"This is a lot like the style of play I favor. However, I don't see any specific way to prevent the sort of "I attack, she attacks, you attack, she attacks" pacing that most rpgs fall into. Would you consider this not much of an issue, or is there a way of solving it?"
Also, in your games, is there any advantage to be gained by trying one thing rather than another? Moving around behind an enemy vs. standing still and waiting for an enemy to approach; matching your weapon to your friends vs. selecting a different one that serves an alternate function? Going for a quick kill or fighting defensively to tire out the enemy? Is it effective to concentrate attacks on a stronger enemy or a weaker one? What kinds of design features give players an incentive to try one thing rather than another? "
Nexus D20 is different in that it uses a wound system. This changes the dynamics because you can die in one hit if you are stupid. It reflects actual combat much better and prevents people from standing up and shooting each other. Taking a wound gives you a penalty to all actions so you have a harder time doing anything after getting hit.
It also has a cascading defense rule. Each attack after the first one lowers your defense by 1. So you can overwhelm someone. This cascading is limited to 10 or 10 + your cover bonus. This makes cover extremely important and it causes players to act more logically. The only concession is that I don't make the wound penalties go to defense so it becomes a death spiral.
Different weapons have different ranges. These aren't the usual range increments rules.
[TABLE="width: 690"] [TR] [TD="width: 101"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Range (Penalty)[/FONT]
[/TD] [TD="width: 82"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Distance[/FONT]
[/TD] [TD="width: 288"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Weapon types[/FONT]
[/TD] [TD="width: 187"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Examples[/FONT]
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="width: 101"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Close Quarters[/FONT]
[/TD] [TD="width: 82"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]30ft./10m[/FONT]
[/TD] [TD="width: 288"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Melee, Pistols, Shotguns, SMG, Throwing Knives[/FONT]
[/TD] [TD="width: 187"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Inside a room.[/FONT]
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="width: 101"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Short (-5)[/FONT]
[/TD] [TD="width: 82"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]120ft./40m[/FONT]
[/TD] [TD="width: 288"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Pistols, Shotguns, SMG, Assault Rifles, Javelin, Bow[/FONT]
[/TD] [TD="width: 187"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Across the street ranges[/FONT]
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="width: 101"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Medium (-10)[/FONT]
[/TD] [TD="width: 82"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]240ft./80m[/FONT]
[/TD] [TD="width: 288"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]SMG, Assault Rifles, Bow, Rifle[/FONT]
[/TD] [TD="width: 187"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Down the street a few city blocks[/FONT]
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="width: 101"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Longbow (-15)[/FONT]
[/TD] [TD="width: 82"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]540ft./180m[/FONT]
[/TD] [TD="width: 288"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Assault Rifles, SAWs, Rifles, Longbow[/FONT]
[/TD] [TD="width: 187"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Across a field[/FONT]
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="width: 101"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Long (-20)[/FONT]
[/TD] [TD="width: 82"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]1050ft./350m[/FONT]
[/TD] [TD="width: 288"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Assault Rifles, SAWs, Sniper Rifles[/FONT]
[/TD] [TD="width: 187"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Across downtown[/FONT]
[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="width: 101"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Extreme (-30)[/FONT]
[/TD] [TD="width: 82"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]2400ft./800m[/FONT]
[/TD] [TD="width: 288"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Sniper Rifles[/FONT]
[/TD] [TD="width: 187"] [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]One end of a small city to another[/FONT]
[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]
So instead of saying that you are targeting something at 5 range increments you just say that you are trying to hit something at short range with a pistol. You can only hit something at medium range if you are a Master with a pistol. You can shoot at things at any range but the chances of hitting are outside of any real realm of probability.
If you attack something that is designed for long range at short range, such as a SAW, you take a penalty.
All of this makes it much quicker to do an attack.