Movement and Transport
Movement and Transport
My left foot works perfectly fine, but I still couldn’ **t walk if I didn’ **t have the right one! (Madagascar 3 - Europe’ **s Most Wanted, Film)
When you can no longer run, walk fast; when you can no longer walk fast, walk; when you can no longer walk, use a cane; but never hold yourself back. (Mother Teresa of Calcutta)
Movement can be distinguished based on which situation it applies to.
- Tactical, when fighting, precise distances are used, map and 1-meter-side squares
- Local, to explore an area, measured in meters per minute.
- Overland, to move from one place to another, measured in km per hour or per day.
Movement Types
When moving in different movement situations (Tactical, Local, Overland), creatures generally walk or run.
Walking: Walking represents an unhurried but determined movement of about 4 km per hour for an unencumbered human. As a Move Action, the creature travels the distance indicated in Movement.
Running: Means moving at about 12 km per hour for a human.
Running as a Move Action doubles movement speed. The character who runs has a penalty of 1d6 on Attack Rolls and 4 on Defense until the beginning of his next round. Only in non-combat situations does running triple movement, i.e., when using Local or Overland Movement.
Table: Movement and Distance and Speed: on Foot
This table shows the base values of land movement in non-combat situations.
| Movement type | Movement | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 6m | 9m | 12m | |
| Movement (Tactical) | |||
| Walking | 6m | 9m | 12m |
| Running (x2) | 12m | 18m | 24m |
| One minute (Local) | |||
| Walking | 36m | 54m | 72m |
| Running (x3) | 108m | 162m | 216m |
| One hour (Overland) | |||
| Walking | 3km | 4km | 6km |
| Running (x3) | 9km | 12km | 18km |
| One day (Overland) | |||
| Walking | 24km | 32km | 54km |
Tactical Movement
During combat, Tactical Movement is used. Distances are measured in one-meter squares, movement is managed through Move Actions.
A character can use 1 Action (of Movement) to move up to their full movement. They can perform the Move Action multiple times in the round, up to 3 times, thus moving three times their movement.
They can also perform a Sprint Action or Run and thus move twice their Movement in a single Action. However, this incurs penalties for those who run (-1d6 to Attack Roll, -4 Defense).
A character can perform up to 3 Sprint Actions, i.e., runs for the entire round thus traveling their movement * 6.
Hindered Movement - Difficult Terrain
Difficult terrain, snowy, icy, with rapid ascents and descents, full of debris or with obstacles or poor visibility can hinder movements. When movement is hindered, one moves at half speed, 2 Actions are needed to cover one’ **s distance of 9 meters (if one is human without encumbrance..), or with a Move Action one covers only 4 meters.
If there is more than one particular condition, add all applicable additional costs together, i.e., if a terrain is difficult and one moves on all fours, it means moving at a quarter of one’ **s movement.
In some situations, movement is so hindered that the distance that can be traveled per Action is minimal, in which case all 3 Actions can be used to move only 1 meter in any direction.
Do not apply this rule for crossing impassable terrain or for moving when it is not possible to do so in any way.
You cannot Sprint (Run) on difficult terrain, the player can attempt an Acrobatics check at DC 20 to be able to run but not to charge, if they fail they treat the terrain as Difficult, if they Critically Fail they fall prone on the spot.
You cannot Charge through difficult terrain unless you have the Rhino Feat (page ).
Moving from prone, Swimming or Crawling is considered difficult terrain, Climbing is doubly difficult.
Terrain where there are bodies of creatures is considered difficult.
Sharing Spaces
A medium or smaller sized creature can share the same square with a small sized creature.
A creature larger than medium can share its squares only if the other creature is at least 2 sizes smaller.
E.g. a Large sized monster can share its space only with a Small or smaller creature, if it were Huge it could share it with a Medium or smaller creature.
Tups in the tunnel: Tups is with his companions in a narrow tunnel in single file. He is in the fourth position.
Suddenly an enemy appears in front and Tups is the quickest to react, using a Move Action he passes through the 3 companions in front of him, remaining confined with the first in line.
