I was wondering whether we are on the wrong track talking about the time 'before' the contest. In RQ, the transition to melee rounds and use of weapon abilities usually clearly marked when the 'contest' began and it was time to think about rules. Are we, perhaps, slipping back into simulationist/RQ thinking? In a thread ages ago, someone suggested that silently killing a sentry in one blow, to sneak through a gate, consisted of a long Sneak versus Listen contest, with the killing blow being a coup de grace at the end: the contest starts well before the weapon is drawn.
If two champions are 'preparing' for a duel, perhaps the contest should begin when they start their preparations the night before. As Jane Williams showed, this can give other characters something to do.
Similarly, an ambush could begin with the hiding and perception, not merely as a consequence of failed perception.
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