New post because new ideas:

Can we fold damage into the attack roll somehow? Like maybe attack rolls do (n*strength+weapon damage) wounds instead of rolling it.

I ask because R&K rolls take a long time (compared to the other systems I play).

Also, how do people feel about wounds? Someone mentioned (on a different thread?) that people often ignore injuries during an adrenaline rush, so maybe the wound penalties are an unnecessary? Or maybe there should be a penalty during a turn in which you take damage (like in some other games) but not an overall accumulating penalty? I've also played other games that differentiate between different lethalities of damage; like one damage will hurt and take you out of a fight, and another kind hurts and is more lethal. In my experience, that's a good way to keep the numbers low and easy for fast mental math (I'm the fastest at it in my group, and still too slow for my tastes :| )

New post because new ideas:

Can we fold damage into the attack roll somehow? Like maybe attack rolls do (n*strength+weapon damage) wounds instead of rolling it.

I ask because R&K rolls take a long time (compared to the other systems I play).

I wouldn't merge the damage into the attack roll. Some characters may hits a lot but do weak damage and some may hit a few but do tons of damage. This keeps a great balance in the system.

Let's take the actual system and transpose it into your suggestion. Does it mean that a character will only needs Strength for combat? If that's the case, that's the point of getting Agility? Or the other way around, if the system rolls Agility, what's the point of getting Strength? Roll depending on the weapon, then does it mean that the Mirumoto are stronger than a Matsu Berserker because their 3rd attack?

I do know that it will need a tweek if it does that way. However, I do not feel like it's that long. specially because of the lethality of the system. I rarely have skirmishes that last more than 3 rounds. But, if you feel like it takes a while, why don't you take a R&K application for a mobile device and everyone of the group uses that device? It's an alternative to reduce the time, for me I still prefer using real dice for real randomness.

Can we fold damage into the attack roll somehow? Like maybe attack rolls do (n*strength+weapon damage) wounds instead of rolling it.

My gaming group is doing this, and it is a hellota fun as long as you are willing to accept that the Kakita Bushi is the Supreme King of Attack Damage. It also makes the game somewhat Rocket Arena-y as combat-oriented characters become man-sized WMDs who can take out whole armies all on their own.

Roll and Keep is unique in the fact that the attack and damage is not as static as other games, and more static than others. It is actually on par with most systems that have had the power to remain around for 20+ years.

D&D = Pick Maneuver (which is tied to stance), Roll to Hit, Roll Damage.

WoD = Pick Maneuver, Roll to Hit, Roll Damage.

L5R = Kata, Stance, Maneuver, Hit, Damage.

The difference here is that the maneuvers in the other two systems are relatively easy to remember and implement. With the addition of a Kata's effects + Stance, you get additional baggage. Add to the fact that Maneuvers in and of themselves are dictated in required raises, which can then be modified by school techniques, and you get this overly intricate mess of Raises Cancelling or stacking before you even roll. Then there is Free Raise mitigation by opponents by way of school techniques, and it just gets to be too much.

Simplicity, in some respects is the way to go. Kata and Stance dancing are horribly implemented when combined with the bonuses from school techniques. If everything were redone to flat bonuses and penalties, it's a guarantee that the system would immediately get less complicated. Take stances back to the Basic 3 (Defense, Attack, Full Attack) and it would get even more simple. Also, it would be a foundation to balance the schools and other mechanics. I don't know in what way exactly, but simplification is a good thing.

New post because new ideas:

Can we fold damage into the attack roll somehow? Like maybe attack rolls do (n*strength+weapon damage) wounds instead of rolling it.

I ask because R&K rolls take a long time (compared to the other systems I play).

I wouldn't merge the damage into the attack roll. Some characters may hits a lot but do weak damage and some may hit a few but do tons of damage. This keeps a great balance in the system.

Let's take the actual system and transpose it into your suggestion. Does it mean that a character will only needs Strength for combat? If that's the case, that's the point of getting Agility? Or the other way around, if the system rolls Agility, what's the point of getting Strength? Roll depending on the weapon, then does it mean that the Mirumoto are stronger than a Matsu Berserker because their 3rd attack?

I do know that it will need a tweek if it does that way. However, I do not feel like it's that long. specially because of the lethality of the system. I rarely have skirmishes that last more than 3 rounds. But, if you feel like it takes a while, why don't you take a R&K application for a mobile device and everyone of the group uses that device? It's an alternative to reduce the time, for me I still prefer using real dice for real randomness.

Sorry, my wording was unclear in my previous post. Here's what I want to ask:

Can we take out the attack roll?

What I tried to suggest was that damage could become a static number based on strength, maybe (n*strength+weapon bonus) or something like that. Maybe Strength^2+weapon bonus. I'd be totally happy with this as an optional rule, especially for GMs who have to run all the NPCs.

If we take out a roll, we save time.

Why don't we use apps? We like dice. Dice are fun for us.

How long in table time do your combats last? Ours tend to last 3-5 rounds (depending on the number of combatants), but a round can easily take us 15-20 min. I'd love to hear others' average combat duration as well, in both rounds and table time.

Yes, we could try to be faster, but a) the swingy-ness of R&K rolls, the difficulty of estimating chance of success with raises, and the necessity of using raises given the lethality of the system means we make decisions carefully, and therefore slowly. We like lethality, which means we must continue to make carefully, so our game would be faster if something on the mechanics end changed; and b) if we can make streamlined options, why not provide them, at least as alternatives?

Can we fold damage into the attack roll somehow? Like maybe attack rolls do (n*strength+weapon damage) wounds instead of rolling it.

My gaming group is doing this, and it is a hellota fun as long as you are willing to accept that the Kakita Bushi is the Supreme King of Attack Damage. It also makes the game somewhat Rocket Arena-y as combat-oriented characters become man-sized WMDs who can take out whole armies all on their own.

How are you calculating damage? I'm not sure I want such powerful PCs... At least as a GM

Can we fold damage into the attack roll somehow? Like maybe attack rolls do (n*strength+weapon damage) wounds instead of rolling it.

My gaming group is doing this, and it is a hellota fun as long as you are willing to accept that the Kakita Bushi is the Supreme King of Attack Damage. It also makes the game somewhat Rocket Arena-y as combat-oriented characters become man-sized WMDs who can take out whole armies all on their own.

How are you calculating damage? I'm not sure I want such powerful PCs... At least as a GM

Damage is equal to the amount the Attack rolls exceeds the Armor TN plus the character's Strength plus the DR of the weapon (a fixed number). Here is an almost-complete description of it.

Also, samurai-on-samurai fights are actually quite even in our games (they tend to have a lot of tension as there is a certain amount of mutually assured destruction), things only go crazy when a samurai fights non-samurai (bandits, ashigaru, budoka, and their likes).