Old School Monsters

[hcobb]

Note that large monsters only get 1 hex of pushback per turn.

[phiwum]

Yes, but my question is whether it applies to the Cube. The rules explicitly say it doesn't use normal combat options and the mechanism describes is not called pushback. It moves in any direction up to five hexes and when it flows into a character's hex, the character gets a save throw.

So, given that this isn't called pushback, I'm thinking that the rules for pushback are irrelevant.

[larsdangly]

I feel like slimes, cubes, swarms and other odd balls are not playing by the rules of engagement, initiating HTH, push backs, etc. They go where they want to go and it is your job to get out of the way.

[phiwum]

Yes, that's how I play most of the nuisances on your list. It's been a while since I had a slime, but last time I played it with engagement rules, but I'll change that.

Now I think that the text is reasonably clear that the cube moves up to five hexes each turn, regardless of engagement. Two things are a bit unclear to me.

(1) Does actually flowing over a critter force it to end its movement? The text doesn't address this. This suggests not, but I'm not sure.

(2) The pseudopod attack is in addition to movement, so I assume it happens during the action phase, no matter how far the cube moves. A cube can make its full move and still attack with a pseudopod.

How would y'all play it?

[larsdangly]

I would take the simplest and most literal interpretation, and not worry too much about all the imaginable alternatives. You are going to have one of these things on the table maybe a couple of times per year, so your goal is to just be able to remember how to resolve the situation without anything too crazy happening.

In this case, the text makes it clear that it is not using any standard 'option' so you shouldn't be concerned about what fraction of its MA score it has or hasn't moved. Then it says it goes up to 5 hexes and does its pseudopod thing. The phases aren't specified, but movement generally happens in movement phase and attacks in action phase, so that is what I would do. It doesn't participate in engagement, so I'd say it can flow onto you if it can reach you, and if it wants to flow away for some reason than it can do that too. Maybe it would just flow right over and past one character if it was trying to get to another it thought looked more tasty.

[timm meyers]

Originally Posted by phiwum

It's a lot easier than to use AutoCad to calculate the area. It's six equilateral triangles. It's trivial to calculate the area that way.

Now, to be fair, I didn't do the calculation because Google has made me less than a real man and I looked up the formula. So it's still a triviality, but I wimped out.

ITL p.43 Mathematician talent in use here.....stand back people this could get dangerous..... (I am truly impressed with this big brain thread you guys are awesome)

[phiwum]

I take your point, Lars, not to overthink things, but honestly, you made me think more.

I had been taking for granted that whatever a cube rolls over, it immediately picks up. Instead, I reckon it must sit on an object (say, person) for a turn to ingest it. That slows the cube a bit, so he wants to sit still for a turn over anything tasty. He's mindless, but he won't pick up obviously inedible things like rocks.

[phiwum]

On the other hand, Lars, I'm thinking a mustard jelly does engage, unlike other slimes. It is intelligent and strikes with pseudopods.

[phiwum]

Slithering trackers have what I assume is a typo in their description. Twice, the text mentions a DX/3 roll, which I assume is a 3/DX roll.

In fact, the same typo occurs in Kampfults and Throat Leeches.

Just thought I'd mention it here.

[phiwum]

Vampire Roses are a little odd in their description. They may be any size, but have ST 10, which means killing four adjacent one hex roses is a lot harder than killing one four-hex rose.

I reckon I'll play them as one hex plants, each with ST 10.

Edit: Well, ST 10 per hex is too high, I guess, since they're only a bush after all. I guess I need to think about it.