That split second before an initial Round starts...

I've been thinking of a way to make the start of combat a little more realistic. I've always had a problem in that SLA doesn't allow the classic cowboy stand-off where one guy reaches for his gun and the other then outdraws him and shoots him first. Sure you can do it with rounds and phases, but that just means whoever has the highest DEX always wins - I instead wanted something that meant the slow guy could on occasion outdraw the other gunfighter instead. This is what I've come up with.

The Combat Catalyst rule describes the combat situation just prior to the breakdown in to Rounds and Phases. This is normally used when one side ambushes another. The person who wants to initiate combat declares the catalyst, for example drawing and firing their gun at their opponent. If their actions can be observed by others then they have to roll their DEX at -5 to undertake the action before anyone notices.

If they are unsuccessful they give their intentions away and combat immediately starts.

If they are successful they can take one action immediately unless anyone who can observe the attempt can beat their roll with both a Detect roll and a DEX roll. Any opponent that manages this can take their action instead. Any Ebon with a pre-formulated ability can try to beat the roll substituting DIA for DEX instead.

If they roll an Outstanding Success (20+) then they can take one action immediately without anyone else being able to prevent it.

Example 1:

Ms Winters a female I&I Operative is talking to a small gang of Kiestas accompanied by her Death Squad bodyguard Chapel. Chapel is a Brain Waster and is getting increasingly bored with the way the conversation is going. He decides to liven things up by shooting the leader in the thigh with his FEN 603. He rolls 2d10 -5 and adds his DEX of 8 getting 17 in total. The GM decides that the gang leader and one of the gang members can notice the action before it happens and rolls Detect for both of them. Both rolls are under 17 and so Chapel gets his shot in first. After rolling for his shot the combat rounds start as normal.

Example 2

Ms Winters a female I&I Operative is talking to a small gang of Kiestas accompanied by her Death Squad bodyguard Chapel. Chapel is a Brain Waster and is getting increasingly bored with the way the conversation is going. He decides to liven things up by shooting the leader in the thigh with his FEN 603. He rolls 2d10 -5 and adds his DEX of 8 getting 17 in total. The player of Ms Winters asks if she could sense the motion being as she is right next to Chapel. The GM agrees and Ms Winters rolls a Detect roll beating Chapel's score of 17. Having noticed his intended movement Ms Winters rolls her DEX of 6 and manages to again beat Chapel's score of 17. The player decides that Ms Winters rests her hand firmly on Chapel's gun hand, preventing him from shooting the Gang Leader. She then leads him away before any blood shed occurs.

See also Natural Intimidation and how it affects the Combat Catalyst.