I remember reading on these boards, that a round of combat in EotE is about a minute long?

I can't remember what thread I saw this in, but did i read that right? is this true?

If so, this is a drastic change from what im used to, coming from a DnD background, rounds were about six seconds long.

Also if a round is a minute long whats taking so long?

It's not fixed and the Force powers for Influence talk about 5 minutes or about a round. So I think it's an ambiguous unfixed measurement similar to the range bands on purpose.

The important thing to remember is that one roll does not equal one shot of a blaster or one swing of a vibro-ax. I tend to not subdivide rounds into distinct measurements, but just leave it up to abstraction.

"Rounds can last for roughly a minute or so in time, although the elapsed time is deliberately not specified"

It's a cinematic narrative game. If you're coming from D&D, especially 4th, you should expect this game to be very different and flowy with the rules.

yea its going to take more thinking and unbending on my part to my head around the idea of a round being much longer than what I'm used too,

however Hencook, that seems like a quote from the CRB or some other supplement, if so can you direct me to a book and page?

You must unlearn what you have learned

Part of "what takes so long" has to do with how the threat/advantage mechanic works. You need a little extra time to account for how the effects generated by these results manifest in the narrative.

Example: I'm fighting with some gamorreans in a saloon. I move to engaged with one, and roll a brawl check generating 2 failure, two advantage, and a despair.

Narrative... I run up to the nearest gamorrean attempting to should slam him, but bounce off (failure). He picks me up and throws me across a table and I land on the floor amongst the bottles and glasses that were on the table (despair - prone). Thinking quick, I grab one of the bottles and chuck it at him, it shatters on his little piggy horns, doing no damage, but causing him to recoil back to clear the glass and booze from his face (advantage-apply setback)

See that's a lot more then a mere 6 seconds worth of action...

Also if a round is a minute long whats taking so long?

Short, flippant answer? A round is as long as the story needs it to be.

More serious answer: what takes so long? A round is not necessarily 1 action = 1 blaster bolt. It's meant to represent several back-and-forths. A streetwise roll doesn't mean that you search that bar, it means that you sweep the city. One dogfighting roll represents a whole scrum and not necessarily a few seconds of fight.

Someone asked some comic writer, whose name I can't remember, "How fast can The Flash run?"

The writer answered, "The Flash runs at the speed of plot."

I think that's how long combat lasts in this game. Speed of Plot.

Speed of plot is also how I usually run hyperspace travel, unless there's a good reason not to.

hey cool thanks for the replies.

I'm totally digging Eote but I've gotta get out of the hacky slashy mindset of my old dnd ways to the more cinematic ways of this system.

I think one of the hardest parts is getting used to the fluidity of this system vs how structured dnd was.

The page and you're looking for in the EotE CRB is 198, first full paragraph.

Every game can benefit from a little bit of narrative discretion, both on part of the players and GM. For example, GM George Lucas has PC Han Solo going against NPC Greedo. Solo wins the initiative check, and decides to make a Ranged (Light) combat check against poor Greedo. But GM Lucas decides that Solo isn't that cold blooded, so narrates that Greedo shoots but misses, giving Solo the opening to then blow Greedo away in what is obviously self-defense.*

I remember when I took over as GM for our Saga Edition group, my players were surprised when I narrated the enemies "shooting, but missing" when they had taken a standard action other than attacking. Or when a PC took a shot at an adjacent foe, I narrated the enemy slapping the gun out of the way split-second before the shot went off and punching the PC in the face. He was like, "What's the damage?" And I said, "no damage, it's just narrative."

When EotE rolled around, my players were like "yeah this is awesome!" —partly, I think, because of our intentional exercising of our narrative muscles in Saga Edition.

--done--

*(please don't hate me; I am of the opinion that Han Shot first. Just wanted to give a little context is all)

yea its going to take more thinking and unbending on my part to my head around the idea of a round being much longer than what I'm used too,

however Hencook, that seems like a quote from the CRB or some other supplement, if so can you direct me to a book and page?

Not to confuse you more, but it could be really short as well. If you win initiative, roll great, and burn someone down on a Hail Mary crit, that could narratively be the blink of en eye in a showdown.

The answer to how long a round is, is like the age old question of 'how many angels can dance in the head of a pin?'

The answer (in seconds) is as many as wanted or as needed.

yea its going to take more thinking and unbending on my part to my head around the idea of a round being much longer than what I'm used too,

however Hencook, that seems like a quote from the CRB or some other supplement, if so can you direct me to a book and page?

CRB 198.

It can really depend on how many people are in the game, how big the fight is, and most importantly, their familiarity with the game. If it's a bunch of new players trying to figure it out, the pace can be slower. My group takes about 2 minutes per round.

It can really depend on how many people are in the game, how big the fight is, and most importantly, their familiarity with the game. If it's a bunch of new players trying to figure it out, the pace can be slower. My group takes about 2 minutes per round.

I think we're talking about a how long a round of combat is supposed to last in the game, from the character's perspective rather than that of the players.

For instance, a D&D combat round only lasts six seconds from the character's perspective, but can take several minutes as the players try to figure out their best options (particularly in 4e).

Unlike the past few Star Wars RPGs, this system doesn't outright set a hard limit on how long a combat round takes from the character's point of view, instead offering a suggestion of 1 minute as posted above by a couple folks, but allowing rounds to be shorter or longer as the GM needs them to be to fit the story.