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Movement in Combat
By Jon Creffield

Here is a method to determine what happens when an avatar attempts fast paced or unusual movement during an ABC.  As with any addition to the rules it adds extra dice rolls and a slightly higher degree of complexity to the resolution of a battle and should only be used by a Lejend Master who finds the material pleasing.

Note also that the movement rates proposed here are easier to remember but less accurate than those given in the Movement and Exploration table (a copy of which appears at the end of this document for your reference.)

Base Move Roll

When hazardous movement is attempted an avatar, NAC, or other being is required to roll D%; this is referred to as a Base Move Roll, or BMR for short.

To figure each combatants BMR add the avatar’s (or other being’s) Precision Base Rating to his adjusted Speed Base rating, the resulting score is his Base Move Roll (BMR), a number that must be rolled equal to or under on D% for a “move action” to be successful.  Avatars with Luck or Minstrelsy may add 10% of their score in such Abilities to their BMR.

 Example: Trod Truefoot has P 49 and S 12; his base move score is 61.  If Trod had Minstrelsy Ability at 43 and Luck ability at 21 he would add 6 points ([43+21] x 10% = 6.4) for a total BMR of 67.

Normal Move

A being may move up to their adjusted Speed BR in a single ABC and still perform attack actions.  Moving up to one’s normal movement in an ABC incurs no chance of an accidental fall or other mishap. 

Example: Trod Truefoot’s Speed of 12 allows him to move 12 feet without risk and perform an attack, or attacks.

Dash

If an avatar, NAC or beast needs a burst of speedier movement then they can opt to dash and cover 3 x adjusted Speed Base Rating in feet per ABC; doing so might incur some risk of falling.

If the footing is poor or there are other impediments to movement a roll must be made against BMR, success indicates that the movement goes ahead as intended, failure requires that a Disaster Avoidance check be made as per the rules on page 137 of the Lejend Master’s Lore book, if successful the avatar has stumbled but managed to right himself but has made only a normal move (Speed BR in feet), this ends his action for the ABC.  A partial success indicates that the avatar has fallen to his knees; the following ABC must be spent in regaining his feet, or else he must fight from that position.  A failure means that the avatar has sprawled to the floor; the following two ABC must be spent in regaining his feet, or else he must fight from a prone position.

If the disaster avoidance check resulted in a roll of “00” some injury has been suffered; the LM should roll on the Falling and Impact Harm table from page 137 of the Lejend Master’s Lore book as if the fall occurred from a height of 10 feet.

If the LM deems the situation suitably hazardous the Base Move Roll, and distance covered, is modified as follows:

Severe Constraints to Movement:   +21 to +50 or more.  In cases where light is absent or the ground is very slippery, rugged, cluttered with bodies or other hazards, moving (as might the deck of a ship in a storm), or otherwise extremely difficult to traverse the LM should penalize base move rolls by the addition of 21 to 50 points.  Movement is reduced by ½ the normal amount.

Constraints to Movement:   +10 to +20.  In cases where successful movement is impeded by poor lighting, an uneven surface, a degree of clutter, mud or some other hazard not of major sort the LM should penalize BMR by the addition of 10 to 20 points.  Movement is reduced by ¼ the normal amount. 

Example: Trod Truefoot wants to dash up a wooded slope; the ground is broken and has roots and brambles cluttering its surface; the LM decides that these make for a constraint to movement and applies a +20 to the Base Move Roll.  Trod rolls a 38, which is adjusted by the +20 to 58, a success!  Had the final result been in excess of Trod’s BMS of 67 a disaster avoidance check would have been required.  Normally trod would dash 36 feet per ABC (Speed of 12 x 3) but the constraints to movement reduce this by ¼, so Trod advances only 28 feet up the slope.

Running

There are times when an avatar needs to flee a terrible foe or sprint to the aid of a friend.  A creature can run 5 x adjusted Speed BR in feet per ABC.  In some circumstances it will be impossible for an avatar to run full pelt, particularly in indoor or subterranean settings; the LM should require that an avatar first dash for 1 ABC and only thereafter will they move at the run rate. 

