Wall of text warning:<br/><div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">Regarding what Anime_Chaos and DarkPinkie have mentioned, I'd like to give my opinion on those issues, given that they're getting a bit more attention now.  I'd like to say right off the bat that I don't mean any personal offence by what I'm saying - game design is a passion of mine (and something that I'm pursuing professionally), so I am going to be a bit more in-depth with my comments about the system.  My sole intent is to see the system and the game as a whole get better, so that's where I'm coming from with this.<br/><br/>First, on the difference between 'grappling' and 'striking' or something similar...while this is partially my fault for not being more clear in what I had intended, I didn't know that it was going to be that specifically judged when it was obvious what I had intended the character to do (which was a close-range fighter who used a combination of hand-to-hand and grappling attacks, not just specifically the latter).<br/><br/>Secondly, on the subject of what AC brought up with how specifically our writing is being judged, I'm a little concerned with the direction that some of it is going.  If I had known that Anya's choice of weapon and fighting style were going to be subject to much more true-to-life expectations for combat, she'd probably be some kind of sword-shield or spear fighter, because those are much more realistic fighting styles.  Of course, this would mean that I'd need to completely redo the character, as her fighting style is tied pretty heavily to her personality and attitude.<br/><br/>Thirdly, while I said that I wasn't intending to really bring up some of the numbers getting thrown around until we'd seen more of the system in play, with the last round of attacks it's getting pretty out of hand.  Assuming that base Dodge is Agility+Perception before any bonuses or penalties, the tigress has a base Accuracy of 11 if she rolls a 1 on the die.  That will hit anyone in the party.  Add to that the fact that her minimum damage is 9 and her average damage is 14, she will seriously injure or outright drop anyone in the party (as was already demonstrated).  On the other hand, Anya's attack completely bounced off the bandit for reasons that I don't know because to my knowledge the way that Defense works was never explained, nor why she ended up with an attack of an unmodified 1.<br/><br/>This is what I was mentioning earlier with the numbers being out of proportion, and brings in what Anime_Chaos and DarkPinkie commented on.  If you weren't intending on the system being this lethal, those numbers are completely out of place, and if you were intending on it being this lethal, that I will honestly say that this fact wasn't really communicated, which as the others have mentioned, significantly changes the tone of the game.<br/><br/>Again, I'm not taking issue with any of the specific decisions taken or your reasons for making them, but I (and the others, likely) would have approached the game very differently if some of these things and your rationale had been more apparent initially.  Additionally, the source for some of the numbers and results involved in combat really need to be explained, as it's apparently not nearly as light of a system as it initially looked, and combat is the one area where players really need to know everything that's going on so that they can make informed decisions as to their actions.</div></div></div><br/>Watching the bandit far more warily as he shrugged off her latest attack, Anya isn't quite fast enough to evade his return swing.  The hit stings, but she's had worse before, and she's far from done in just yet.  What is more concerning are the brief glimpses of the rest of the fight that she manages to sneak in.  Ferya had taken a nasty hit from the tigress, and Alexandra was having difficulty getting blows to pierce the dwarf's armor.  Add the fact that Elisia was still vulnerable and that the archer hadn't been handled meant that the time for half-measures was long gone.  Of course, her blood-addled mind wasn't keen on going with any plan that didn't involve direct and decisive action in any case.<br/><br/>Glancing briefly at the nasty bruise that the club had raised, she looks back up and bares her teeth in a wide snarl, before diving headlong at the human with her arms wide.  She could take another hit like the one he just gave her, and if that was the price to pay to actually get her hands on him, so be it - all she had to do was get one good hold on him and pull him to the ground, where her greater weight and strength would give her the advantage.<br/><br/>[ Going for a full-on tackle to try to either knock the bandit down (and end up on top of him) or at least fully get him in her grasp.]<br/>[ ...And because Orokos is giving me issues for some reason (it doesn't seem to be saving rolls at the moment), this roll was with my own dice. ]<br/>[ Tackle attempt - 4 ]