So, what is Situational awareness: Combat for?
I'd interpret it as giving a bonus to your awareness, so in combat you're more likely to spot anything sneaking up behind you, or when the healer goes down, or similar. (Or possibly it would negate the penalties to spot you'd get 'cos you're distracted by the combat?)
In my RMSS group (and this also applies to Spacemaster privateers), the way it's done is different, and I'd like your thoughts on it.
The way it's used in our games is that every turn, you all make SA: combat rolls, and then starting at the lowest score (the worst), you declare your actions for that combat round in ascending order. The thinking is that the more SAC you have, the more you can read the combat, and so you can make your declarations knowing what others are doing.
This was used since I joined the group, it was only when I bought the rules myself (instead of borrowing them on the day) that I realised this wasn't in the rules. Has anyone else used this, or something like it?
It's also been suggested that given SAC is about 'knowing what's going on in combat', the way initiative works should be changed, so instead of using 3xQu, use In/SD/Qu+ranks in SAC.
This seems to me to be a step too far, turning what should be a niche skill that fighters have into something a lot more powerful.
What do people think?