In the case of Indy vs Arab Swordsman, the swordsman attacks with his sword. I don't see why Indy can't simply defend himself with his gun. If the swordsman had to close first i'd give Indy a bonus to boot (apart from the hefty edge). If the swordsman was already close and Indy didn't have his gun readied (but chose to defend with it anyway), i'd give the swordsman a bonus.
Assuming that this is an extended contest, and the first exchange doesn't end the contest, then Indy can perfectly well use his gun again when it's his turn to act.
In my experience it's quite difficult for the first actor to chose a venue of action that *forces* the opponent to use a *specific* ability (unless it's "i challenge you to a game of chess", knowing full well that your opponent sucks at chess; of course, this assumes that you can actually get your opponent to accept the challenge in the first).
An appropriate defense action is all actions that, should you succeed, thwart the actor's attempt. Some may be easier, some may be more difficult, depending on what's appropriate in the situation. Another appropriateness mod comes from choosing an ability that is suitable for your intended defense.
If Evil Meldek casts a turn-to-frog spell upon you from afar, you *can* defend yourself with "swordsman". However, since you have to close first, i'd give you a big penalty. If you defend with a ranged weapon that you don't have readied, you'd get a slightly lower penalty. If you defend with "hide", no penalty (assuming he has to target you for his magic to work). If you defend with magic, no penalty. If you defend with "plead for mercy" i'd give you a big penalty, since Evil Meldek is already in the process of cursing you.
If you knew Evil Meldek was *going to* curse you, you could take the initiative and "plead for mercy". Whether this would be an ability test or contest, and with what mods, depends on how anxious Evil Meldek is to turn you into a frog.
>So what this comes to in the end as that generally people will use one of
>their best abilities, if not their *best* ability, in all statements of
>intent in order to get high APs, and then swap abilities as appropriate.
Was this statement meant to be proscriptive or descriptive? If descriptive, i'd say you are wrong.
In my experience, people tend to choose the most appropriate ability rather than the highest rated.
-- - Mikael Raaterova [.sig omitted on legal advice]
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