Conan RPG (d20) Dodge Question

[Water Bob]

The Conan RPG forum is going dry since Mongoose lost the license. It's a hell of a game, though--I think the best interation of a d20 game I've ever seen, and a fantastic match of d20 + Howard's gritty world.

Any Conan RPG fans here?

If so, I've got some questions for you.

Let's discuss Dodge for a moment.

In the description of how a character should dodge, and when he is allowed to dodge, the rules say that at least one adjacent square be either empty or occupied by a friendly unit.

Questions--

1. Can a character move into that space when dodging? The way the rule is written, it would seem so--as if the character dodging has a choice of staying in his original square or moving to the adjacent one. How do you read the rule?

2. What about the Dance Aside maneuver? Is the only time a character can move into that space is by using that maneuver? Or does the Dance Aside give the character an additonal 5 feet move?

3. If the character does move into that space while dodging, does this serve as his 5 foot step for the round? Or, does the character get to move another 5 feet when its his turn to act?

 

[thejc]

Im getting ready for work so I have no time to actually reference this.

Dodge: In order to use this you must move into the adjacent square and this happens at the time of the opponents attack(this has broken flanking bonus and such) and this sucks up his 5' adjustment

Dance Aside: Much like dodge except you get an additional 5' adjustment. I believe(although I am not as familiar with this)

 

[Water Bob]

Dodge: In order to use this you must move into the adjacent square and this happens at the time of the opponents attack(this has broken flanking bonus and such) and this sucks up his 5' adjustment

I'm unclear about it eating up the 5 foot step, but it is clear that a dodging defender does not have to move out of the square he's in because the rule specifically says he doesn't.

I'm just curious how this works if the defender wants to move. Is it free? Does it count against the 5 foot step? What if three attackers attack him during the round on different initiatives? Does the dodger get to move 5 feet with each of those, too?

 

[Water Bob]

This is how I think the rule is supposed to be (but I'd sure like some official input on this).

In order to Dodge, the dodging character must have at least one adjacent square empty or with a friendly unit in it. That much is said in the book.

A dodging character cannot move into another square while dodging unless he uses the Dance Aside maneuver (along with its requirements).

So, why does a character who does not qualify for the Dance Aside maneuver (let's say he has DEX 12) need at least one open or friendly occupied space adjacent to the space he currently occupies? Well, for meta-game reasons, it's a visual que to the players to show who can dodge and who cannot on the battleboard. For an in-game reason, it's about space needed to dodge, weapon length, and avoiding all blows. If a character is surrounded except for the square behind him, then we know in which direction he will dodge when he needs to.

The 5 Food Step says that it is only possible to take it if the character has not taken any movement in the round previously. Yet, the Dance Aside maneuver is an Instant Action (which makes it a Free Action).

Therefore, if a character uses the Dance Aside before his turn later in the round, he is not allowed to move. He cannot take the 5 foot step, and he cannot move farther. He already took his movement when doing the Dance Aside.

But...if the character goes first and moves, he can use the Dance Aside later in the round and move an additonal 5 feet.

That interpretation serves both rules.



Thus, a character with DEX 12, must have at least one open or friendly occupied adjacent space in order to be able to dodge. Otherwise, the character must use parry.

A character with DEX 13+ can use the Dance Aside maneuver to move into an adjacent 5 foot space provided the enemy's attack throw is less than or equal to half the defender's dodge score.



If a character moves at all early in the round, including the Dance Aside, the character is not allowed to take his 5 foot step (or any other movement) during his combat round.

But, if the same character is attacked later in the round, and Dance Aside is possible, then the character may move the extra 5 feet with the Dance Aside.

That's the way I'm reading the rules.

 

[Ahzad]

Love me some Conan d20

I've always seen the empty adjacent square or friendly square requirement as a meta game thing showing that you have to have some space to move about, you may end up dodging into that space but you always end up where you started. Like I said I've always seen it as a meta game thing/visual thing that doesn't actually let you take a move action. I think it's bad wording about the "need not necessarily move into the space" and something I've always left out.

 

[Water Bob]

Love me some Conan d20

Me, too, bro. Best version of d20 ever created.

Mongoose did such a superb job matching Howard's universe. Not too many games have mechanics that match the universe so well (the original D6 Star Wars comes to mind).

I've always seen the empty adjacent square or friendly square requirement as a meta game thing showing that you have to have some space to move about, you may end up dodging into that space but you always end up where you started. Like I said I've always seen it as a meta game thing/visual thing that doesn't actually let you take a move action.

I agree. That's pretty much what I said above.

I think it's bad wording about the "need not necessarily move into the space" and something I've always left out.

Thus the confusion with the "need not necessarily move into..." I'm guessing they're including the possibility of the Dance Aside in that definition.