Duel combat option

[Slimcreeper]

So I was playing this homebrew game with some friends and the GM would arbitrarily let 2 combatants enter into an exchange of blows - they would fight each other, using lots of narrative. It would end after a bit, when the GM felt that it made sense. It worked quite well, giving a good sense of the fluid nature of time during combat.

I've been trying to think of a more formalized way to bring that into Earthdawn and this is what I've come up with so far (basically as a thought experience). It's a little complex right now, but it is a secondary combat system. With just melee fighters, it's pretty simple to eyeball it, but spellcasters make it tougher. However, I wanted to create a way for wizards to duel - racing to complete that Onion Blood. To make it fun to watch, neither character knows how much damage they've taken until the end, when they roll it all at once.

Duel - Combat Option
A character can call out another character for a duel. Those two characters will enter an exchange of blows, using multiple attacks before any other characters can interfere. One will attack, using an action, simple actions, and so on. Then the other one gets a turn, and it repeats.

Both characters must agree to the duel - if the second character isn’t interested, he or she simply doesn’t counter the first attack and play proceeds as normal.

Characters can only duel using similar abilities - melee, ranged, or spell. Using a different ability as an action ends the duel, whether or not it was successful (Subject to GM discretion). Allowed Actions:

Melee: Close combat skills and talents - Unarmed, Melee Weapons, Maneuver, etc.
Ranged: Thrown and missile skills and talents - Thrown/Missile Weapons, Mystic Aim, etc.
Spell: Threadweaving & Spellcasting.[/list]

Movement -They can use combat movement once per round as an action.

Characters can only use abilities that target only their one opponent. If they use an ability that would affect other targets, it automatically fails to affect anyone but the one opponent. Spellcasters can use spells that affect themselves, but the effect ends when the duel ends.

No damage or effects are rolled until the duel ends. That means the characters won’t know for certain how the duel is going until the end. Even wounds and knockdown from wounds is calculated at the end - adrenaline keeps them going. Both characters could die or be knocked unconscious! Every time an effect would be rolled, note the step.

How to end the duel:
If anyone gets knocked down or a character is incapacitated.

Either character scores an Excellent or Pathetic success on an attack.

If one character misses an attack or action and then his or her opponent does the same. No one wants to watch a duel where no one hits anyone! If two spellcasters miss, any threads they’ve woven are lost.

A spellcaster can end a spell duel as an action, but he or she loses any threads he or she’s woven during the duel. The other character gets to keep his or her threads and can choose a new target if desired. So if a spellcaster is 3 threads into a razor orb and her opponent bails, she is quite close to unleashing the destruction on anyone she chooses.

What to do after the duel:

Resolve each effect or damage test one after the other. Don’t forget to check for wounds and knockdown! If one or the other or both take more damage than their unconscious or death rating, they fall unconscious or die.

Both characters are considered to have used their turn. Proceed to finish the round with any other combatants.