Movement (stride)

Movement pertains to the action point (AP) cost associated with travelling from one combat hex to another, with each hex measuring 5 feet in diameter. The combatant's ability to cover distance within a combat round depends upon the character's "stride," which is the number of hexes that are bought with per AP.

Movement is unfortunately a complex matter in D&D combat, as it involves a delicate balance between strategic positioning and resource management. The choice of action can significantly impact a character's effectiveness on the battlefield. Characters may want to be cautious and tread lightly before entering combat, or they may wish to run pell-mell at an enemy. With so many combatants all around, each striving to obtain a given position, the management of a player's movement requires a set of metrics that are necessary complex in structure, to ensure the greatest possible agency for the players as they move to fight.

Stride	Hexes/AP
Wary	1
Walking	2-3
Running	4-5
Sprinting	6-8

Movement Procedure

There are four general categories of "stride:" wary, walking, running and sprinting. A range of AP cost is shown for each on the left-hand table. For example, if a combatant wants to "walk," then he or she chooses to do so at a stride-2 or a stride-3. Both are counted as "running" for game purposes. In terms of distance, it means that a combatant with 4 AP could set off at walking speed, moving either 2 or 3 hexes per action point spent — thus covering a distance of 8 to 12 hexes, whatever the combatant desired.

At the start of the player's turn, he or she announces their character's speed as stride-"n" — whatever number of hexes the player wants to buy with a given AP. Whatever stride that was used in the previous turn is only considered if the character was sprinting. Moreover, characters may adjust their stride mid-turn by assigning different numbers of hexes to different action points spent.

For example, Marcus wants to join a fight where the nearest enemy is 9 hexes away. The hex he wants to reach, adjacent to the enemy, where he can engage, is 8 hexes away. If he were to move at stride-8, the fastest sprint he can manage, he'd be unable to come to a clean stop; he could charge at that speed, intending to slam into the enemy, or swing as he sped past the enemy. Marcus, however, wants to stop on that hex, hold it and attack. Therefore, he moves at stride-4, a medium-run. He uses two AP to buy four hexes of movement each, travels the eight hexes and stops.

Sprinting

Characters initiating a sprint cannot augment their stride by more that 6 points per action point beyond their current momentum, unless they possess a proficiency in running. Consequently, if a character desires to reach stride-8, they must allocate 1 action point to some stride number between 2 and 6, thence increasing their speed with their next action point to achieve stride-8.

On the contrary, a character cannot reduce their current stride by more than 4 points without the risk of stumbling and falling, potentially incurring damage. For instance, if a character who is currently moving at stride-8 wishes to come to a complete stop safely, they must initially allocate 1 action point to decelerate to stride-4, covering that additional distance in hexes before achieving a full stop. Failing to perform this deceleration first results in the character making a dexterity check with a -4 penalty to the roll. If this check is unsuccessful, the character "tumbles," incurring 1d4 damage and coming to a stop in the next hex.

Similarly, if the character fails to come to a complete stop before colliding with an obstacle, such as a wall, they will inevitably "crash." The damage incurred in this situation depends on their current stride: 1d6 damage for stride-6 or less, 1d8 for stride-7, and 1d10 for stride-8, regardless of any check they might make.

Charging

In the event that a character collides with another creature in this manner, both the character and the creature will each sustain 1d6 damage, regardless of their speed. This scenario frequently arises during a mass charge, where multiple combatants charge towards the enemy, combining weapon attacks with physical impact. In this scenario, only the character winning initiative is allowed to make a weapon attack before the crash occurs. Nevertheless, if the crash fails to stun, the combatant entitled to retaliate against the initial attack retains the opportunity to do so.

A specific charging technique permits the attacker to move past the defender at stride-4 or greater, delivering a swinging blow at the moment of melee engagement. Initiative is determined by a roll, and either the attacker or defender having the chance to strike first. As with any charge, the attacker gains a +2 bonus to their attack roll, while the defender gets a +1 bonus. If the charging attacker becomes stunned, a dexterity check is required to avoid tumbling. Once contact is made, the attacker incurs no additional movement cost when exiting the melee hex, provided they are moving at a stride of 4 or higher.

The situation often occurs with charges at a mass of defenders that the attacker, after the initial swing at a front defender, crashes into some other afterwards.

Attacks of Opportunity

Main Article: Attack of Opportunity

Whenever a character advances towards and engages a defender while using a stride of 3 or greater, the defender, if equipped with a loaded weapon, or has a weapon in hand that can be hurled, is entitled to an "opportunity" to attack BEFORE becoming engaged in melee.

For example, Ute expends 3 action points to cover a distance of 12 hexes between herself and Charles at stride-4, which would end in them both being engaged in melee, which normally limits both to hand-to-hand weapons. However, because Charles has a loaded bow and Ute is moving at a speed of stride-3 or greater, he's allowed to take a shot before Ute completes her move. The range is determined as half the distance between Ute's starting point and Charles's position — in this case, 6 hexes.

Note that if Charles did not have a weapon loaded, or a hurled weapon in hand, he'd receive no attack of opportunity. Additionally, if Ute's movement in fact does not result in a melee engagement, then Charles' attack is deferred to his move, as there's no need for this rule to be invoked.

Assigning Movement

The above rules represent a change in the game system. All humanoids, regardless of species and size, will have 5 action points, except when adjusted by sage abilities. For monsters and animals, the number of action points will be determined by the number of attacks these creatures have. Each humanoid, animal or monster will include a stride number, depending on the speed, size and nature of the creature. While humanoids will have four measures of stride, monsters will generally have only three: feeding, ambling and strike/flee, depending on whether it is a meat or plant eater. Feeding speed will conform to a wary stride; ambling to walking. Striking or fleeing will describe the creature's top speed when attacking. Because these creatures are biologically developed to attack or flee at these speeds, neither monsters nor animals are subject to attacks of opportunity when moving at maximum speed — however, when attacking either while ambling, combatants do receive a +1 to hit from opportunity.

See also,
Charging
Drawing a Weapon while Moving
Movement in Combat