Speeding up 7th Sea combat

One area where 7th Sea has issues is combat. Specifically, the damage system is annoyingly complicated, and suffers from problems similar to the 40k miniatures game. Far too many die rolls go into any one attack. Roll to hit. Roll for Active Defense. Roll for Fleshwounds. Roll to Soak Fleshwounds. Do some math, and erase your numbers from last time. Fail to soak, and take a Dramatic Wound. Wake up the player next to you 'cause it's finally his turn. In an effort to speed up the pace (and reduce the overall duration) of combat, I worked up the following house rules / alternate damage system.

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Weapon Stats for accellerated 7th Sea game

Basic Formula: Assume every Kept damage die scores a “5”, but every unkept die increases the result (by 1) of every Kept die. Soak Rolls are assumed to always score a “6” per die. No rolls are then needed, speeding up the system greatly.

Overflow damage: For normal weapons the number of dramatic wounds done is simply 1, +1 for every 10 points the Soak Number is exceeded by. Guns (Pistols & Muskets) do 2 Dramatic Wounds, and Cannons (and Grenades) do 4 Dramatic Wounds, +1 for every 10 points the Soak number is exceeded by. Whenever you suffer 1 or more Dramatic Wounds, your Fleshwounds are reset to 0, as per the rulebook.

Raises on the attack roll: Every Raise to the attack roll gives +1 unkept die to the damage, which equates to every Raise resulting in +1 Fleshwound / Kept Die of the weapons damage rating.

Weapon	Brawn 1	Brawn 2	Brawn 3	Brawn 4	Brawn 5	Brawn 6
Fencing Sword	3k2: 12	4k2: 14	5k2: 16	6k2: 18	7k2: 20	8k2: 22
Sabre/Bayonet/Axe	4k2: 14	5k2: 16	6k2: 18	7k2: 20	8k2: 22	10k2: 24
Heavy Weapon	5k2: 16	6k2: 18	7k2: 20	8k2: 22	10k2: 24	11k2: 26
Dagger	2k2: 10	3k2: 12	4k2: 14	5k2: 16	6k2: 18	7k2: 20
Throwing Knife	2k1: 6	3k1: 7	4k1: 8	5k1: 9	6k1: 10	7k1: 11
Long Bow	1k2: 5	2k2: 10	3k2: 12	4k2: 14	5k2: 16	6k2: 18
PanzerHand	1k2: 5	2k2: 10	3k2: 12	4k2: 14	5k2: 16	6k2: 18

Notes: I made an intermediary weapon category (for Handaxes, Thick-bladed Scimitars & Falchions, Bayonets, etc) so that the REAL Heavy Weapons (such as Two-Handed Swords, Battleaxes, Mauls, etc) could be a bit stronger.

I also made Longbows a 0k2 weapon, but allowed strength to be added to the roll. Overall this made them more powerful, but much weaker for a Brawn:1 individual who ought to have a hard time using one. Weaker characters are better off with a Pistol, Musket or Crossbow.

Weapon	Flesh	Drama	Notes on weapons that don't use Brawn
Crossbow	2k3: 10	1	Make sure you add the extra Kept die when a Crossbow shot is Raised.
Pistol	4k3: 18	2	Reload time = 20 - (3x Reload Knack)
Musket	5k3: 21	2	Bayonets on muskets are wielded with stats as for Heavy Weapons.
Cannon	6k5: 30	4	May be modified by type of Shot. Grape/Chain/Canister/Ball/Etc.
Grenade	4k4: 20	4	Fuse=1d10 phases. Roll Panache+Leaping/Sprinting (TN:20) for NO damage.

Improvised Weapon	Brawn 1	Brawn 2	Brawn 3	Brawn 4	Brawn 5	Brawn 6
Small, Sharp	1k2: 5	2k2: 10	3k2: 12	4k2: 14	5k2: 16	6k2: 18
Small, Blunt	1k1: 5	2k1: 6	3k1: 7	4k1: 8	5k1: 9	6k1: 10
Medium, Sharp	2k2: 10	3k2: 12	4k2: 14	5k2: 16	6k2: 18	7k2: 20
Medium, Blunt	2k1: 6	3k1: 7	4k1: 8	5k1: 9	6k1: 10	7k1: 11
Large, Sharp	3k2: 12	4k2: 14	5k2: 16	6k2: 18	7k2: 20	8k2: 22
Large, Blunt	3k1: 7	4k1: 8	5k1: 9	6k1: 10	7k1: 11	8k1: 12

Improvised Weapon Durability: When an Improvised Weapon is involved in a successful Attack or successful Active Parry, the opponent may spend 1 drama die to have it shatter. It is automatically reduced in size by one category. It is assumed the resulting smaller weapon is Blunt unless the wielder chooses to spend a drama die or an action to make it Sharp.
If the weapon was already Small before breaking, it is now destroyed and does 5 fleshwounds to the wielder.

Soak Rolls	Brawn 1	Brawn 2	Brawn 3	Brawn 4	Brawn 5	Brawn 6
Standard	2k2: 12	3k3: 18	4k4: 24	5k5: 30	6k6: 36	7k7: 42
w/ Toughness	3k3: 18	4k4: 24	5k5: 30	6k6: 36	7k7: 42	8k8: 48

Brute	Henchman	Hero/Villain
KO’d w/ 1 Hit	KO’d w/ Drama = Resolve	-1 Unkept die / Drama after Resolve x 1 KO’d w/ Drama = 2 x Resolve

Barehanded	Brawn 1	Brawn 2	Brawn 3	Brawn 4	Brawn 5	Brawn 6
Punch	1k1: 5	2k1: 6	3k1: 7	4k1: 8	5k1: 9	6k1: 10
Kick	1k2: 5	2k2: 10	3k2: 12	4k2: 14	5k2: 16	6k2: 18
UpperCut	3k1: 7	4k1: 8	5k1: 9	6k1: 10	7k1: 11	8k1: 12
ThroatStrike/EarClap = Automatic Dramatic Wound

I used this system for over two years of regular 7th Sea campaigning, and it worked very well.