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[Rapier]

I'm fairly happy with my understanding of the system (after my second full re-reading of the core book), and these forums have helped to answer some of the things I wasn't certain on. Right now my questions are more on making sure the characters are balanced at the start.

With that in mind, one character rolled (I felt) very poorly compared to the others, ending up with 5, 5, 6, 6, 8, 9, 10 - he's playing a weapon master, the 10 is con, he bought the 8 up to a 9 and the 9's are Strength and Dex. It adds up to 50 (with 10 counting as 2 and not adding in the +1 from CP) and I'm sure I read in the non-rolled point distribution method you should start with 55. The other characters that are made so far have 59 and 61 total.

I offered to let him re-roll the entire set afraid that this might be a noticeable weakness in play but to his credit he doesn't want too. In D&D that relative difference would be huge, in practice is this not so big a deal in Anima? (We also play a lot of Call of Cthulu where stats barely effect the game, but it seems to me that Anima is more like D&D 3.5).


My next questions are about summons. The summoner wants a pseudo-dragon as familiar since we're playing a mid-level supernatural campaign which says they should start with 1 level 1 pet. For making summoned creatures for the summoner do they have to pay for stats the way a magically created being does? Or do they have rolled stats or assigned stats? Put another way, do I create a race and this pet is typical of it? (has the stats I would give to an average one), does it have to pay for the stats to be balanced, or does it get to roll because it's a pc creature.

Secondly: Do all summons also gain a class, the sample one from the GM screen has a class so is that the case for all creatures in Anima that can level up?


Thirdly; This is what I think a psudo-dragon is like converted from the 3.5 d&d srd.

Agility: 9
Constituion: 7
Dexterity: 8
Strength: 4
Intelligence: 6
Perception: 8
Power: 8
Will Power: 7

Natural Tail Attack + unconsciousness effect (120)
Natural Bite attack    (20)

Unnatural size - Small (10)
Physical Armour AT 4.  (40)
Acute Senses           (10)
Extrasensory Vision    (30)
Natural Flight 8       (60)
Magic Immunity <60     (30)
Psych Immunity VD.     (60)
Chameleon Camouflage*  (50)

Innate Mental Communication; infinite uses, 300ft** (140)

Racial Vice: Curiosity (-10)

The total for those powers currently is 560 - if stats have to be bought as well it can't be done at 600 DP. If they don't it can be with very little left for skills and other abilities like attack and dodge. Does this seem balanced? And is this done correctly? (Currently it seems like this creature will basically exist and not be very helpful to me, but at higher levels it might be okay).

* I'm not sure this is the best way to model innate bonuses to hiding, someone that knows the system better might suggest a better option than Chameleon Camouflage.

** Am I correct in reading the Psychic powers section that Mental Communication must be bought at 300 ft to not cause fatigue? In d&D the Telepathy power these guys has is 60ft which based on comparisons with average speeds should only really be 80ft or maybe even 40ft. I'd like to limit it to a smaller distance than 300ft without it causing fatigue and within the rules (I know I could set the limit arbitrarily myself).


The third character currently made is an Illusionist, going the Illusion and Light Paths. Currently my only concern about this character is that the player wants to be mute and talk with illusionary sound when necessary (a concept I like a lot). As the setting goes is this likely to be a huge issue in terms of being reliant on using magic like that for day to day activities? I'm wondering if inquisitors and the like will consider it a huge violation. (The player accepts the limitations it will have on there ability to use magic for other purposes if they want to talk, and has taken things like no oral requirement casting and more MA than recommended to help cover the design).

The last character is some kind of mentalist but isn't created yet

I'd like to know any glaring problems with what's presented here that I might not be seeing before I start the game (which is in two weeks) I still have time to tweak things around. For our first foray into Anima I'll be running the GM screen adventure (I want a better feel for combat before making my own encounters).

[ilovecheese1]

I'm fairly happy with my understanding of the system (after my second full re-reading of the core book), and these forums have helped to answer some of the things I wasn't certain on. Right now my questions are more on making sure the characters are balanced at the start.

Yay! lets see if we can tackle this post.

With that in mind, one character rolled (I felt) very poorly compared to the others, ending up with 5, 5, 6, 6, 8, 9, 10 - he's playing a weapon master, the 10 is con, he bought the 8 up to a 9 and the 9's are Strength and Dex. It adds up to 50 (with 10 counting as 2 and not adding in the +1 from CP) and I'm sure I read in the non-rolled point distribution method you should start with 55. The other characters that are made so far have 59 and 61 total.

