Entering A Hex With A Body

[Skarg]

Originally Posted by larsdangly

This is perhaps off at a bit of an angle from the main point of this thread, but is related: I appreciate the fact that TFT players often want even more from the movement and maneuver part of the game, as it is where a lot of the tactical decision making and interesting variations in play arise. That desire is apparently what inspired this question about getting around bodies. I would like to mention some changes that significantly develop this element of play; all are rules I've implemented in 'fantasy heart breaker' games I've written based on TFT, and I think my players found the results pretty interesting:

1: Increase the ranges, and diversity of ranges, of melee weapons, with the following categories suggested:
0,1: dagger, fist
1: hand axe, mace, short swords
1,2: 1 and 2 handed long swords, two handed clubs, mauls axes; short spears
2,3: long spears, many pole arms
3,4: pike, lance

2: No such thing as engagement. You are where you are and you can move where you can move, irrespective of someone being near you. But when you enter a hex someone threatens they can take a swipe at you.

3: You can grasp a person in or next to your hex, holding them still. So, sort of like engagement, but only because a grapple has been initiated.

4: You can enter someone's hex if you can reach it, full stop. Collisions and close combat are just things that naturally arise from people moving around in relation to each other.

These variants open up many more possibilities regarding the ways you can move to set up or avoid attacks, and the result is a much more dynamic interaction as combatants jockey for range and position. It is surprisingly exciting.

Absolutely, I love (and generally prefer) that style of play! (I've played that way for decades, as those are all nearly-exactly features of GURPS.) GURPS is of course a lot crunchier though, and some major changes that add complexity make it work well in GURPS, better than I think they would in TFT, in particular the interleaved sequence of character movement & action, the reduced movement allowances and rules for facing changes during movement in different directions, the Wait maneuver, the 1-yard 1-second scale, and the elaborate close combat rules.

In introducing those to TFT, I'd start with options (or house rules) for allowing leaving engagement (giving your foes attack options because of the turn sequence), and elaborating HTH so it's not just about tackling and not one unmodified d6 roll to initiate.