Playing with battlemaps

[Kryptovidicus]

As the Loch Varn scenario comes with tiles (from the book 0 kickstarter), does this mean there will be official rules to use these as well? Or are they not meant for D&D like games? As players are searching the factory, this scenario comes closest to a dungeoncrawl.

[Clovis]

SoE was initially intended to be a miniature-free role-playing game, and as far as I know, it will remain thus. Of course, members of the community are free to adapt the rules as they see fit to play with the tiles, but no ruleset is planned as far as the official releases are concerned.

[Almeidafreak]

Sorry for bumping this, but the subject interests me.

I think 13th Age's movement rules would fit alright in SoE, without breaking the mood of it! What do you think?

[Iris]

... I know nothing about playing with battlemaps, if someone does... ?

[Nonimo967]

I apologize for necroposting. I felt that it was better to respond here than make a new thread altogether.

Anyway, I am new to SoE but have had a variety of experiences with other tbrpgs, namely DnD and Pathfinder. I felt that due to the size of the group and their play style, it would be easier to get into it if there were more basis for miniature/token combat.

These are my homebrew rules for combat, they emulate DnD's grid size which is 5ft. per square in a grid. I have already converted both weapon ranges and the summoning chart to suit this.

In a battle encounter, you have movement, action and reaction.

You can only attack entities that are adjacent of you. (No diagonal attacks.)

If you have a hostile entity that is adjacent to you, you are considered engaged in combat. While while in combat, you can only move 5 ft. around the hostile entity.

Keep in mind that you can be engaged by multiple entities, and all movement restrictions apply for each hostile entity.

You can use the "Movement Attitude" to disengage with a hostile entity. You will then have to roll a Feats Roll (or tumbling) against the opponent's Close Combat. You will need to make the opposing roll for each engaged entity.

Failing a Disengage will result with failing to move and wasting an action.

If you succeed on a Disengage, you will be in a "Rush" state and may now freely move an amount of feet based on Combativeness:
Combativeness: 1 /2~4 / 5
Movement: 10 ft. /15 ft./20 ft.

While in the "Rush" state, hostile entities will need to roll an Engage Roll (similar to Disengage) before they can attempt to attack you.

Failing an Engage will allow the fleeing entity to automatically move 5 ft. away from the initial space.

On subsequent turns, as long you choose the Movement Attitude, you will remain in the "Rush" state. During this time, you can attempt to run by rolling an Easy (8) Feats roll which will give you 20 ft. of additional movement. You may also attempt to sprint by rolling a Standard (11) Feats roll which will give you 20 ft. of additional movement.

The type of terrain may raise the difficulty of the base rolls and up to the Storyteller's discretion.

Failing the rolls will cause you to stumble, causing you to move at half the amount of the initial combativeness movement and end your turn which will also remove your "Rush" state. Rolling a natural 1 will cause to trip, stopping your movement, ending your turn and removing your "Rush" state.

Choosing other attitudes on subsequent turns will end the "Rush" State, however you may still move with your movement base on combativeness.


Flanking Rules:

Directional Facing is taken into consideration with these rules. You can face in the 4 cardinal directions. If you are to engage a free opponent that is expecting you, it can choose to face in your direction.

If you catch an opponent off-guard and flank his sides, you will gain +2 to your attack. Attacking an opponent from behind will give you +4 to your attack.

Keep in mind that these rules are only for entities that are generally comparable to human size. Larger and smaller creatures will be up to the Storyteller's discretion.


These may come to use to those who want better control with their grid battlemap encounters.

I have also made some custom Fighting Arts that would add on to combat, such as charging, riposte, dirty tactics, counter-attack.

[StripelessTiger]

More necro-posting...

I have never liked the idea of battlemaps, I abandoned them long ago to force my players to roleplay instead of try to "best outcome" on a grid system. I had players trying to abuse the layout and do things out of character to cheat the system, like moving point-blank and then firing a gun, which realistically is not how a person would react.

BUT, battlemaps do have their place. And I have always like hex maps instead of square ones. In keeping with the spirit of Esteren, I can see movement being of prime importance. But it doesnt mesh well.

An average human can move 41 feet per second. Assuming a round is 6 seconds, they could actually move up to 246 feet. That kinda breaks grid maps for this game.

But the book states that moving is limited to a few steps, or running at 10 yards, or 20 if using the "fleeing" attitude. It makes sense since moving or running while in combat can be tricky.

Knowing that Speed can range from 2 to 10 usually, the average being 6-7. Moving one hex in 6 seconds seems fair to me. A character at Speed 10 runs the maximum 10 yards as stated in the book.

Each hex is 2 yards (6 feet), and a character can move at the following distances based on their Speed.

Walking: One hex (max), stays engaged while adjacent
Running: Speed in yards
Full-sprint: Speed x2 in yards (Movement Attitude), cannot attack

Examples:
So a character with Speed 7 would be able to run 7 yards or 3 hexes (7/2 = 3.5 round down).
That same char sprinting would be a 14 for 7 hexes.
A character fleeing with Speed 10 could move 20yds, or 10 hexes.

Combat is usually (in any order):

• Free action (such as drawing a weapon, or picking something up)
• Move
• Attack

You could, in addition to Defense adjustment for Fleeing, impose a penalty to hit or be hit to someone 'in motion' like a -2 when running, until they stop the next round, -4 if Sprinting. This makes it so walking is valid, and putting distance between people valuable. You can still move then attack even if you are running.

For ranged weapons, just divide the range in yards by 2 for hexes as well. A crossbow gets no penalty from 12 hexes away.

Everything else can remain the same as there are existing rules for it. You could add attacks of opportunity, or flanking, or sneak attack rules as you see fit.

[Clovis]

These are good considerations, in case some groups want to go more in-depth with their rules and rulings!

However, keep in mind that "Speed" is not actually the character's moving speed, but rather its reaction speed; what you'd call "Initiative" in D&D and most other games. It would therefore not make a lot of sense to base the characters' actual moving speed on their Speed!

[StripelessTiger]

These are good considerations, in case some groups want to go more in-depth with their rules and rulings!

However, keep in mind that "Speed" is not actually the character's moving speed, but rather its reaction speed; what you'd call "Initiative" in D&D and most other games. It would therefore not make a lot of sense to base the characters' actual moving speed on their Speed!

Good to know. In that case, you could treat it like Savage Worlds Pace and make it 6 for every character. Applying penalties based on Disadvantages/Advantages.