Well stats-wise, the other characters either have min 6 in stats or more 9s/10s, probably both, which isn't a huge disadvantage for a weaponmaster since he has essentially 3 or 4 stats. It does depend however on what stats the other characters have in relation to their class. The 61 pointer being a tao with 10 in str and moi thai is a huuuge power gap comparitively.

I offered to let him re-roll the entire set afraid that this might be a noticeable weakness in play but to his credit he doesn't want too. In D&D that relative difference would be huge, in practice is this not so big a deal in Anima? (We also play a lot of Call of Cthulu where stats barely effect the game, but it seems to me that Anima is more like D&D 3.5).

I assume you mean 4th edition with that first quip but i digress. Its good for him that he didn't want to reroll, and if you are seriously concerned about it make a stat array for your characters next time . Anima is a more cinematic system, but as mentioned above there may be problems depending on the other party members.

My next questions are about summons. The summoner wants a pseudo-dragon as familiar since we're playing a mid-level supernatural campaign which says they should start with 1 level 1 pet. For making summoned creatures for the summoner do they have to pay for stats the way a magically created being does? Or do they have rolled stats or assigned stats? Put another way, do I create a race and this pet is typical of it? (has the stats I would give to an average one), does it have to pay for the stats to be balanced, or does it get to roll because it's a pc creature.

couple of things here... Familiar is WAY different than a summon, as a summon is unable to level up and needs to be bound and has a higher zeon cost per day than a familiar, in adition to 3.5esque familiar dying scenarios. For either case, however, you roll or assign the stats however you want them. They did not make the creature, they merely found it. It could be a part of a race (though dragons in anima have their own thing so i don't recommend it) and in which case yes you would assign stats accordingly. It may also affect its gnosis and state of being (natural, between worlds, spirit etc.) based on that qualification, but again YOU the GM decide it. balancing will be commented below.

Secondly: Do all summons also gain a class, the sample one from the GM screen has a class so is that the case for all creatures in Anima that can level up?

It has a class, no ifs ands buts. The one in the GM screen cannot level up as it is NOT a familiar, just a bound summon. All creatures, even animals and some plants, have classes, whether you intend to level them or not. This is to determine how much it should cost to give said thing 30 ranks in appraisal or w/e, as well as class bonuses and special stuff like Tao's decrease cost in Martial Arts.

Thirdly; This is what I think a psudo-dragon is like converted from the 3.5 d&d srd.

Agility: 9
Constituion: 7
Dexterity: 8
Strength: 4
Intelligence: 6
Perception: 8
Power: 8
Will Power: 7

Natural Tail Attack + unconsciousness effect (120)
Natural Bite attack    (20)

Unnatural size - Small (10)
Physical Armour AT 4.  (40)
Acute Senses           (10)
Extrasensory Vision    (30)
Natural Flight 8       (60)
Magic Immunity <60     (30)
Psych Immunity VD.     (60)
Chameleon Camouflage*  (50)

Innate Mental Communication; infinite uses, 300ft** (140)

Racial Vice: Curiosity (-10)

I've noticed in many campaigns that if you spend near all of the creatures points on actually useful abilities it is a very overpowered little monster. Try spending a small amount in secondary abilities (like acrobatics since it can fly) or just attack and defense (since i don't see points for that it should have near 15 in each). Also the magic and psy immune is a bit worrysome. I usually spend about 60% of the DP on useful abilities and dump the rest into flavor or some other non-important aspect (again like secondary abilities).

The total for those powers currently is 560 - if stats have to be bought as well it can't be done at 600 DP. If they don't it can be with very little left for skills and other abilities like attack and dodge. Does this seem balanced? And is this done correctly? (Currently it seems like this creature will basically exist and not be very helpful to me, but at higher levels it might be okay).

Balancing already explained, but oh man is that a useful creature. Its small and magic/psy immune so ima send it to scout the big-badguy mansion even though he has magical guards and fireball traps. It can also tell me in realtime whats going on since it has mental com innately.

* I'm not sure this is the best way to model innate bonuses to hiding, someone that knows the system better might suggest a better option than Chameleon Camouflage.

just take some points out of other stuff and put more points in either hide or stealth. In a monsters case its not that the points represent training, but that it is actually GOOD at doing those things.

