It would be very nice to have a table of what takes a free action and what takes a full action, a simple menu.  I think this is a start:

 

Full:

* An attack

* Use of a Secret Art (usually at a -10 penalty for haste)

* Moving more than 10 yards (free on a crit or with Lightfoot 2)

* Large-scale tactical opposition

* Inhaling

 

Free:

* Speech-only mundane presence attacks and similar

* 10 yards movement (or more with a crit or Lightfoot 2)

* Getting up once knocked down

* Minor tactical opposition

 

What am I missing?

 

 

On Timing of Kung Fu: It looks like you want Xia Joss and the River to be special in that they can be used after the roll, whereas Kung Fu must be used before the roll.  That's a big change.

 

On Information Hiding: So dice pools are visible, but the

often-more-powerful static modifiers aren't, and Chi expenditure isn't visible.  Further, the defender doesn't know how good the attack roll is when choosing his defensive buffs.  I'm not sure that's a change.

 

These last two together should reduce the amount of over-the-top action: they discourage risk-taking by giving it a cost.  Further, they'll have an interesting effect on combat: you've got to defend more often, because you don't know when the attacker wiffed.  You need Chi for that, so can't risk it on big attacks up front.

 

-Brian