I’m rereading your comments now, and referring back to other threads that have discussed this issue at length.
One big take away for me is that intents that don’t include some measure of, well, blood just don’t work. But BV also doesn’t do kill-right-now. Like you mentioned, Gnosego, about Bloody also meaning Messy but not Clean or This-Roll-Must-End-In-Death, I am finding. Given the nature of deciding to attack and defend, the chaos and unpredictability of violence, and more, BV works best when we both want to hurt each other and are not concerned if things get a little bloody (or worse), but we also might want at least a chance to back down. I like that it can deal some wounds and then gives each character a chance to have an epiphany, get knocked out, run off, etc. Thor’s comment below expresses it better than I can:
Continuing the discussion from Bloody Versus for Blood:
So would you ever use BV for two characters who want to fight to the death? Or is a normal Versus test / Fight! always preferred? Thor’s comments in this thread speak on this, too. BV outlines exactly how much damage, and therefore wound, someone is taking after a BV. It seems highly unlikely you will outright kill someone in a BV based on the # of successes.
But on the other hand, I could see two hypothetical characters who want to fight to the death benefitting from having a little BV first: they open with a BV and my character hits while my opponent doesn’t. I deal them a superficial/light/midi wound and “the fight is over” ala “It’s over Anakin, I have the high ground! Don’t try it!” We trade some more dialogue, maybe have a setting change, have some NPCs arrive to witness the horror of our violence. And at that point, if they want to keep fighting until they die, I’d probably roll a normal Versus test. Or maybe another BV and drag out the drama even further. I’d have to eventually give them the normal Versus with their full intent (“to kill via _____”) to let them actually achieve their means. But, seasoning them with wounds and drama before that happens seems rad.
RE: both fighters situationally disadvantaged by heavy rain and mud
So if I understand correctly, in a BV, both fighters would be at +1 Ob, which would mean they each need one additional attack success to actually meet the other’s total of defense successes? Hence the likelihood increasing that we both are properly defended but failed to attack successfully, slipping around in the mud? In that instance, the “neither side hits” would result, and the fighter with great defense success determines how we proceed because they are more stable and balanced.