He could decide to (among various possibilities):
\beginitemize[leftmargin=*]
- stay still without moving forward, let the companions in front of him act first.
- remain confined and attack. 2 Actions remain.
- push the companion (1 Action) into the previous square, making him become confined with another companion. 1 Action remains.
- push the companion (1 Action) into the next square! making him pass through the enemy’ **s square. 1 Action remains.
- go back (1 Action) to his initial square. 1 Action remains.
- try to pass through the opponent (1 Action), but if he fails he would be confined with the companion, damaging both and would only have 1 other Action left \enditemize
Exchanging Places
A character in contact with another creature can use one Action to exchange places with it. If the creature is hostile, an Athletic Check opposed to a Fortitude Saving Throw is required to succeed in exchanging places. For each size difference, whoever has the larger one takes a +1d6 bonus to the check. It costs a Reaction to the friendly creature.
Always in the path..: If you want a crude realism then it is also difficult terrain to pass through areas where there are friendly creatures.
Being confined with someone
Two confined creatures, or those sharing the same square and not respecting the rules of Sharing Spaces suffer a -1d6 to the Attack Roll and a -4 to Defense while confined.
Passing through narrow passages or constrictions
Passing through a space one size smaller is equivalent to moving in difficult terrain. E.g. a medium creature, which occupies 1 square, that has to pass through a narrow passage of half a square (half a meter) treats that path as difficult terrain.
It is not possible to pass through constrictions narrower than one size.
Local Movement
Characters exploring an area use local movement, measured in meters per minute.
In these situations, it is not essential to measure the distance precisely, but as soon as the situation becomes problematic or requires attention, the map is converted to tactical movement, squared and measured.
- Walking: A character can walk without problems in Local Movement for 8 hours a day.
- Running: A character can Run for a number of minutes equal to their Fortitude Saving Throw value without needing to rest (minimum 1 round).
Overland Movement
Characters covering long distances use overland movement. Overland movement is measured in hours or days. One day represents 8 hours of actual travel time. For rowing vessels, a day means rowing for 10 hours. For sailing ships, it represents 24 hours of movement.
Walking longer can be exhausting (see Forced March, below).
Hustle
You can hustle (movement*2) for 1 hour without problems. Hustling for a second hour between two sleep cycles causes 1 Nonlethal Damage and each additional hour causes twice the damage sustained in the previous hour. A character who suffers Nonlethal Damage from hustling is considered Fatigued for that day.
A Fatigued character cannot Run or Charge.
Running
It is not possible to Run for a long period of time. Attempts to Run and rest in cycles function as Hustling.
Forced March
In a normal day of walking, you can walk for 8 hours. The rest of the day is spent setting up and breaking down camp, resting, and eating.
If you walk more than 8 hours, you need to make a Fortitude Saving Throw at difficulty 11 +1 for each consecutive day of forced march or you become Fatigued. The Saving Throw is made every 2 hours beyond the 8 hours of walking otherwise the level of Fatigue increases.
The forced march can be maintained for a number of days equal to the Constitution value+1 before incurring Fatigue regardless of the outcome of the Saving Throw.
Terrain
The terrain on which you travel affects how much distance is covered in an hour or a day. Depending on the environment, climate, road quality, the Narrator can evaluate that movement can be normal, reduced by a third, reduced by half, or so impervious and difficult as to reduce it to a quarter of the total possible movement.
Mounted Movement
A mount carrying a rider can move at a hustle. However, the damage it takes is normal damage instead of nonlethal damage. It can also be forced on a forced march, but its Constitution checks automatically fail and the damage it takes is normal damage. Mounts are also considered Fatigued when they take damage from hustling or forced march.
Mount Barding
A mount can be equipped with armor. Light armor will confer a +2 bonus to Defense, Medium armor will grant a +4 bonus to Defense reducing movement by 25\%, Heavy armor will give a +6 to Defense lowering movement by 33\%.
