[Vystek]

Bit new at this, and I didn't quite understand what the rulebook was trying to tell me about some movement rules:

The book says that movement is broken up in a combat turn according to initiative passes; it makes sense to me that someone with 3 IPs could only move a third of their rate each pass, but what about movement for a character who's in a fight involving multiple passes, but who does not have multiple passes of their own? Does such a character move a third of his rate in the pass he acts in, then continue to move a third each in the next two passes even though they don't actually act? The book says that someone with fewer passes than the others involved continues to move in the same mode that they did in their last action phase, is that what it means?

Thanks in advance to any good fellow kind enough to answer a new player's long-winded question

[FastJack]

I believe I remember this being asked before somewhere...

Ah, yes. Here it is.

     The movement rates for each metatype are noted on the Movement Table. This rate is the distance the character moves by that method per Combat Turn (not per Initiative Pass).
     If a character mixed his modes of movement during a Combat Turn and it becomes important to know exactly how far the character moved in a particular pass, simply divide his Movement Rate by the number of passes in that turn.

Now, the way I would judge it as a DM is that the poor slob without extra IPs tells the GM that, in addition to whatever other actions he takes in the first (and his only IP), he's going to run 25 meters over there. However, since there's an elven assassin on his butt with 3 IPs, I'd cut the slobs movement by three (8 1/3 m) for each IP. He'd choose the path he'd take during his combat phase and I'd plot it out so each IP he'd make it another third of the way to his destination until the Combat Phase was over.

[Kontact]

It also means that Crunchbone, the Melee Troll with only 1IP, who wants to charge 25m and engage Shaker, the Uzi Adept with 3IPs, is going to get shot for two passes before he arrives.

Basically it's about delaying actions.

It plays like this.

IP1: Cr - 7 + Adrenaline Surge! Sh - 14
Cr: Free action - Charge! | Other actions held.
Sh: Simple action - Short-wide-burst | Free Action + Simple Action: called shot for damage + Short narrow burst.

IP2: Cr - held Sh - 14
Sh: Free action - switch fire mode to FA | Complex action: Full narrow burst

IP3: Cr - held (but, honestly, he's dead) Sh - 14
Cr: Complex action - melee attack! (finally)
Sh: Interrupt action - full dodge | Free action - run out of melee range


It's... a bad scene.

[Chaemera]

Just to give an idea on implementation (as far as rules interpretation, I'm on the same page as FastJack and Kontact and they did a great job explaining it), at my table, we use a hex battle-grid (1 hex = 1m) in combat and when Joe the Troll decides he's running 25m to point "x" and he has 1 IP in a 3 IP combat, he'll divy up the movement 8m-8m-9m (the 9m could be 1st or 2nd, not just 3rd), moves the first set, then places glass beads (or bottle caps, or dice) at each of his next IP sub-destinations.

His IP comes up 2nd pass, he moves his mini to the first bead, picks it up, and we move to the next player. Repeat. If something happens to stop his movement (someone puts up a Physical Barrier across his path), I usually let them roll Reaction + Edge, success they stop without running into the obstacle, critical success, they can re-path around the obstacle and keep moving.

[FastJack]

Just to add a caveat to the above.

If Crunchbone is already within melee range of Shaker, then his attack would be on the first IP and not the last IP.

What's the morale of the example? Location, location, location.

[Vystek]

Wow, thanks for helping me out in such detail, particularly when this question's been asked in the past. I was going to ask what would happen if the landscape of a character's intended movement dramatically changed before they got there, but then I scrolled the next bit down to Chaemera's post and he got that, too. You guys are helpful, I appreciate it

[Chaemera]

Keep in mind, Vystek, that's just how I handle radical landscaping changes. I don't think the RAW explicitly addresses the question of sudden landscaping changes.

I like my method because it lets both speed (reaction) and luck (edge) factor into the matter, as well as giving a range of possible outcomes (run into, stop at the edge of, navigate around).

[Vystek]

Now, a character could delay any action to a later pass the way Mr. Crunchbone did with his charge, right? For example, if a character didn't want to fire his weapon until he'd rounded a corner that was 15m away and he was running 8m per pass?

