Rapid Strikes House Rule

calibur1 · Post by **calibur1** » Fri Mar 19, 2010 3:23 pm

My friends and I have been playing OVA for awhile now, and we’ve come to the conclusion that the most complicated rule is the Rapid Strikes perk. It’s just too bothersome to keep track of especially if your character has already acted in a round or has taken multiple actions. We need something that is “fire-and-forget” with no need to keep track of. So we house-ruled that Rapid Strikes now just penalizes the target with a -2 to their defense, and that’s it.

Post by **Clay** » Sun Mar 21, 2010 5:59 pm

Is it really more complicated than any of the other "lose-your-next-action" rules? It seemed like there was enough precedent with Knockback and Stun.

Either way, I've come to the realization this text probably reads "Lose your action THIS round." It should read the same way as knockback and other rules: "Forfeit your NEXT action."

Would this simplify it enough?

calibur1 · Post by **calibur1** » Sun Mar 21, 2010 10:32 pm

Either way, I've come to the realization this text probably reads "Lose your action THIS round." It should read the same way as knockback and other rules: "Forfeit your NEXT action."

Is that “Forfeit your NEXT action to get a normal defense roll, or take the Multiple Actions option and penalty?” No offense, but that sentence alone makes me dizzy. For 10 End a straight up -2 defense penalty seems reasonable.

What we were finding was that in games where the heroes have 5 or better attack and defense dice they were willing to take multiple actions in a round (some even compensating with Drama Dice). This was encouraged, because it made combats more exciting. Knockback and Stun are straightforward, but Rapid Strikes (as written) gives you choices and considerations. The action had to stop while players did the math. A -2 penalty was just faster and easier.

I’m not insisting that it should be made canon. I was just interested if anyone else felt like we did?