Wait and Free Action

[arnej]

Here's the scenario:

Hero is standing, arms at his side, having chosen a Wait Maneuver. The trigger is "If the guy in front of me attacks."

Sure enough, said guy attacks. Can Hero do a Fast-Draw as a free action to be able to parry the attack?

I think so, but wanted to make sure.

arnej

[capnq]

Originally Posted by arnej

Hero is standing, arms at his side, having chosen a Wait Maneuver. The trigger is "If the guy in front of me attacks."

Sure enough, said guy attacks. Can Hero do a Fast-Draw as a free action to be able to parry the attack?

Fast-Draw is not a Free Action (Campaigns, pp.363-364), it's a Ready maneuver that takes no time if the skill roll succeeds. Other than that technicality, it's a perfectly valid tactic.

[Dustin]

Our Hero will need to have declared that his Wait action will be to Ready his weapon if that trigger occurs. He wouldn't need Fast-Draw in that case, as his normal Ready will interrupt the enemy's turn.

It would even be legal for Hero to declare that his Wait action is to Fast-Draw and Attack if that trigger occurs. A successful Fast-Draw will leave him with a ready weapon whether or not his attack hits (assuming a balanced weapon). If he fails Fast-Draw, then he's simply taken a Ready maneuver, and is still prepared to Parry.

If this seems a bit much, note that he could have Readied (or Fast-Drawn and Attacked) on his turn instead. By Waiting, he's given up any armed Parries vs attacks by other enemies (which won't trigger his Wait).

[RobKamm]

Wait (B366) can convert to a Feint, Attack, All Out Attack, or Ready maneuver. A proper declaration would be "Wait: if bad guy attacks -> Ready Weapon." This would ready the weapon before the attack could be made; so, even without Fast Draw the patient could use the weapon to Parry the attack. Certainly there are a number of fencing actions from a sheathed position that could be represented by this (eg. Viggiani's rovescio ascendente -- a rising true edge action that moves across the body; it can be performed from a sheathed position).

Fast Draw seems to be an exception to the normal rule that a character must declare their maneuver at the start of their turn. A successful fast draw readies the weapon in zero-time and does "not count as a combat maneuver, you can use the weapon to attack on the same turn" (B194). I would suggest that a GM should allow "Wait: if bad guy attacks -> Attack with (currently unready) weapon." If the Fast Draw attempt fails the action becomes a normal Ready or worse on a Critical Failure (per B194). This then could be a mezzo tempo (in the middle action-time) rovescio ascendente to the assailant's body rather than to intercept the incoming blade. The less technical description of this action would be "ballsy." When teaching it to students I strongly encourage them to step off the line of attack as they execute it (Dodge in GURPS terms) -- because every time there is a double-kill God kills a kitten.

[Wraithe]

I think that the previous posters have the mechanics nailed down.

The first thing I thought of when reading this descriptions was of a an iaijutsu draw in a duel & could definitely see this being taught as a part of a combat style.

[OneSeventeen]

Originally Posted by Dustin

It would even be legal for Hero to declare that his Wait action is to Fast-Draw and Attack if that trigger occurs. A successful Fast-Draw will leave him with a ready weapon whether or not his attack hits (assuming a balanced weapon). If he fails Fast-Draw, then he's simply taken a Ready maneuver, and is still prepared to Parry.

This is the method I would prefer my players to use. If they wanted to Fast-Draw and act when their wait is triggered, I feel they should say both ahead of time, rather than just declaring the Fast-Draw and getting time to think about what the next action will be.

Note that, as Dustin said, if the only goal is to draw and parry, you don't need a Fast-Draw roll, just a normal Ready.


Ben

[Agramer]

Wild West has some fun rules for fast draw.

[SuedodeuS]

I'd probably extrapolate from the rules from Who Draws First? (MA103) in such a situation. If the character intends to draw and strike before or during (Stop Hit) his foe's attack, he must win in a quick contest of Foe's Weapon Skill versus his Fast-Draw with a -10 penalty. If he succeeds at the check (or fails by less than 5) but not at the contest, he draws his weapon and can Parry normally and Attack after his foe's attack is resolved. If he fails the check by 5+, he can Parry at -2. If he fails by 10+, or has a critical failure, he cannot Parry and suffers a typical Fast-Draw critical failure.

If the character intends to attack after (or not at all) his enemy's attack, he must first succeed at a Fast-Draw check at a -5 penalty. Success means he can Parry normally and Attack after the attack is resolved. Failure by 5 or less allows him to Parry at -2 and Attack after the attack is resolved. Failure by more than 5 allows a Parry at -2, but no Attack. Critical failure is as normal for a Fast-Draw, and in addition he cannot Parry. If the character lacks Fast-Draw, he Parries at -2 and cannot attack. Optionally, a check against Weapon Skill at -10 to cancel the -2 penalty might be appropriate.

In both of the above cases, already having a hand on the weapon's hilt gives a +4 to the Fast-Draw (or Weapon Skill) check.

[arnej]

Thanks for all the useful input - I think you've given me a much better understanding of how the rules would work in this situation!

Muchas gracias!

arnej