Active defenses as modifiers

[ravenfish]

Originally Posted by Tinman

Also, does you modifier let me choose to retreat or fp defense?

I don't see why it wouldn't- you declare them when the opponent attempts his attack roll rather than after it succeeds, and they penalize his attack roll rather than benefiting your defense roll.

In principle, I see no reason why such a system could not be made to work, but, for me personally, getting to roll for a parry or dodge (rather than having my skill at parrying or dodging abstractly reduce the opponent's chance to hit) is part of the attraction of GURPS, and I doubt I'm the only one with such feelings.