Uncertain Fortune Up Front Mechanics

From a game mechanic standpoint, one of my ongoing conundrums, is how to keep pacing that feels seamless in the narrative, and yet has the tension that comes from various uncertainty mechanics.  The "game" part of an rpg introduces something particular that does not exist in strict storytelling (even pure storytelling games with no randomizers), and that particular something is part of the fun.  Just as sometimes you want the particular savor of a book over a movie, or a movie over a book, or a play over either, you likewise want an rpg over any of those.  Each has just a slightly different flavor that nonetheless matters.

But one of the problems I have with too many mechanics, is that they are terrible for keeping a good pace.  This is why I nearly abhor combat mechanics of the type that make up games like Pathfinder for instance.  While I think PF is a very well designed game, especially if you like tactical crunch, it just is not fun to me to have a two minute (in-game time) combat take two hours of play time.  I want that two hours for more story.  Combat mechanics happen to be one of the most common types of mechanic with the level of granularity that eats up time, whereas so many other mechanics are broad-brushed into a single task roll with a pass/fail outcome.  Some systems may add the granularity of a non-binary pass/fail outcome and have some variation in how much of a pass or how much of a failure to make it more interesting.  Fate adds success at a cost, and furthermore, allows virtually any obstacle to be handled with contest mechanics in which a series of successes compose the overall action.

One more reason I like Fate.

I like the idea that you can turn a combat into a contest to accumulate 'x' number of successes to win, but you can also do the same with a hostage negotiation, and the same again with a stealth break in.  So the only problem for my taste, is the actual time in play to roll and wait on the dice.  I am considering the idea of having all players roll at once, and then just put one die out at a time while describing action.  As I see it, the benefit, is that you still have the savor of randomness and the uncertainty of not knowing how many is in the GM's pool, but at the same time, being able to flow with the narrative more smoothly.

I suppose this is a fortune up front mechanic, but maybe it is a sub-species that might be called uncertain fortune up front.

Just mulling...