I've been GMing shadowrun for a few months now, and I'm really starting to wonder about the function of multiple IPs in the system. Obviously my players jumped on them right away, I don't think anyone in any of the games I've run have had less than 2, and thus, the NPCs they come across always have multiple to compensate, but from all the combats I've run, I've probably hit the second Combat Turn maybe four times, tops. I've never reached a third Combat Turn.
So what this basically means is, apparently every gunfight, ever, ends in less than 6 seconds. It just seems silly to me when I think about it, and it makes some of the more cinematic moments I've wanted to try, like having the team pinned down by gunfire in a time sensitive situation, such as the building they're in about to explode, all but impossible.
So what I'm wondering is, if I completely stripped out multiple passes, and all ware and spells that grant them, what do I actually lose? If everyone only had one pass, what changes, other than the in-game time combat takes?
And has anybody else ever tried that?