** Am I correct in reading the Psychic powers section that Mental Communication must be bought at 300 ft to not cause fatigue? In d&D the Telepathy power these guys has is 60ft which based on comparisons with average speeds should only really be 80ft or maybe even 40ft. I'd like to limit it to a smaller distance than 300ft without it causing fatigue and within the rules (I know I could set the limit arbitrarily myself).

Rules wise, yes. It should be bought at 300ft or nothing, but since you are GM you could take some points off and set it to really damn small if you wanted.

The third character currently made is an Illusionist, going the Illusion and Light Paths. Currently my only concern about this character is that the player wants to be mute and talk with illusionary sound when necessary (a concept I like a lot). As the setting goes is this likely to be a huge issue in terms of being reliant on using magic like that for day to day activities? I'm wondering if inquisitors and the like will consider it a huge violation. (The player accepts the limitations it will have on there ability to use magic for other purposes if they want to talk, and has taken things like no oral requirement casting and more MA than recommended to help cover the design).

cool beans. sounds fun. Inquisitors don't usually show up for literally every magic user unless they are being flagrant and dangerous with it. Also since illusionary sound is an effect spell it can be invisible to everyone, and only audible to those who are targeted and fail their MR (voluntary is auto fail). The only problem the character should have is when they are going to be delivering a speech to a huge audience or to someone very far away (as both of those are based on MR of people and projection to get to them).

The last character is some kind of mentalist but isn't created yet

be weary of telepaths. some of the descriptors for those powers are vague and for all powers if the mentalist does not get a damaging hit (10% on ENErgy table, same projection roll as range) the target gets +60 to their MR to resist. Don't know how long it was before i realized that. also for spells like area the radius is the MAX and they roll projection to see how far they reach inside the radius.

I'd like to know any glaring problems with what's presented here that I might not be seeing before I start the game (which is in two weeks) I still have time to tweak things around. For our first foray into Anima I'll be running the GM screen adventure (I want a better feel for combat before making my own encounters).

uhm... having killed a character or two on the intro be especially careful of the head-treasony guy (forget his name) and raptor (the level 6 scary dude), since both of those can easily accidentally kill a character if they get a good roll. I recommend actually limiting raptors rolls to like 230.

WHEW. monster post. its late so i apologize if im rude or blunt on some of my statements. il recheck this in the morning, but i hope it helps

[Cathar the Great]

Not much to add here since the cheese lover answered most of the things pretty well.

Some things:
Character creation: I personally prefer the stat creation method in the GM screen, granting my players from 55 to 60 points, depending on how well they develop the background story for their characters.

Creature creation:
Every being in Anima needs a class. I just wanted to emphasize this. Look at how character creation works. How would you develop anything without knowing the costs?

Like ilovecheese1 said, remove some of the abilities and powers. When creating creatures, you always have to find a balance between giving them interesting and cool powers and solid stats. If you want some examples (not necessarily good ones, but that's for you to judge ^^ ), check out Keramanes Kreature Kompendium (http://cipher-studios.com/AnimaBB/index.php?topic=3415.0) and my creature compendium (http://cipher-studios.com/AnimaBB/index.php?topic=3782.0) and please feel free to leave a comment

The illusionist concept sounds totally awesome. Don't worry too much about the Inquisition. In my games, they will always show up sooner or later and the players will have to figure out how to deal with them anyway. It's just not "realistic" inside the game setting that a bunch of supernatural power users can go about without at least having a serious talk with some inquisitor. Depending on the Inquisitor in question (I want to use some of the Anima Tactics characters), this could become a real problem or their actions will be judged whether they are helpful or at least harmless to people or if they abuse their powers.

Some extra thoughts of mine, hope it helped ^^

[Rapier]

Having run my first session (semi-successfully) I have more questions.

At one point the Mentalist (not before described) fumbled a psychic potential roll trying to manifest Mind Control. He rolled 02, followed by 54, for a total of 54(54 + 0).

So he now has 90 (60 potential, + 30 from PP spent on increasing Potential) + 20 from pp spent on strengthening Mind control specifically.

This leads to 90 + 20 - 54 = total 56. 56, Easy difficulty on Mind control is Fatigue 8. So he loses free PP first, and then fatigue points. Are there any other penalities applied? and is this calculation correct?

In the session we made a mistake and thought it was below 40 so 12 fatigue. Going with the mistake we made, this mentalist lost all of his fatigue and free PP, so he rolled against the PsR check to resist death. Does he get the -120 penalty for having no fatigue to this roll? If so it seems like passing these rolls will almost always be impossible.