Table: Mounts and Vehicles
| Mount or Vehicle | Transported Encumbrance | Movement | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|
| (CdC) | Per hour | Per day | |
| Galloping Dog | 30 | 6km | 36km |
| Galloping Saurovall | 60 | 8km | 48km |
| War Saurovall | 80 | 7km | 42km |
| Pony Saurovall | 30 | 5km | 30km |
| Draft Saurovall | 70 | 5km | 30km |
| Camel | 50 | 8km | 48km |
| Elephant | 160 | 6km | 36km |
| Vessel | |||
| Raft or Barge (pole or towing) | 225 | 0.75km | 7.5km |
| Rowing Barge** | 425 | 1.5km | 15km |
| Rowing Boat** | 200 | 2.25km | 22.5km |
| Sailing Ship | 800 | 3km | 72km |
| Warship (sails and oars) | 2200 | 3.5km | 90km |
| Longship (sails and oars) | 600 | 5km | 108km |
| Galley (oars and sails) | 3300 | 6km | 144km |
A mount can carry a creature on its back only if it is of a size smaller than its own. The daily movement is intended for 6 hours of riding, beyond these hours the mount becomes exhausted requiring a full day of rest.
Rafts, barges, and rowing barges are used on lakes and rivers. If following the current, add the speed of the current (usually 4.5 km/h) to the vessel’ **s speed. In addition to being propelled with poles or oars for 10 hours, the vessel can also be carried by the current for another 14 hours, if someone is able to guide it, thus adding another 100 km in 24 hours. These vessels cannot be propelled by oars against a very strong current, but can be pulled upstream by draft animals on the shore.
Rafts and Barges equipped for transport are small inns that allow a frugal meal of the daily catch and some fruit and vegetables brought from shore. There are no rooms for sleeping. To those who request it, for a small fee, mats are laid out and worn mattresses are unrolled, and if the climate makes it necessary, blankets are provided.
The guidance of the Raft or Barge takes place in 8-hour daily shifts, to allow continuous navigation. When it is night, navigation stops or proceeds with only the force of the current if not impetuous and there are no known dangers. By paying an extra fee, it is possible to navigate 24 hours.
If the journey lasts more than a few days, it becomes an opportunity to get to know the characters when in the long evenings they gather together with other guests and sailors to consume the meal and tell stories.
Flight and Pursuit
In round-by-round movement, it is impossible for a slow character to escape a fast character without some kind of help. Similarly, it is not a problem for a fast character to escape a slower one.
When the pursuit takes place in a city or in an environment that allows hiding or making one lose track, if the speed of the two characters involved is the same, the pursuer and the pursued must make 3 consecutive opposed Reflex Saving Throws with Stealth as modifier. Whoever wins the challenge manages to lose their tracks or catch the fugitive.
If the pursuit takes place in an open area where there is no way to hide or make one lose track, perform 3 opposed Fortitude Saving Throws to determine which of the two parties can maintain the pace longer. Whoever wins the challenge manages to shake off the pursuer or catch the fugitive.
Load Capacity and Transport: Encumbrance
Weight and Encumbrance
Carrying treasures, dragon pieces, complete armor not to mention disproportionate weapons or battering rams, pulleys, and hoists, make movement difficult.
When evaluating the weight carried, also consider the encumbrance! Carrying a 12-meter x 6-meter roll of silk is not a demanding physical activity, it will be a few kilos, but the encumbrance is such that it does not allow further load.
There can be light but extremely bulky objects (hollow logs, silk carpets..) or small but very heavy ones (mercury spheres, gold-woven clothes), for all these objects the weight value must be reasoned also in function of the encumbrance.
Each object has its own Encumbrance value, generally every 3 kg has 1 as an Encumbrance factor. This value can also become 5kg if the object is easily transportable. The Encumbrance values of objects are added together to give the total load carried which is compared with the Load Capacity of the creature.
Objects with little weight and volume have Light (L) encumbrance. These objects count as 1 Encumbrance for every 10 objects. Every 500 coins has 1 Encumbrance.
Load Capacity
The Load Capacity (CdC) of a creature is given by the sum of Size, Strength, and Constitution.
