I'd like to see some changes to both initiative and Dark Ambush.
For the former ... there's no benefit in going first. None at all. Your opponent gets a free action in response to attack you, and they get to use whatever defense maneuvers they have. What's the benefit in rolling high and going first? There really isn't any. The smart player will voluntarily drop their initative low to see what's going on before committing themselves.
Dark Ambush - the penalty to defense makes sense, but there's no penalty to attack. Thus:
Doberman-Face is attacking Tinahn'badal. Doberman face cannot see in the completely dark room. Tinahn'badal can thanks to his night vision animal ability and echo-location.
If Tinahn'badal attacks the Doberman, he rolls his full attack action pool, but the Doberman rolls half his defense action pool since he cannot see.
If the Doberman attacks Tinahn'badal in the dark and he cannot see (the dog), the Doberman rolls his full attack action pool (Despite the fact he cannot see) and Tinahn'badal rolls his full defense pool (as normal, despite the fact he has a huge advantage over the dog).
This also means that if guy A and guy B are fighting and neither can see in the dark, guy A rolls his full action dice pool to attack and guy B rolls half his defense pool to defend - even though they are both at a huge disadvantage, the disavantage rules-wise only impacts the defender.
For the former ... there's no benefit in going first. None at all. Your opponent gets a free action in response to attack you, and they get to use whatever defense maneuvers they have. What's the benefit in rolling high and going first? There really isn't any. The smart player will voluntarily drop their initative low to see what's going on before committing themselves.
Dark Ambush - the penalty to defense makes sense, but there's no penalty to attack. Thus:
Doberman-Face is attacking Tinahn'badal. Doberman face cannot see in the completely dark room. Tinahn'badal can thanks to his night vision animal ability and echo-location.
If Tinahn'badal attacks the Doberman, he rolls his full attack action pool, but the Doberman rolls half his defense action pool since he cannot see.
If the Doberman attacks Tinahn'badal in the dark and he cannot see (the dog), the Doberman rolls his full attack action pool (Despite the fact he cannot see) and Tinahn'badal rolls his full defense pool (as normal, despite the fact he has a huge advantage over the dog).
This also means that if guy A and guy B are fighting and neither can see in the dark, guy A rolls his full action dice pool to attack and guy B rolls half his defense pool to defend - even though they are both at a huge disadvantage, the disavantage rules-wise only impacts the defender.