agility; Running = Agility x 2 + 1
Troll: Walking = Agility + 2; Running = Agility x 3

Thus, a Dwarf with an Agility of 5 would have a base Walking speed of 3 m/s, and a base Running speed of 5 m/s. Likewise, an Elf with an Agility of 4 would have a base Walking speed of 4 m/s, and a base Running speed of 9 m/s. Digigrade cyberlegs and inline skates each multiply a character’s base Running speed by 1.5 (round up).

Characters may use a Free Action in any round to move up to their full running speed, but take a -2 dice pool modifier to any tests attempted while moving faster than base Walking speed. A character may also Sprint as a Simple Action in any second, making a Strength + Running test and adding +1 to their base Running speed for every 2 full hits. Characters with digigrade cyberlegs and inline skates multiply the number of Sprinting hits achieved by 1.5 for each system (round up). A character may use a Free Action each second to maintain this increased speed.

Vehicle Movement
A vehicles’ base Cruising and Racing Speeds are given by its Acceleration rating. Cruising is the equivalent to a character's Walking movement, while Racing is the equivalent to Running. Speed is its top-end cruising speed in kilometers per hour, but should not be used during Tempo combat. A Pilot, Rigger or driver may make a Maneuvering test to increase a vehicle's Racing speed; this is identical to a character performing a Sprinting test. For each hit achieved, add (Cruising / 5) meters per second to its base Racing speed. The driver may use a Free Action each second to maintain this increased speed.

Swimming
A character's base Swimming rate is equal to half their Walking rate in meters per second (round up). A Strength + Swimming test may be made as a Simple Action to add +1 meter per 2 hits. Like running, this speed may be sustained by taking a Free Action each second.

Climbing
A rappelling character falls at a rate of 4 meters per Simple Action expended, +1 meter per 2 full hits on their Strength + Climbing test. Likewise, characters climbing upwards may ascend 1 meter per 2 full hits on their Strength + Climbing test. Like running, this speed may be sustained by taking a Free Action every second.

Jumping
A character may jump forward from a running start at top speed makes an Agility + Gymnastics Simple Action, and propels themselves forward 2 meters per hit, while a character leaping vertically propels themselves upwards 1 meter per 2 hits. Use the rules as given for targeted jumps. A character jumping their maximum distance (vertically or horizontally) will remain airborne for a brief moment, and will be unable to perform any Climbing, Jumping, Running or Sprinting actions during the following second.

Falling
A character in free-fall begins falling at 5 m/s, increasing at +10 m/s until they reach terminal velocity at 40 m/s. Thus, a character will fall 5 meters in the first second, 15 meters further in the next second, 25 meters further in the third second, 35 meters further in the fourth second, and 40 meters further in the fifth and subsequent seconds. Falling damage is determined by the total number of meters actually fallen that second or the second before (whichever is higher) – so a character can take a maximum falling DV of 40.

Take Aim
A character may take aim with a ready ranged or melee weapon as a Simple Action. Take Aim actions are cumulative, but the benefits are lost if the character takes any other kind of action - including a Free Action - at any time, or if the character being aimed at moves into or out of melee range, or moves out of line of sight. Each consecutive Take Aim action adds a +1 die pool modifier to their next Attack test, up to a maximum bonus equal to their Intuition.

Full Autofire Weapons
So long as a character does not take any other action, Full Bursts and Suppressive Fire may be “maintained� as a Free Action; the character simply holds down the trigger and continues spraying. The firing character does not re-roll each second, but continues to use the number of hits originally achieved. A character defending against Suppressive Fire must make their Reaction + Edge test each turn, while a character defending against Full Autofire continues to subtract hits from the original attack each time they successfully roll Defense.

Extended Actions
Extended Actions that occur within the Tempo system should have their Thresholds adjusted so that their Rate is one Complex Action. Once the success Threshold has been reached, any further hits may reduce the character's remaining Delay by 1. The action is fully completed once the character's Delay reaches 0. Extended Actions may never use the Rushing and Focused Actions rule.

What do you think, Sirs?

Much better, I think. So each turn, you gain a number of action points, and you spend them to take actions. I'd be willing to playtest this.