The Size of a creature grants a bonus to CdC (Load Capacity) equal to 6 if Small, 12 if Medium, 24 if Large. The Encumbrance of a creature if dragged by weight is equal to half its Load Capacity, given by size, plus its encumbrance. If carried by weight, the CdC will be equal to the Encumbrance the creature has.
When the total CdC is exceeded, then moving and performing skill checks based on Dexterity becomes problematic. One becomes encumbered terrein is considered difficult and skill checks based on Dexterity have a -3 penalty.
If the CdC is doubled, then one can no longer move due to the encumbrance of the weights carried.
E.g. Tups is wearing a Ring Mail (encumbrance 4), a longsword (medium weapon, encumbrance 2), a mace (enc. 2), 18 light objects (enc. 1), a backpack (enc. 1), a tent (enc. 2), a lantern (enc 1). Total Encumbrance = 13.
Tups is a Medium creature with Strength -1 and Constitution +0 (he’ **s a bit frail and weak..) this gives him a Load Capacity of 12-1=11.
Encumbrance is higher than Tups’ **s CdC! He must be careful, it’ **s better if he leaves the tent on his Saurovall…
If the load is placed on a cart, you can push it at full movement if within your CdC, at half movement if within twice the CdC, and at a quarter of the movement if within four times the CdC.
In case more creatures push or pull a cart, consider as CdC the highest one and add half of the other creatures. A cart can be pushed by 2 creatures +1 for size of the cart larger than medium.
Larger and Smaller Creatures
The Table: CdC transported based on size shows the Load Capacity based on size. The values of Strength and Constitution must be added to the value given by size.
| Size | Enc. | Size | Enc. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fine | 1/4 | Large | 24 |
| Diminutive | 1 | Huge | 36 |
| Tiny | 3 | Gargantuan | 54 |
| Small | 6 | Colossal | 81 |
| Medium | 12 | Creatures with 4 or more legs can carry larger loads. |
Table: transport modifiers for creatures with multiple legs
| Creature Legs | CdC |
|---|---|
| 4 legs | x2 |
| 6 legs | x2.5 |
| 8 legs | x3 |
| 12 legs | x4 |
| every other 2 legs | +0.5 |
These Tables are to be used for unusual animals not indicated or comparable to those in the Table: Mounts and Vehicles, page .
Other Types of Movement
One of the problems concerns the speed of light and the difficulties involved in trying to exceed it. You can’ **t exceed it. Nothing travels faster than the speed of light, with the possible exception of bad news, which follows its own specific laws. (Douglas Adams)
Swimming
See Environment Chapter for swimming checks (page ) and underwater combat (page ).
Climbing
A creature with a Climbing speed has a +2d6 bonus on all Climbing checks, when necessary. The creature, if it has to make a Climbing check to climb any wall or slope, can always choose to take 10, even if hurried or threatened during the climb.
If a creature with a Climbing speed attempts a rapid climb (see above), it is as if it is performing a Sprint Action and makes a single Climbing check at DC 13. If the creature does not have a Climbing score indicated, the value is considered equal to its CR + Movement in meters for Climbing.
A creature with Climbing Speed has no penalties to Defense during the climb and has no penalties to Attack Rolls while attacking.
If one does not have the Climbing movement type, it is considered as doubly difficult terrain, and therefore one moves at a quarter of the Movement.
Burrowing
A creature with a Burrowing speed can dig tunnels through the earth, but not through rock unless the descriptive text says otherwise. Creatures cannot charge or run while burrowing.
Most burrowing creatures do not leave tunnels that other creatures can use (either because the material they burrow through fills in the tunnel behind them or because they don’ **t actually displace material when they burrow), see the individual creature’ **s description for details.
Walking - Land Speed
Land Speed is the normal speed for characters who do not climb, swim, or fly.
Flying
Flying for a creature endowed with this ability is like walking for a terrestrial creature. A creature endowed with flight uses its actions to move but will hardly be influenced by difficult terrain.
A flying creature that is damaged in a single blow by half of its maximum Hit Points must make a Fortitude Saving Throw at DC 17 or fall to the ground.
Hovering
Hovering (Hover) is the ability that allows one to remain floating in the air, at the desired height, even if one does not move or is unconscious.