Chapter 06 · Core Rules
Movement, Space, and Ranges
A character moves while attacking, casting, or taking another action. Their Speed is the distance they can cover in one tick. The action determines how much of that movement is available: attacking allows full Speed, while casting normally allows half.
Measure distances in feet. The GM tracks positions mentally or with a sketch. When unsure whether a creature is within range or inside an area, rule in the defender's favor.
Speed
- The character's class gives their base Speed per tick, according to its speed grade and their level (see Using Classes). Creature profiles give their own Speed.
- Dexterity adds 2 ft per point, at every level and in every class.
- Race, size, feats, and spells can modify it as well. Muscular Speed adds Strength, Barbarian Bounds and Speed adds 20 ft, while Speed and Haste alter it magically.
- Jumping: horizontal distance = 1× Speed; height = ¼ Speed.
- Climbing and swimming use half Speed. Difficult terrain also halves Speed (see 12).
- A flying creature has two Speeds, one on the ground and one in flight. Its sheet lists both.
Movement Allowed by an Action
The following defaults apply during each tick.
| Action during the Tick | Movement Allowed |
|---|---|
| Attack (melee, shot, or throw) | full Speed |
| Dodge or parry | full Speed |
| Cast a spell | half Speed |
| General action (drink, open, pick up) | half Speed |
| Stand up | all movement for the tick (see 8) |
| Long incantation, ritual, or concentration | none |
| Do nothing except move | full Speed and nothing else |
A spell, feat, or creature technique can specify its own movement limit. Mobile Caster, for example, allows full Speed while casting. Moving without taking another action also allows full Speed; it does not increase the distance available.
Movement can be split around an action. A character can advance, strike, and move away during the same tick. Leaving an enemy's reach may trigger an opportunity attack, as described below.
Moving into an attack grants a damage bonus only when a feat or creature ability provides one, such as Skilled Rider, Sky Attack, or a griffin's dive.
Mounted Combat
A rider and mount naturally form a coordinated group. While the rider remains in the saddle, they share movement and position but remain two separate creatures.
Movement. The pair moves at the mount's Speed. The rider can move independently by dismounting or jumping from the saddle.
Being carried does not restrict the rider's actions. The rider can attack, shoot, or cast, including a Standard spell, while the mount advances at full Speed. The rider spends their own actions normally, while the mount retains its actions. The mount can therefore attack at the same instant its rider strikes or casts.
Position, Range, and Targets. Rider and mount occupy the mount's space, but each can be targeted and injured separately. Measure the rider's range from that space; a reach weapon extends it normally. The mount retains its own reach and threat range. An area effect covering their position can strike both.
Reactions. A mount's dodge carries its rider and spends only the mount's dodge. An attack aimed at the rider may still require a separate dodge or parry from them. Every coordinated reaction uses the rider's Reflex.
Opportunity Attacks. The pair's movement counts as a single exit from a threat range. The enemy chooses whether to target mount or rider, provided its reach can strike that target.
Mounted Charge. A charge requires traveling at least the mount's full Speed in a straight line before impact. Mount and rider can strike simultaneously. Each applies their own charge effect to their first eligible attack if they have an ability granting one; later attacks during the round receive no such benefit. If the mount is stopped, knocked prone, or forced from its path before impact, both lose the charge. Parrying the rider does not cancel the mount's attack, or vice versa.
Control. A trained mount performs familiar maneuvers freely. An unusual order, an untrained mount, or a situation that should cause panic may require a general action or a prescribed chance check. The GM considers training, danger, the bond with the rider, and the mount's Intelligence.
Being Unhorsed. If the mount falls, dies, strikes an obstacle, or stops abruptly, the GM prescribes the chances that the rider remains mounted, jumps and lands standing, or is thrown prone. Consider Speed, the rider's Dexterity and experience, the saddle, the mount's size, and the cause of the fall. Failure normally leaves the rider prone near the mount. The fall deals additional damage only when circumstances justify it: a collision, ravine, trampling, obstacle, or flying mount.
Example—A Mounted Charge. A rider with Skilled Rider travels 60 ft in a straight line on her Cerberan warhorse. She strikes with her lance while the horse attacks with its hooves. The group makes one roll using the rider's Reflex, increased by 25% for the impact. The rider's first attack and the warhorse's first attack each deal double damage. If a defender parries the lance, the hooves still land; later attacks during the round are no longer charge attacks.
Chases
When a pursuer is faster than their target, use the gap and their Speeds to estimate when they catch up:
Ticks to catch up = gap ÷ difference in Speed per tick.
The GM can announce the result without playing every tick.
Player: I run after him. GM: You move 50 ft per tick, he moves 30, and he has about thirty feet on you. You catch him before the street corner.
A pursuer moving at the same Speed or slower needs a shortcut, an obstacle, a mount, or a spell to close the gap. Resolve that approach with the prescribed chance check from 1.
Player: He's faster than me. I cut across the rooftops to land on him at the alley exit. GM: Good plan, but the timing is tight: 3 chances in 5.
When to Zoom In. Enter tick mode only when priority during the chase is contested: someone shoots, releases a spell, or closes a door (see 3). Otherwise, resolve the chase at scene scale and count nothing.