Nitpicks:
Action points would obviously be abbreviated AP, except we already have armor peircing as a stat. I suggest renaming to Tempo Points, abbreviated TP. Or we could just call them initiative points, and thus make IP our simple sytem hack. In the rest of my posts, I'll use TP, simply to distinguish it from the actual game mechanics.

I understand the capping of your Tempo pool, but why 6? If a complex action takes 5 points, why would you be allowed to bank more than that?

I'm not sure why interrupt actions accumulate both a dice pool penalty and a double TP reduction. It's harsh, and I'll have a suggestion later on.

You keep jumping around with how many points a simple or complex action takes. You define a complex action as taking 5 AP, but then later under defense you call full defense a complex action that takes 3 TP. I'd suggest simply stating that all free actions take 1 TP, all simple take 3, and all complex take 5, and then describe all actions in terms of free, simple, or complex thereafter.

Under defense, why does a standard defense use your TP? Especially under the harsh interrupt action rules you have there, someone who makes a simple action attack against another person costs that person more TP than they used in the attack. Meaning that as long as they keep attacking, the other person never gets to act. Basic defense should cost no TP.

Please don't bring back agility based movement. It doesn't make sense, really it doesn't. Keep set move rates for metahumans. m/s is great though. Jumping characters can make the check to clear the distances, but they should still travel at their unmodded running rate. So if someone makes a 5 meter jump, and their run rate is 3 meter/second, then it takes 2 seconds to complete the jump.

here's what I might want to add or change:


Reactions
When a character declares an action, any character who's TP is higher than that character's TP may declare a reaction. A reaction is simply an action declared in response to someone else's reaction. This allows a character who has waited (and built up TP) to know what someone else is going to do before acting. Both actions are resolved as normal. (this is a modification to step B of your action chart)

Interrupt actions
Some actions are interrupt actions. These actions may be taken in response to the appropriate conditions, as outlined in the actions description, even if the character doesn't have enough TP. The action is resolved immediately, and the TP is subtracted from the character's pool. This may make a character's Tempo Pool negative. All Interrupt actions are considered reactions. A character may NOT take interrupt actions if their tempo pool is negative. A negative Tempo pool refreshes normally.

Tempo pool
Both the mods above give a reason to allow a tempo pool greater than that needed for a complex action. Firstly, it lets a player bank up that extra point so they can take a complex reaction to someone else's complex action. Secondly, it allows a character to take interrupt actions and still have TP in the positive afterward. Perhaps even being able to make more than 1 interrupt action before going negative. I'd set the tempo pool cap at maybe 5+either IP or 1/2 reaction.

It was the minimum cap necessary to allow a Complex action, and to still be positive in order to take an Interrupt Action. It's also the minimum necessary to allow a character to take two Simple Actions at the same time.



It is harsh, but it represents the rushed nature of the action. It's basically performing an action that you weren't ready for. Although it might be sufficient to just have it take the normal TP reduction (into negatives) and the dice pool penalty, instead of double TP reduction.



*nod* making Full Defense a Simple Action, and Normal Defense a Free Action, would work.



Well, basic defense should cost a *bit* of TP, because I'm using TP penalties instead of the "defender has defended against previous attacks this turn" modifier. But leaving it at a single-TP reduction should be sufficient.



Both of those seem reasonable; I think it might also make sense (especially if Full Defense was a Simple Action and Basic Defense was a Free Action) if Free Actions could always be performed as Interrupt Actions, even when the character's TP is already negative.

OK.

Defense: the basic defense cannot cost a TP at all. Simply can't. If basic defense takes any TP, then a sufficient number of attacks (equal to the character's IP) can essentially freeze the character, making them unable to do anything other than defend. I realize that has a certain tempting feel to it, it seems realistic, but it simply screws the players. No matter how badass they are, 4 people with guns will freeze them in place. They don't even have to be good shots, they don't even have to hit, simply by dint of attacking, they drain the player's actions away. Basic defense is not an active defense. You don't choose to take it. That's what full defense is. It represents basic, passive defensive stances, quick movement, and the general difficult nature of a person to hit. You seem to want the player to have to choose between attacking and defending. Well, the designers decided you needed to choose between an attacking and an OK defense, or Defending well. I'd want to preserve that, I think it's a good design choice. don't turn normal defense into a half-assed full defense.