Also on psychic powers; the elite and inexperienced guards should get a dodge against mental powers like Mind Control in the combat rules. However if they have no ability to see supernatural or detect psychic matrices and therefore no idea that a power is being used on them do they still get a dodge? What I'm trying to get at is, is the dodge vs psychic powers an innate effect that everyone always can make even if surprised or unaware?

On a similar vein, is the roll to resist an illusion automatic? In the same fight the illusionist created a fire illusion in an effort to stop the fight as fast as possible. I rolled for people to see if they believed or not, but is that correct? He passed all the rolls to create the fire effect and none of the npcs or other pc's had a reason to assume it was magic. On the other hand it seems like this is the only way it can work. (I think this is an issue of mine because of experience with D&D where you get a separate roll to see through illusions if you have reason to doubt what you see).

Finally a bit about the mentalist; is there a maximum that can be spent on buying PP during character creation (aside from only 360 of the 600 being for primary psychic powers)? I've read on the forums that only 50% can be spent on projection, does it have to be 50% for both?

Also one more question about balance, is the mentalist having no free PP going to be a large handicap for something currently unforeseen? (I pointed out the value of having free PP for temporarily boosting powers, gaining access to powers and all the other things explicitly listed). It seems viable to me to play one without because he has a high con, but I thought someone more experienced might have a different opinion.

[Just_Having_Fun]

With that in mind, one character rolled (I felt) very poorly compared to the others, ending up with 5, 5, 6, 6, 8, 9, 10 - he's playing a weapon master, the 10 is con, he bought the 8 up to a 9 and the 9's are Strength and Dex. It adds up to 50 (with 10 counting as 2 and not adding in the +1 from CP) and I'm sure I read in the non-rolled point distribution method you should start with 55. The other characters that are made so far have 59 and 61 total.

You might want to give him another d10 to roll so he can actualy have 8 caracs like everyone else...
And the non-rolled point distribution is 60 points. With 10s costing 11 points.

This leads to 90 + 20 - 54 = total 56. 56, Easy difficulty on Mind control is Fatigue 8. So he loses free PP first, and then fatigue points. Are there any other penalities applied? and is this calculation correct?

Seems correct to me.

In the session we made a mistake and thought it was below 40 so 12 fatigue. Going with the mistake we made, this mentalist lost all of his fatigue and free PP, so he rolled against the PsR check to resist death. Does he get the -120 penalty for having no fatigue to this roll? If so it seems like passing these rolls will almost always be impossible.

All action penalties, fatigue penalties and the like are never applied to Resistance checks. It's always explicitely written when the resistance is affected.

Also on psychic powers; the elite and inexperienced guards should get a dodge against mental powers like Mind Control in the combat rules. However if they have no ability to see supernatural or detect psychic matrices and therefore no idea that a power is being used on them do they still get a dodge? What I'm trying to get at is, is the dodge vs psychic powers an innate effect that everyone always can make even if surprised or unaware?

Unless the guards see the guy squint eyes focusing, or have some other reason to think he is trying something fishy, they shouldn't get a chance to dodge. Someone who is used to deal with supernatural phenomena (an inquisitor for example) could easily guess or feel that 'something' would be coming at them even if they wouldn't know what exactly, so they'd get the right to dodge in most situation. On the contrary, the averge town guard who doesn't know the first thing about supernatural powers might not even dodge even if he saw a guy mimicking throwing something at him (unless he can actualy see the matrix/magic).
Still, mind control on starting char is just...

On a similar vein, is the roll to resist an illusion automatic? In the same fight the illusionist created a fire illusion in an effort to stop the fight as fast as possible. I rolled for people to see if they believed or not, but is that correct? He passed all the rolls to create the fire effect and none of the npcs or other pc's had a reason to assume it was magic. On the other hand it seems like this is the only way it can work.

Yes, the resistance is automatic even for those who have no reason to doubt the illusion. The resistance roll is not about whether you believe in it or not, it's about whether you're affected or not.
Even if you were told beforehand by that sorcerer you've known for years that the dragon that just poped in front of you is an illusion he created, if you fail the resistance test, you're in trouble if the illusion bites you. (Of course, knowing the truth gives bonuses to MR tests)

Finally a bit about the mentalist; is there a maximum that can be spent on buying PP during character creation (aside from only 360 of the 600 being for primary psychic powers)? I've read on the forums that only 50% can be spent on projection, does it have to be 50% for both?

There's no special limit on PP. You can get 36PP at the start if you want, but then your powers won't reach very far, and you can forget about combat.

