Time Based Combat System

[Eloel]

The delay-ready topic got me thinking. What would happen if the game worked off of seconds, instead of rounds? Initiative would still be in place for 'who goes first' instants, but it would only be useful when you're on the same time count as other people. Actions would take seconds to resolve, and would be resolved at the end of the time.

Example:
Bob the Fighter is fighting Jack the Wizard (20ft gap)
Bob wins initiative.

0 - Bob moves towards Jack (5ft/second). Jack starts casting Fireball (5 seconds casting time)

1 - Bob is still moving. Jack casts. (4 seconds left)
2 - Bob is still moving. Jack casts. (3 seconds left)
3 - Bob is still moving. Jack casts. (2 seconds left)
4 - Bob attacks Jack (2 seconds). Jack casts. (1 second left)
5 - Bob eats a fireball. Bob is damaged. Bob attacks Jack (1 second). Jack casts Ray of Frost (2 seconds)
6 - Jack is damaged. Bob attacks Jack (2 seconds). Jack casts Ray of Frost (1 second)
...

I still need to figure out what to do if someone moves while being attacked.
Options:
Decrease attacking time to 1 second.
Increase minimum moving time to 2 seconds.
Attack of Opportunities can't be avoided.

All actions would have an inherent time, with very few ways to reduce them.

So, what do you think?

[AgentPaper]

One thing I'd like to see would be a system where everyone's turns actually happen simultaneously. Initiative would only determine which action happens first in the case where two things happen at the same time, and if one happens, the other doesn't.

[ZeroNumerous]

Exalted uses ticks in this exact manner.

Tick 0- Joe acts. He dashes.
Tick 1- Bob acts. Starts Cast Sorcery Action(Speed 5). Joe moves up to his Dexterity in yards.
Tick 2- Joe moves up to his Dexterity in yards again. Bob is still casting.
Tick 3 through 5- Joe either keeps moving or reaches and attacks Bob.
Tick 6- Bob finishes casting his spell.

[Altair_the_Vexed]

I think the OP's system might slow combat down too much - you'll be dealing with many actions going on at the same time, so each second of combat needs input from each player and the GM.
Effectively, you've increased the number of actions sixfold, because each character in the fight has to be accounted for each second, even when they're continuing their stated multi-second action.

A system for doing something similar that a few friends and I were thinking of was to keep the six-second round, but assign each action type a number of "initiative steps" which it takes to complete, and have movement and standard actions declared separately. This only means that each character will have two actions to state each round (unless they're taking a full round action).
Aside from that change, combat runs as normal.

[The Rose Dragon]

Exalted uses ticks in this exact manner.

Tick 0- Joe acts. He dashes.
Tick 1- Bob acts. Starts Cast Sorcery Action(Speed 5). Joe moves up to his Dexterity in yards.
Tick 2- Joe moves up to his Dexterity in yards again. Bob is still casting.
Tick 3 through 5- Joe either keeps moving or reaches and attacks Bob.
Tick 6- Bob finishes casting his spell.

Only 2nd Edition though. First Edition uses the classic World of Darkness initiative system.

[HasegawaTakumi]

You might want to try this