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Old 09-16-2017, 08:38 AM   #1
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Default Is it ever possible to retreat 2 yards?

As for thread title. How can a character increase the ammount of yards he retreats?
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Old 09-16-2017, 09:56 AM   #2
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Default Re: Is it ever possible to retreat 2 yards?

Your retreat distance is defined as "1/10th of your Move - exactly as for a step." So, any way of increasing your Move can potentially increase your retreat distance, as long as you can hit that magic number of Move 20. Not easy, of course! However, I'd be inclined to rule that anything that increases step can be used to increase retreat distance, if they're applicable. For example, Martial Arts adds the "Giant Step" option for Extra Effort, which basically allows you to spend 1 FP and make an extra step in the round. I'd allow you to do that for retreat as well, with the restriction that you couldn't do both in the same turn - you could either take an extra step, or retreat 2 yards, not both.

Similarly, there's another optional rule in Martial Arts, "chanbara attacks", that lets a combatant to "trade" attacks from something like Extra Attack or All-Out Attack (Double) for steps. When using that rule, I'd allow a character who didn't take all the attacks they were entitled to during their turn to "bank" those for extra retreat distance. So a character with Extra Attack 2, for instance, if they took only a single attack and thus had 2 attacks left, could use that to take two extra steps on their turn, take one step and then retreat an extra yard while defending, or take no steps, but retreat an extra 2 yards.

For any options that add a discrete number of steps, which can be taken apart from other steps (as both of the above options do), rather than simply extending the step distance (which is what buying your Move up to 20 or higher does), I'd also allow multiple retreats to the character, allowing them to get the retreat bonus against several different opponents, rather than just once.
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Old 09-16-2017, 10:02 AM   #3
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Default Re: Is it ever possible to retreat 2 yards?

Kromm has also sketched out a hypothetical "Extra Step" advantage on the forums here, at 20/level; some folks feel this is a bit much, but considering that the Extra Step does also allow an extra step on your Retreat every turn, I'm pretty comfortable with 20/level.

Because I think Kobolds being "Shifty" in D&D 4e is delightful[1], I give them "Extra Step, Only to Retreat -40%", for 16 points.

[1] D&D 4e doesn't normally allow "retreats" the way GURPS does; Kobolds basically get to Retreat when nobody else does.
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Old 09-16-2017, 10:04 AM   #4
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Default Re: Is it ever possible to retreat 2 yards?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen View Post
Your retreat distance is defined as "1/10th of your Move - exactly as for a step." So, any way of increasing your Move can potentially increase your retreat distance, as long as you can hit that magic number of Move 20. Not easy, of course! However, I'd be inclined to rule that anything that increases step can be used to increase retreat distance, if they're applicable. For example, Martial Arts adds the "Giant Step" option for Extra Effort, which basically allows you to spend 1 FP and make an extra step in the round. I'd allow you to do that for retreat as well, with the restriction that you couldn't do both in the same turn - you could either take an extra step, or retreat 2 yards, not both.
The Move is rounded up. You get it at 11. This is demonstrated on Monster Hunters 3 page 11, when talking about the combat capabilities of Master Vampires. Though to be fair, they have move 12, not 11, so they're not total munchkins...

The scariest Munchkin PC I ever GM'd also made use of this trick. 2 Steps per turn is scary powerful for run around attacks.
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Old 09-16-2017, 10:05 AM   #5
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Default Re: Is it ever possible to retreat 2 yards?

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Originally Posted by Kelly Pedersen View Post
Your retreat distance is defined as "1/10th of your Move - exactly as for a step." So, any way of increasing your Move can potentially increase your retreat distance, as long as you can hit that magic number of Move 20.
Note, the magic number is 11 for a 2 yard step or retreat. 21 gets you 3 yards. Move/10 round up. This is laid out explicitly on Basic p.368
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Old 09-16-2017, 12:06 PM   #6
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Default Re: Is it ever possible to retreat 2 yards?

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Originally Posted by ericthered View Post
The Move is rounded up. You get it at 11.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chandley View Post
Note, the magic number is 11 for a 2 yard step or retreat.
Whoops, so it is! Should have looked it up before writing, I guess. Thanks to both of you for correcting that!
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Old 09-16-2017, 12:09 PM   #7
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Default Re: Is it ever possible to retreat 2 yards?

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Originally Posted by Bruno View Post
Because I think Kobolds being "Shifty" in D&D 4e is delightful[1], I give them "Extra Step, Only to Retreat -40%", for 16 points.
That's a cool idea! Personally, though, I'd price that limitation at -50%, not -40% - retreats are nice, but I don't think they make up 60% of the utility of that step distance.

Also, shouldn't -40% on a 20-point advantage be 12 points, not 16?
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Old 09-16-2017, 12:30 PM   #8
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Default Re: Is it ever possible to retreat 2 yards?

What is Step used for other than Attacking and Defending aka Retreating?
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Old 09-16-2017, 12:38 PM   #9
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Default Re: Is it ever possible to retreat 2 yards?

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What is Step used for other than Attacking and Defending aka Retreating?
Moving around. Step isn't something you can buy: its part of move.

Generally, the hardest part of buying up move like that is the justifying fluff.
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Old 09-16-2017, 12:43 PM   #10
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Default Re: Is it ever possible to retreat 2 yards?

Step is more like movement over one second which is acceleration dependent. That's not really very connected to real life movement all things considered.
Movement has numerous uses, but I asked about Step which has only two main ones that I can see.
If I asked about a Talent, and you talked about general IQ stats, that would be a bit off topic, right? One is a subset of the other, but not quite the same thing.
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