Mapless Ruleset

[Zyraen]

These are rules to facilitate play without a map. Note that even so, the impact on play may vary, based on complexity of foes. So it is really a matter of applying as much as is appropriate for the table, and gradually increasing to the "ideal" level where everyone is onboard but it doesnt slow play by too much.

[Zyraen]

QUICK REFERENCE

0 : Adjacent
1-3 : Close
4-6 : Short
7-10 : Short-Mid
11-13 : Mid
14-17 : Mid-Long
18-22 : Long
22+ : Very Long / Undefined

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Distances

Adjacent : 0 squares. The usual
Close : 1-3 sq, usually threatening reach, min to charge, area1/blast3 atks
Short : 4-6 sq, usually heals, buffs, interrupts, max to charge, area2/blast5 atks
Short-Mid : 7-10 sq, cannot immediately charge, cannot move then use a melee non basic attack. Can make a single running charge, or move then charge at speed 5.
Mid: 11-13 sq. Limit for most ranged10 or area CA. Max for move charge at speed 6.
Mid-Long : 14-17 sq. Running charge limit. Ranged10 and area CAs must move (not shift) to engage.
Long: 18-22 sq. Usually only ranged basic attacks apply, mostly with long ranged penalty. Double moving sets up for move charge next turn.

Anything longer shouldnt be notably applicable. The GM can say they are X rounds away before they can move-charge in, or ranged10, or ranged20.

When moving, checking distance, use applicable band.
Eg. Heal within 5 applies to any close ally, even if technically 6 squares away
Eg. Gawain intends to shift (1 square) and charge. If hes speed 6, he can charge foes within Short-Mid, if hes speed 5, only within Short
Eg. Albert uses a Ranged10 attack against Bob, then moves away at speed 6. Albert is MidLong from Bob. However if Albert hits with a Push2 or more attack, and elects to push Bob away, he can now be Long distance from Bob.

When an attack is made against an adjacent creature, the attacker is automatically (treated as if it were) the same distance as its target to any other reference point.
Eg. Albert is Short distance to Bob. A Wolf moves up, and attacks Bob with a Bite that is a melee1 attack, ie adjacent. The Wolf is automatically Short distance from Albert (who is the other reference point) and if Albert has any interrupts or abilities usable against an enemy within Short range, the Wolf is a valid target.

Likewise, forced movement of 1 square does not change the distance, but 2 or more squares does.

If in doubt, the simplest way is to add up the component squares involved and check against the distance.

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Push Pull Slide

For simplicity, they are effectively treated the same, unless one of following three applies.
- A creature cannot be pulled by the attacker if theres a hard corner between it and the attacker (which also means the attacker typically takes a -2 cover penalty unless Area attack)
- A creature backed into a corner cannot be pushed (unless attacker is attacking from/atop one of the walls which form the corner, in which case the creature below must first be pushed out of the corner)
- A creature with its back to the wall cannot be pushed, unless the attacker can move at least two squares, in which case it can be pushed in a direction perpendicular to the wall. As in a usual game, such a push can be diagonal and result in the creature not being adjacent to the wall after the push.

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Flanking

All creatures are considered flanked by two adjacent enemies, unless the defender has done one of below.
A) backed into a corner
B) is in a doorway
C) Forms a "defensive position". This can be likened to either a line or creatures standing with backs against each other. This requires minimum 3 creatures, or 2 creatures and one blocking terrain.

Note that B and C benefits can be negated by creature(s) encircling the back, typically eating an OA in the process, and a creature can only go through an occupied doorway if it is a double door. Each creature that encircles/outflanks can only grant flanking to one other creature on the other side.

It is pretty obvious but just to spell out, forced movement (push pull slide) of even just 1 square can negate above ABC positioning. If a creature backed into a corner is slid 1 square out of a corner, at most 2 creatures may flank it.

In addition, when a creature is flanked by 2 creatures that explictly came from 2 separate sides (and thus cannot be adjacent to each other), that creature can only shift to avoid an OA from one of the flankers, but not both.

[Zyraen]

Following assumes medium/small sized creatures

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Spreading / Positioning

The obvious part that isnt often mentioned is, how wide is the area?

In general, width has following effects
- 1 square wide can be blocked by 1 creature
- 2-3 squares can be blocked by 3 creatures, and effectively guarded by 1, such that he can OA those who pass by. 2 suffices to form an effective defensive line (see above flanking notes)
- 4-5 can be guarded by 2, and a defensive line requires 3 or more (for simplicity)
- 6+ can be can be guarded by 3, and requires 3 to form a defensive position at one side of the passage. For most purposes, 6+ is too wide for effective guarding

In addition, width determines AoE effectiveness. This is generally self explanatory.

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Positions and Spread

Players typically start in a 6x6 space when entering a large enough space, and typically first adjacent to next adjacent to next etc when in a 3x3 (or smaller) space. Coming up a 2 square tunnel assumes a snake formation when travelling, and an abreast formation (ie 2x3 or 2x4) when entering a room or hallway, unless otherwise stated. If relevant and space permits, the GM makes a 1d6 roll for how spread out the party is, with 1-2 being worst and 5-6 being best.

Enemies generally obey the same rules and the 1d6 spread also applies to them, unless theyre specifically placed in certain positions as specified in their movement.

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3x3 Positions

If two (or more) creatures each melee the same target with adjacent attacks, those two creatures are within 3x3 of each other. If they flank the target from two separate sides (see above Flanking), that target is also in 3x3, even after shifting once.

3x3 is also important for Tanks. If 2 or more are in 3x3, the Tank can always move adjacent to the nearest 2 and mark them. If 3 form an straight line in 3x3, the Tank can move adjacent and mark all 3.

For simplicity, player can simply instruct to mark as many as he can. This will expose him to flanks, but he is already easily flanked due to mapless flanking rules so no real issue.

Likewise, how many enemies can be caught in a 3x3 blast can usually be decided by
- are multiple enemies adjacent to the same creature? If so, they are in 3x3
- if not, how big is the rooms width? A width of 1 maxes at 3, but is usually 1 if only one enemy can do melee. A width of 2-3 is virtually assured to have 2-4 in 3x3, while width 4-5 are about 60-70% likely to have 2 out of 3-4 opponents within 3x3. This reduces to about 40-50% in a width 6-7, so on so forth
- from there, using a 1d6 (or even 1d100) to determine enemy spread is best. Standardise so players know what it means, for eg the higher the roll, the more targets.

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OAs and Charging

For purposes of charging, the width applies a constraint and generally determines how many OAs the charger takes when aiming for the backline. Usually the GM will indicate that certain creatures are "guarding" the width, in which case at least one OA is assured if not charging the guards.

For simplicity, a charger that moves two squares before charging can charge any frontliner, even if the target is a creature already in melee with another creature. Restrictions are more likely to apply in a 1-2 width area.