An avatar running full pelt incurs some disadvantages; they lose all protection conferred by Minstrelsy or Unarmed Combat Ability, will fall if subject to such powers as iron agony or sticky, and would have no chance of detecting the presence of extraordinary effects like those produced by a Fnawar’s Invisible Inferno activation.  Furthermore Ability checks to avoid surprise are denied to the running avatar, NAC, or beast.  Lastly, if the LM calls for a BMR check and the roll results in a failure the runner makes his disaster avoidance check against 2xSpeed rather than 4xSpeed and a roll of 96-00 indicates that falling harm is taken.

Example: Trod Truefoot is fleeing along an unlit passage; his only source of illumination is a torch, the floor is covered with bones and skulls, and to add yet further difficulty the recent activities of an ice drake have left all covered in a layer of slippery frost!  The LM decides that these hazards present a severe constraint to movement; this reduces Trod’s running speed by half to 30 feet per ABC (Trod’s normal running speed is S 12 x 5, or 60 feet per ABC).  Trod’s player rolls D% and gets 32, normally this would be a success but the LM penalizes the roll by +40 making the final score 72, above Trod’s BMR of 67.

The LM indicates that after a normal move (12 feet in this case) Trod stumbles.  At this point Trod’s player must make a disaster avoidance check at 2xSpeed BR.  Trod is lucky and rolls 18 – a partial success!  The LM states that in the shadowy darkness Trod tripped on a loose bone, skidded on a patch of ice, and ended up on his knees up against the passageway wall.  It will take Trod 1 ABC to regain his feet, let’s hope nothing catches up with him as he recovers from his tumble…

Moving to attack

As has already been stated an avatar can attack a foe within range of his “normal move”.

Example: Trod Truefoot, with a Speed BR of 12, can move to, and attack, any foe within 12 feet of him in the course of a single ABC.

If armed with a weapon that grants considerable reach, such as a longspear, its range may be added for the purpose of determining which foes can be struck.

Example: Trod Truefoot, armed with a pike, advances towards an enemy some 20 feet distant; normally he would not be able to make an attack but his pike has a range score of 14, thus he can move just 6 feet and be in position to attack his foes.  Indeed, any opponent within 26 feet might be made the target of an advance and attack in that ABC.

Targets further distant than ones’ normal move and weapon range can only be attacked in the same ABC as movement occurs if charged.  Only targets within 2 x adjusted Speed BR in feet can be targeted.  For game purposes a charge is rapid, straight-line movement towards a foe.  A BMR check is required if the footing is poor or otherwise treacherous and disaster avoidance chances are as given for a run above.

Such an attack ignores the normal initiative procedure; whichever combatant has the longest weapon makes their attack first.  Of course long weapons have disadvantages at close quarters (see page 195 of the Lejendary Rules for all Players book for further details.) 

The charging assailant adds +5 points to any harm they inflict.  However if a bident/military fork, pike, pole-arm, long spear, or trident strikes the charging avatar he will suffer double the harm rolled on the dice, sans ability adjustments that are added afterwards, due to the impetus of the charge further impaling him.

Only one attack can be made at the end of the charge; neither multiple weapon attacks nor two weapon attacks can be made.

In all cases the static defender gains a +10 bonus to his ASP when striking at a charging adversary and, if aware of his attacker and facing him, gets to make a free attack even if his action for the ABC has already taken place!

As noted before the charge must be in a straight line, if obstacles need to be circumvented or other combatants avoided then the movement is not a charge and no attack can be made at the end of it.

Example: Trod Truefoot, now armed with a battleaxe, wants to attack Mog the Mad Monk who stands some 20’ away from him across a torch-lit cave with a broken and uneven surface.  As Mog is about to kill Trod’s friend Bella the Beautiful time is of the essence; Trod’s player indicates that his avatar will make a charge against Mog.