Interrupt actions: There are only so many interrupt actions in the game. They are full defense, riposte, and finishing move. Your rules seem to be trying to allow any action as an interrupt. This is a mistake, because even if there are huge penalties associated with doing so, it's going to be used, and it's going to completely mess up the flow of the game. I would think it would lead to everyone paying ahead, because often acting first is more important than acting well. I'm not sure what we gain by allowing this, except confusion and more glitches. The interrupt rules I propose are only for the interrupt actions that already exist. Being able to save up and use any action as a reaction seems to allow for the same narrative effect without the mess.

Why on earth should all free actions be interrupt actions?

And finally, no actions can be taken when you are in negative TP. This is vital, it's what prevents endless chains of self-triggering actions. At some point, you simply cannot borrow from the future. This rule is meant to solve an issue that exists with the RAW on interrupts. I really would never allow any action, much less a whole class of actions, to be taken during negative TP. I suppose you'd need to do this if basic defense used up TP, but again, it shouldn't.

OK, now as for full auto and extended tests, I propose a new class of actions: persistent actions. These are actions that, once started, last until the player chooses to stop. when you pay the TP to use one of these actions, it lasts from one second to the next without stopping. I'm thinking of running, full defense, suppressive fire, and any extended test. As long as you maintain a persistent action, your TP does not refresh each second. For the purposes of extended tests in this, every 5 seconds is a combat turn. actually, that's a good rule for anything that measures duration. Autofire would be a complex, persistent action. Running would be a free, persistent action. You might notice that people with high IP gain no benefit on persistent actions. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. This concept needs some work.

I really like this, actually, and I'm not one who goes for house rules in my Shadowrun, generally.





Having a pool of six allows someone with four initiative passes to take back-to-back complex actions, as well, since they'll recover four TP per turn. They're reduced to one, but then restored to five on their next turn.

I think this version rocks. I've never liked the SR initiative systems, and have been working on my own for years (all the way from 1st edition). I had actually finished 99% of my system, until I saw your Tempo system (the Action Point version), which made me scrap my own system.

But there are a few items which I think needs clarification:



Simple action? 5 AP? Isn't a simple action 3 AP?



Do you still earn new AP at the end of each round when aiming?

Can you aim, do nothing for 3 rounds, aim, do nothing for 3 rounds, etc. Or do you have to have all the APs you need to aim before starting to aim (and thus only be able to make 2 ami actions = 6 AP)?



So when you defend against Full Burst, do you accumulate the defense hits?

Example:
Round 1, attacker scores 5 hits, defender scores 3 hits. Defender hit by 2 net hits (5-3).
Round 2, attacker still has 5 hits, defender scores 1 hit. Defender hit by 1 net hit (5-3-1), or by 4 net hits (5-1).
Round 3, attacker still has 5 hits, defender scores 2 hits. Attacker misses by -1 net hits (5-3-1-2), or hits by 3 net hits (5-2).

Which is right?

How do you handle recoil from SA weapons?

If I shoot two SA shots in the same round (expending 6 AP)?
If I shoot one SA shot in round 1 (expending 3 AP), and one SA shot in round 2 (expending 3 AP)?
Can a character with IP 3, continue to shoot a singe SA shot each round without and recoil?

How do you handle SS weapons? How often can they be shot (costing 3 AP).

Otherwise I think it's realy nice, and I'll definitely use this.

Lars

This is cool stuff.

PlatonicPimp, about defenses costing TPs crippling characters, why can't they be optional? Your complaint seems to be that if they cost, TPs are drained away by attacks. Period. What if you can choose whether or not to defend? It seems totally reasonable to me.

That's what full defense is. Without a passive defense, then people only need a single success to hit anybody. Every hit would add to the damage dealt. It would be fatal. Even if it were a choice, it would be damned if you do damned if you don't. It's either take a hit so bad you die on the spot, or keep getting your action delayed so that they whittle you down without your ever getting to act.

Seriously? playtest it. I think you'll find that combat will rapidly come down to who gets the first shot off. They don't even have to HIT with it, they just need to force the other player to use their TP to dodge instead of to attack. It'll be so one sided.