Ranges
Spell entries use named ranges:
| Range | Distance |
|---|---|
| Touch | the caster must touch the target |
| Close | 30 ft + 5 ft per CL |
| Medium | 100 ft + 10 ft per CL |
| Far (or Long) | 400 ft + 40 ft per CL |
| Global | no practical limit on the same plane |
- Far and Long are synonyms in spell entries and use the same line.
- A distance written in the spell entry takes precedence over this table. Ray of Frost gives “Medium (80 ft),” so its range is 80 ft.
Ranged weapons have their own distances. The GM can adjust these benchmarks:
| Weapon | Effective Range |
|---|---|
| Sling, thrown dagger | 30 ft |
| Shortbow, light crossbow | 300 ft |
| Heavy crossbow | 400 ft |
| Longbow | 600 ft, up to 1,000 ft for a powerful archer |
| Pistol | 100 ft |
| Repeating pistol | 100 ft |
| Musket | 600 ft |
| Blunderbuss | 30 ft cone |
Within effective range, a shot lands unless dodged or parried. Beyond that range, the GM prescribes a chance roll or rules the shot impossible.
Reach and Threat Range
A combatant's threat range is the space their weapon or fists can reach without moving. Base reach depends on size:
| Size | Base Reach |
|---|---|
| Medium | 5 ft |
| Large | 10 ft |
| Huge | 15 ft |
| Gargantuan | 25 ft |
| Colossal | 40 ft |
- Fists, short weapons, and one-handed weapons use base reach.
- Spears, pikes, halberds, and whips add +5 ft.
- Forced movement out of a threat range is involuntary and provokes no opportunity attack.
Some feats depend on who can reach whom. I Love to Fight requires at least two enemies who can reach the character without moving. The GM adjudicates reach for unusual weapons or anatomy.
Opportunity Attacks
A character with Opportunity Attack can make one melee attack per tick against an enemy voluntarily leaving their threat range. The feat specifies its timing and resolution. Forced movement does not trigger it.
Line of Sight, Line of Effect, and Cover
- Line of sight allows a character to choose a target. Without it, they target a point rather than a creature. See 4 for senses that replace sight.
- Line of effect is an uninterrupted path to the target. A solid wall blocks it; a grate, pane of glass, or smoke curtain may allow sight without passage. The GM decides.
Cover can help a character dodge or parry an attack, or block it entirely:
| Cover | Effect |
|---|---|
| Light—an ally, slender trunk, smoke | +2 to the defender's Reflex duel |
| Substantial—a low wall, arrow slit, wall corner | +5 to the defender's Reflex duel |
| Total—a solid wall | the target cannot be targeted |
If the target does not dodge or parry, the attacker makes a prescribed chance roll to find an opening instead of applying a Reflex bonus: typically 4 in 5 behind light cover and 2 in 3 behind substantial cover.
Cover does not protect against an area effect unless it is total.
Areas of Effect
| Shape | Measurement |
|---|---|
| Radius | a sphere around an origin point declared by the caster |
| Cone | begins at the caster; its width at the far end equals its length |
| Line | 5 ft wide along its full length |
| Emanation | centered on the caster and moves with them |
- The caster needs line of effect to the origin point. The area then spreads from that point, and a solid wall stops it.
- Everything inside the shape is affected. Resolve damage and any Saves under Magic and the effect's own rules. The GM may allow a high-level character a Reflex Save to leave the radius.
- Allies inside the area are affected like enemies.
- When unsure whether a creature lies at the edge of an area, it is outside.
Altitude and Flight
Measure vertical distance like horizontal distance. A creature 100 ft directly above a character is 100 ft away for ranges and areas.
Levitate moves a creature up and down. Air Walk allows movement along slopes defined by the spell's level. Fly allows movement in any direction.
A flying creature is beyond melee attacks when it stays outside the enemy's reach. At 30 ft above the ground, it is safe from a human's axe, but within a colossus's 40 ft reach. Ranged weapons and spells can still reach it.
If flight ends because its spell is dispelled or expires, or the creature reaches 0 HP, the creature falls. Use Environment and Physical Hazards for falling damage. Feather Fall can protect it.
Attacking from the air follows the ordinary attack rules. A feat or creature ability may grant a benefit for a dive or leap.
Forced Movement
A spell, breath weapon, or giant's backhand can move a creature against its will.
- The effect states the distance. Forced movement does not spend the target's movement or cost an action.
- If pushed toward a real danger—a chasm, blaze, or spikes—the target makes a Reflex Save against the effect's DC to stop at the edge.
- A creature one size category larger than the effect allows moves half the distance; a creature two categories larger does not move.
Chapter Summary
- Movement accompanies actions and is measured in feet per tick.
- The action determines remaining movement: full Speed while attacking or dodging, half while casting unless a feat says otherwise.
- Chase = gap ÷ Speed difference. A slower pursuer needs a plan to catch the target.
- Ranges: Close 30 + 5/CL, Medium 100 + 10/CL, Far 400 + 40/CL, Global. A value written in the entry takes precedence.
- Reach by size: 5, 10, 15, 25, 40 ft; polearms add +5 ft.
- Voluntarily leaving a threat range can trigger an opportunity attack when the opponent has the required feat; forced movement never does.
- Total cover blocks targeting and protects against areas of effect.
- A flying creature can stay beyond melee reach. Falling deals 1d6 per 10 ft.