[Pursuivant]

I've played around with integrating probabilities to hit vs. probability of a successful Active Defense. The results were unsatisfying because the probabilities of a hit vs. defense get very skewed if either dice roll is at one of the ends of the bell curve.

The best way to make combat happen quickly is for the GM to enforce player attention and use tricks to speed up play.

* Players have 30-60 seconds to act for their characters in combat or their characters are assumed to Wait, Evaluate, Do Nothing, or All-Out-Defend as the GM wishes. Reasonable exceptions allowed if somebody spills their drink or if needs to make a quick rules check.

* Roll multiple dice, in different colors, at once, for multiple combat steps. For example, roll 3d to hit & 1+ dice in a different color for damage. Choose the color for "to hit" dice in advance if both dice sets are 3d. Ignore the results of the damage roll if the "to hit" roll is a miss.

* Minor foes All-Out Attack & go down automatically at HP/2 damage.

* Mass attacks use probabilities of a hit rather than dice rolls. If you're facing 20 archers with adjusted skill 9 (37% chance of a hit), just assume that only ~6-8 of them hit on a given turn. If the PC has Dodge 10 (50% chance of defense), assume that just 3-4 actually get past defenses. If each arrow does 1d HP vs. DR 4 (~33% chance of 5-6 on 1d), assume that just 1 actually inflicts damage.