Also one more question about balance, is the mentalist having no free PP going to be a large handicap for something currently unforeseen? (I pointed out the value of having free PP for temporarily boosting powers, gaining access to powers and all the other things explicitly listed). It seems viable to me to play one without because he has a high con, but I thought someone more experienced might have a different opinion.

I don't think it's really a handicap. If he doesn't keep some PP free, then it means those will be invested elsewhere. He'll have a stronger base and less versatility.
I personnaly play my mentalist with ~10 FPP because I like the options it offers, and it gives a good potential to overcome difficult situations, but if you know what you're doing and have the right advantages, it's perfectly viable to play without FPP. Though I would still advise to keep 1 or 2, just in case.

[cultadium]

No free pp isn't necessarily a problem. I think it's fairly standard to start out with boosted willpower though. If I only had 3 CP for a mentalist I'd boost willpower up to 13 and call it a day.

I'm curious about the effects of low fatigue myself though I don't see where it is in the book.

As for the matter about dodging I have a similar question about slight of hand and bullets. Do bullets count as invisible(I've read they do) and if so does slight of hand get a penalty to catching them if the character doesn't have a high enough notice? And what notice value would be high enough?

Most of illusion is automatic so you simply roll for MR yes. I would rule you do get to reroll if you doubt the effects (your able to for the level 22 daily spell alter appearance) but in a combat situation where each round is only 3 seconds I doubt anyone would have time to think such things through unless something in the environment makes them doubt the illusions true nature. So you generally wouldn't get a re-roll.

[Just_Having_Fun]

I'm curious about the effects of low fatigue myself though I don't see where it is in the book.

Chapter 6.

As for the matter about dodging I have a similar question about slight of hand and bullets. Do bullets count as invisible(I've read they do) and if so does slight of hand get a penalty to catching them if the character doesn't have a high enough notice? And what notice value would be high enough?

Well, I'd argue that anyone who's good enough at sleight of hand to actualy catch bullets wouldn't need to really see them anyway. Just the fact that he is able to accomplish inhuman actions should be enough.
A lance thrust with an attack score of 320+ is probably just as fast as a bullet, and yet you don't need a minimum notice score to defend.

Most of illusion is automatic so you simply roll for MR yes. I would rule you do get to reroll if you doubt the effects (your able to for the level 22 daily spell alter appearance) but in a combat situation where each round is only 3 seconds I doubt anyone would have time to think such things through unless something in the environment makes them doubt the illusions true nature. So you generally wouldn't get a re-roll.

There are actualy rules about when you can re-roll those kinds of ressistance checks in the magic chapter. It should be something like everytime you have a reason to doubt the illusion, or every 5 rounds for certain types of spells.

[Korochun]

With that in mind, one character rolled (I felt) very poorly compared to the others, ending up with 5, 5, 6, 6, 8, 9, 10 - he's playing a weapon master, the 10 is con, he bought the 8 up to a 9 and the 9's are Strength and Dex. It adds up to 50 (with 10 counting as 2 and not adding in the +1 from CP) and I'm sure I read in the non-rolled point distribution method you should start with 55.

Well, as Just Having Fun already pointed out, it would benefit tremendously if he rolled an eighth stat. If we go with mathematical average and give him a 6, he would have 5x2, 6x3, 8, 9, 10. There is nothing wrong with this spread, and it's 56 points.

That said, while I really like the low-level and non-munchkin approach you and your players are taking to all of this, I would also encourage you to let your players think outside the box. For example, a Weaponmaster is not necessarily the burly man you see illustrated next to the class blurb in the corebook. You can just as easily, using that stat spread, make a charismatic finesse-based assassin weaponmaster.

For example (bear with me, don't have the corebook at work):

_________________________________________________________

AGI 9 CON 6 DEX 10 STR 6 INT 5 PER 6 POW 8 WP 5 SIZE 12

Advantages:           Field Mastery (Social) 2 CP
                      Natural Armour         1 CP
                      Ambidexterity          1 CP
                      Talented               1 CP

Disadvantages:           Magic Susceptibility 1 CP
Severe Phobia (Men With Exposed Burly Biceps) 1 CP
               

Weapon Modules: Thrown, Knives, Swords.
Style Modules: Disarm, Graceful Parry.

