Range, Movement, and Arenas
Discrete ranges are not used in this game at all since all combat is largely narrative. A move or attack has an ambiguous range of efficacy that is represented in terms of Arenas.
Arenas
- Arenas are an arbitrary area that encapsulate a part of the action.
- They can vary in size from large ballrooms to small basements to an open field to the deck of a moving airship.
- Arenas may also confer Hazards and circumstantial bonuses depending on special situations.
- For a list of Arena Bonuses and Penalties - Go here
- Any character or participant in combat occupies an Arena and is able to interact easily with characters or things in the same Arena.
- Multiple Arenas can form the battle map that show movement relationships and provide information on where people are and what bonuses are available where.
Movement
- Using a Minor Action will allow you to move anywhere in an Arena, even up to other characters (entering Melee Range).
- Moving to an adjacent Arena takes a Major Action, which costs an action point as normal.
The Ranges
- There are five Ranges in combat:
- Close Range (about a few dozen feet) - any distance that is within an Arena.
- Melee Range (about a few feet) - The range for melee weapons.
- Moving into Melee Range requires a Minor action if you are both in the same Arena.
- Melee Range is depicted on a map by touching two character tokens in the same arena.
- Grand Melee: Multiple characters in melee range are considered to be in melee with each other as well.
- Example: If Willet is in Melee range with Ava and Marl, Ava and Marl are considered in melee range of eachother.
- Long Range (Up to a few hundred feet) - Any distance that is within an adjacent arena or closer.
- Extreme Range (Up to a few thousand feet) - Any distance in any Arena that is within line of sight (see below).
Blocking
- A character can spend a Minor Action to Block all other characters in the same Arena from moving into Melee Range of an object, another character, or even one of the exits to an Arena.
- In order to run past, you must win an Athletics Roll against that character, though other rolls might be used instead at the Judge's approval.
- Essentially, the Blocking character is a physical obstacle and needs to be moved, knocked down or otherwise disabled first.
- Objects and circumstances can also Block characters like barricades, locked doors, and heights, in which case a roll is still required to bypass based on the nature of the obstacle at the Judge's approval.