Fast Draw critical success

[tbone]

Originally Posted by ericthered

My mind went to a +1 to attack first

Nothing wrong with that as a reward for the crit success, though putting on my simulationist hat, I'm not sure that such an "attack from Fast-Draw" should be more accurate than a normal attack with an already readied weapon.

(Still, it sounds harmless...)

but a -1 to their defenses seems to fit surprise better.

I agree. The weapon is sheathed... yet suddenly it's whistling toward the foe's head. A defense penalty sounds right to me (and nicely mirrors the similar situation involving Holdout, IMO).

conversely, a +1 for you to parry if you are drawing the weapon in defense.

Mm, my reaction here is the same as for the +1 to attack, above: Nit-picking at the mechanics, I don't see why this parry from a sheathed position should be better than a parry from a readied stance.

Ignoring that, though, it sounds fine as an abstract outcome!

The other bonus I could see would be allowing an extra free 1 yard of movement.

Mm, I don't see a connection between Fast-Draw and movement; I'd pass on that one myself.

Arrows:

but instantly completing the bow fast-draw sequence feels like a good match, or completing the next roll or next two rolls for free.

Interesting idea. There's no mechanical reason why a Fast-Draw crit success would make the next attempt succeed automatically, but as a narrative sort of reward, it sounds good.

Or even something like this: Crit success on Fast-Draw (any projectile) means +2 to all subsequent rolls against the same Fast-Draw for the remainder of the combat, or until a crit fail. In-game rationale: "You're on a roll!"

(Actually sounds like a mechanic that could be applied to all kinds of success rolls...)