ENCOUNTER LAYOUT
RINGS uses whatever grid/hex system you’re more comfortable with and sizes everything according to single units within that system. This also applies to heights.
NOTE: Space/square/hex are used interchangeably in this system. Use what you like.
Your SPEED is equal to 3 + MOVE SKILL. This is the number of spaces you can move when you take a MOVE ACTION. You can also move a number of squares from 0-maximum SPEED.
If you move less than your potential number of squares, you can’t save those for later. They expire immediately.
STATUS EFFECTS
There are two status effects that impact movement:
SLOW
SPEED (3+MOVE SKILL)/2, rounded up. You may use an ACTION to make a STAT + SKILL roll to remove this effect, where the STAT is what was used to apply the effect. The SKILL will be either STAMINA/RESIST/ENDURE depending on the STAT.
IMMOBILIZE
You can’t be moved involuntarily or use a MOVE ACTION. You may use an ACTION to make a STAT + SKILL roll to remove this effect, where the STAT is what was used to apply the effect. The SKILL will be either STAMINA/RESIST/ENDURE depending on the STAT.
The originator of the effect may remove the effect if they so choose. If there were benefits tied to the effect, those end immediately as well.
Any minions or fields you control can still be moved to their full extent, and you can also grant movement to others through powers, as long as they don’t require you to move yourself.
OTHER MOVEMENT STUFF
CLIMB/FLY
When moving vertically, you move at half your SPEED. Even for a being with wings, going straight up and down is not the fastest or easiest process and making sure you don’t crash into stuff is a concern. You must end your MOVE in a valid square with a surface.
HOVER
Nope. You’re in a square and are impacted by that square. There is no hovering that has an impact on gameplay.
HEIGHT
While there are no bonus modifiers for attacks when it comes to height differences while in combat, it matters for reach – MELEE attacks or powers can’t get at someone who is too far above or below.
Each unit of height difference is equivalent to the same amount of flat terrain distance. If you need to be adjacent to a target in order to hit them with a MELEE Ring power but they’re on a cliff six units up, you can’t touch them no matter how close they appear on the grid.
DANGEROUS TERRAIN
Dangerous terrain is the catch-all term for abilities, powers, or environmental hazards that cause damage when you touch them or get too close. Lava, bridge made of lightning, bed of metal needles, poison gas clouds – all these are examples of the forms dangerous terrain can take. There’s no limit except your imagination. Even seemingly benign substances can cause damage if the creator wills it. Exploding glitter, blinding light, subsonic vibrations, sadness – dangerous terrain can take the form of anything.
A unit will take damage every time it enters, begins its turn, or starts movement within the spaces designated as dangerous terrain.
EXAMPLE
A unit walks into an opponent’s dangerous terrain. It takes damage when it first steps into an affected space. On its next turn, it doesn’t move. It takes damage for staying in an affected space. On an opponent’s turn, it forces the unit to move within the dangerous terrain. The unit takes damage because it moved within the space.
DIFFICULT TERRAIN
Difficult terrain forces the SLOW status upon those who cross it unless they have an ability to ignore difficult terrain. It doesn’t deal damage (that is dangerous terrain).
CLIMB
Climbing in any direction is done at half Speed, rounded up. A GM may ask for a roll or add modifiers depending on the perceived difficulty of the climb, but this is not recommended unless the climber is forced to go faster than they are comfortable.
Some units may have powers that improve their Speed or ability to climb.
SWIM
Similar to CLIMB, half Speed, rounded up. A GM may ask for a roll or add modifiers depending on the perceived difficulty of the swim, but this is not recommended unless the swimmer is forced to go faster than they are comfortable.
Some units may have powers that improve their Speed or ability to swim.
WATER
While many sentients can naturally breathe underwater, Hands have even less to worry about. They can breathe water using their standard issue BREATHER just fine, although there may be some coughing or spitting transitioning between the two. Similar to SWIM, underwater, whether walking or swimming, a unit moves at half Speed, rounded up.
Some units may have powers that improve their Speed or ability to move underwater.
FALLING
If you fall, you take one damage per space you fell through. If there is anything along the fall path that might slow your fall, the GM may allow you to roll Dexterity + Defense against a difficulty rating of their choosing [usually half the height, rounded up]. If you succeed, you take half damage.
MINE
A mine is similar to a bomb in that it is a ranged ability that may not immediately activate. A mine is placed in a single space and remains there until an opponent enters that space, whereupon it detonates, dealing damage. Unlike a bomb, it attaches to the terrain and not a unit. Any damage to the mine sets it off as well.
COVER
Cover is very simple in RINGS: either something is blocking your way or it isn’t. If it is, attacks made hit whatever is in front, whether than be opponents, allies, terrain, etc. If you really want to create modifiers for partial cover, you’re welcome to, but it’s not included here nor is it required.
How do you determine cover? Draw a line from the originating space of the attack and the target. If the line touches or passes through an obstacle (other unit, environment, passing goose), the attack will hit that thing instead. This goes both ways.
Cover comes in three varieties: Light, Heavy, and Constructed
- LIGHT: This type of cover will absorb one hit before being destroyed
- HEAVY: This type of cover will absorb three hits before being destroyed
- CONSTRUCTED: This type of cover will absorb five hits before being destroyed
An attack aimed at COVER will always succeed unless someone controls that COVER, such as a DRIVER’s frame, then it would be a standard contested roll to determine if the attack succeeds, apply any damage reduction, and then count the hit against the COVER.
MULTISPACE UNITS
What do you do when you have a unit that takes up multiple spaces? You’ll have to exercise some judgement about which space the attack is originating from/targeting. Feel free to pick as you go, but any repositioning or adjustment – even of one square of a multisquare unit – counts as a Move.