Skill focus: Leadership, Style, Climb, Acrobatics, Persuade, Stealth, Sleight of Hand

_________________________________________________________
               
Not that you HAVE to make this, but here we have an example of a Weaponmaster who is more of an assassin-type character, with a distinct benefit of having access to far more weapons than an assassin of comparable level, as well as far higher health. He wouldn't do very well in trying to conceal himself, but he would know how to blend into a social gathering or a crowd, be capable of inspiring awe in people and perhaps even turning them over to his side. Certainly, a different approach altogether.

[Pneumonica]

Unless the guards see the guy squint eyes focusing, or have some other reason to think he is trying something fishy, they shouldn't get a chance to dodge. Someone who is used to deal with supernatural phenomena (an inquisitor for example) could easily guess or feel that 'something' would be coming at them even if they wouldn't know what exactly, so they'd get the right to dodge in most situation. On the contrary, the averge town guard who doesn't know the first thing about supernatural powers might not even dodge even if he saw a guy mimicking throwing something at him (unless he can actualy see the matrix/magic).
Still, mind control on starting char is just...

I take only one real issue with what you've said, and this is it.  If you are attacked, you always get to roll defense.  This is what modifiers for surprise, back strikes, unseen attack, etc., are for.  So the penalty is going to be enormous, but they still get their Defense.

Now, if you house rule it, it's not an utterly unreasonable or unworkable house rule, but it will change aspects of the game to be able to say that there's times you simply don't get to roll.

[Just_Having_Fun]

Well, honnestly it's not so much house-ruling as simple lazyness on the GM's part, because really, who wants to waste time rolling die for a fight with minor npcs who are bound to get toasted anyway :p
But the thing is, even if you round numbers and use every trick in the book to make calculations faster, math is still something that takes up quite a bit of your time in Anima, so if you can avoid it with a decent justification and description, and have no real scenaristic use for that town guard to miraculously dodge that mind control, just skip it. You'll do yourself and your players a favor ;-)

Of course, the PCs will always get to roll, unless I feel like being a nasty GM and/or just had a bad day

[Pneumonica]

lol.  Like I say, not an unreasonable house rule, but it does make a difference when the target loses the benefits of open rolls, really high scores, etc.

[Rapier]

lol.  Like I say, not an unreasonable house rule, but it does make a difference when the target loses the benefits of open rolls, really high scores, etc.

I was under the impression (according to the rules for Gnosis in Gaia)that normal humans with Gnosis 0 can't get open rolls anyway.

While I appreciate the point about always getting to roll defence, I think I'm going to go with reducing maths where possible because currently it does take up a chunk of every combat. (Although after 3 sessions it's starting to go quicker in my head )

Two questions on mind control; is giving any instruction to someone mind controlled in combat potentially life threatening? The two examples are, telling someone to run away from the combat, and having someone put down there weapons. Can you tell the guard in question that he won't be hurt if he does so and so make it not life threatening?

The other question, is does it work on animal minds?

[Pneumonica]

While I appreciate the point about always getting to roll defence, I think I'm going to go with reducing maths where possible because currently it does take up a chunk of every combat. (Although after 3 sessions it's starting to go quicker in my head )

Fair enough, but keep in mind you're also strengthening the sucker's Defense.  Since he isn't getting a Defense, he isn't suffering accumulative penalties for multiple defense.

Two questions on mind control; is giving any instruction to someone mind controlled in combat potentially life threatening? The two examples are, telling someone to run away from the combat, and having someone put down there weapons. Can you tell the guard in question that he won't be hurt if he does so and so make it not life threatening?

Depends on the situation.  If somebody's whaling on them already, then there's no way they're putting down their weapons in order to receive the next attack.  On the other hand, if you hold off on your attacks and then say, "Drop your weapons," it depends on how convincing you can be.  "Run away" might be suicidal if you're in an open area and have archers ready to pick the guy off.

[Zeru]

While I appreciate the point about always getting to roll defence, I think I'm going to go with reducing maths where possible because currently it does take up a chunk of every combat. (Although after 3 sessions it's starting to go quicker in my head )

Fair enough, but keep in mind you're also strengthening the sucker's Defense.  Since he isn't getting a Defense, he isn't suffering accumulative penalties for multiple defense.

Not true actually, a defender's defense can never actually go into the negative, it can only be reduced to 0. So not being able to roll is actually much worse.

In case your wondering, this is a clarification made by AS ages ago.

[Pneumonica]

The issue is subsequent attacks.  Say the attacker gets caught unawares by one attack, then gets hit by a second.  He has a defense against the second, the question is whether he's penalized by defending against the first.