[Kerebrus]

now here is another fun (not) thought.  The Sprint action + a character with multiple initiative passes.  Taking a simple action to Sprint on your first pass gives you a +2 meter movement rate.  When?  Pass One, Sprint, add +2 meters to the movement rate for each hit (lets say 3 hits for easy math, our test subject has three initiative passes) so, human with a new running rate of 16, so he moves 5 meters (16/3) in his first pass.  Now, he sprints again during his second pass, again with 3 hits, which takes his movement rate up to 22 (Sprinting says it modifies the movement rate, and the movement rate is expressed in metters per turn), and now moving 7 meters in this pass (22/3), come the third pass, our friend wants to sprint again, again with 3 hits, now a movement of 28, and moves 9 meters in the third pass.
Or can mr fast feet use the Sprint action with each of his Simple actions?? -  pulling down a sprinting rate of something like 28 meters in 3 seconds (approaching world record pace).

Now, for a head scratcher.  Two hand to hand combatants, each with one initiative pass, and within running rate of one another (and prone to charging).  in a normal head to head meeting, the one with the higher initiative would be able to charge the other, close the charging distance in one pass, and land the first blow.  Now, if we add a third party to the equation with a second initiative pass, the initiative winner only closes half the distance during his action, and then the guy to go second actually gets the first hit in.
odd how the additional person in the equation impacts the combat even if they do nothing bu "Observe in Detail".

[Chaemera]

now here is another fun (not) thought.  The Sprint action + a character with multiple initiative passes.  Taking a simple action to Sprint on your first pass gives you a +2 meter movement rate.  When?  Pass One, Sprint, add +2 meters to the movement rate for each hit (lets say 3 hits for easy math, our test subject has three initiative passes) so, human with a new running rate of 16, so he moves 5 meters (16/3) in his first pass.  Now, he sprints again during his second pass, again with 3 hits, which takes his movement rate up to 22 (Sprinting says it modifies the movement rate, and the movement rate is expressed in metters per turn), and now moving 7 meters in this pass (22/3), come the third pass, our friend wants to sprint again, again with 3 hits, now a movement of 28, and moves 9 meters in the third pass.
Or can mr fast feet use the Sprint action with each of his Simple actions?? -  pulling down a sprinting rate of something like 28 meters in 3 seconds (approaching world record pace).

Yeah, there's nothing that says you couldn't run it that way, but I think the RAI would be:
Simple Action -> Sprint, move at (Run Rate +2x(Running + Strength Hits))/IP
Since the Simple Action counts as your movement (the rule says instead of a Free Action to run, spend a Simple to Sprint), I would argue that you can only do this once per IP.

The Sprint action doesn't increase your Run Rate for the Combat Turn (though it modifies your Run Rate in terms of Meters per Combat Turn), it modifies it for that Simple Action[/i], so when you Sprint on IP #2, you're starting fresh at Running Rate, there is no IP to IP acceleration (after all, I doubt anyone would claim there is Combat Turn to Combat Turn Sprint acceleration).

My 2nuyen of the RAI, nothing in the rules specifically says all that, but it's the way that makes sense and it doesn't lend itself to horribly cheesing.

Now, for a head scratcher.  Two hand to hand combatants, each with one initiative pass, and within running rate of one another (and prone to charging).  in a normal head to head meeting, the one with the higher initiative would be able to charge the other, close the charging distance in one pass, and land the first blow.  Now, if we add a third party to the equation with a second initiative pass, the initiative winner only closes half the distance during his action, and then the guy to go second actually gets the first hit in.
odd how the additional person in the equation impacts the combat even if they do nothing bu "Observe in Detail".

Yeah, that's the fun of varied IP's. I think that's why a strick reading of the rules implies the group describes everyone's intended actions across all IP's in initiative order, then resolve them all at once. If you do that, you can argue that High initiative closes with Low (for that matter, High could delay so that Low starts the charge, then High finishes it). However, for my money, I find that resolving actions as declared and accepting the fiction of turn based combat makes things a lot less cumbersome at the table.