The LM requires that Trod make a BMR check but as the footing is not too bad he applies no penalties.  Trod rolls 66, a success!

Mog is armed with a trident; comparing this weapon’s range with that of Trod’s battleaxe the LM finds that the mad monk will attack first as the trident’s range is 4 while the battleaxe’s range is 3.

Before making Mog’s attack the LM increases his Weapons score from 47 to 57 as the monk is a static defender receiving a charge.  The LM rolls a 22 and tells Trod’s player that his unfortunate avatar has run on to the points of the monk’s trident.  When rolling for harm on d20 the LM doubles the number rolled and then adds Mog’s harm bonuses from abilities.  Rolling a 12 he doubles this to 24 and then adds 8 more points because of the monk’s Tricks and Physique Abilities, 32 points in all.

Thanks to a healthy disposition and some leather half armor Trod survives this harm and counter attacks, rolling a 04, a special hit bypassing armor!  When rolling for harm Trod adds an extra 5 points because he was charging, hopefully the total will kill the mad monk outright.

Missiles and Movement

The discharge of a crossbow, bow or sling cannot be combined with movement, save for minor adjustments to facing.  A Knife or other very light projectile can be thrown after, or before, a normal move.

Other hand hurled weapons can be thrown after a normal move or a charge and in the latter case gain a +5 harm bonus.  Note that if the charge move brought the assailant within 5 feet of the defender then the weapon cannot be hurled and a normal mêlée attack must be made.  

In summation: one may move and attack an opponent within one’s Speed Base Rating in feet, or charge and attack an opponent within 2 x S BR, or dash, but not attack, 3 x S BR, or run, but not attack, 5 x S BR after 1 ABC of dash movement.

Note that BMR rolls can be used to adjudicate situations in which avatars are jumping over obstacles, swinging from chandeliers, running across tabletops or any other circumstances where movement is unusual.  The LM should apply whatever penalties (or bonuses) he sees fit when judging such endeavors.  

For purposes of comparison the Movement and Exploration table is appended hereafter.  This table gives a more accurate model for movement speeds than that given above.

Movement and Exploration:

Speed Base Rating Table for Movement in Feet per Second:

Speed

Walking

Trotting*

Running

(MPH Running)

5

1.5

4.5

9

(6+)

5.5

1.65

4.95

9.9

(7-)

6

1.8

5.4

10.8

(7+)

6.5

1.95

5.85

11.7

(8-)

7

2.1

6.3

12.6

(8+)

7.5

2.25

6.75

13.5

(9)

8

2.4

7.2

14.4

(9+)

8.5

2.55

7.65

15.3

(10)

9

2.7

8.1

16.2

(11-)

9.5

2.85

8.75

17.1

(11+)

10

3

9

18

(12)

10.5

3.15

9.45

18.9

(13)

11

3.3

9.9

19.8

(13+)

11.5

3.45

10.35

20.7

(14)

12

3.6

10.8

21.6

(15-)

12.5

3.75

11.25

22.5

(15)

13

3.9

11.7

23.4

(15+)

13.5

4.05

12.15

24.3

(16)

14

4.2

12.6

25.2

(17-)

14.5

4.35

13.05

26.1

(17+)

15

4.5

13.5

27

(18)

15.5

4.65

13.95

27.9

(18+)

16

4.8

14.4

28.8

(19)

16.5

4.95

14.85

29.7

(20)

17

5.1

15.3

30.6

(21-)

17.5

5.25

15.75

31.5

(21+)

18

5.4

16.2

32.4

(22)

18.5

5.55

16.65

33.2

(22+)

19

5.7

17.1

34.2

(23-)

19.5

5.85

17.55

35.1

(24)

20

6

18

36

(24+)

21.5

6.15

18.45

36.9

(25)

22

6.3

18.9

37.8

(25+)

 

 

*Also normal movement in one ABC of time:) 

 

 

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