HYPERBOREA / some rules questions

**Posted by famouswolf** 2/19/2015 8:36 pm

I am an old RQ/Stormbringer/CoC GM and in studying the ASSH rules I am running into some bits that I honestly do not understand.
1) Why is distance measured in feet indoors and yards outdoors?
2) Is each five feet or yards translatable to one hex or square on a battleboard?
3) Would an archer being charged by a melee weapon wielding antagonist get to fire first even though the charging npc had won intitiative?
Three will do for now, thanks for any input given...

**Posted by Blackadder23** 2/19/2015 10:36 pm

1) It's a concept found in several classic editions of D&D. Basically, you have more freedom of action and better line of sight outdoors, so you can move faster and shoot further.

2) That's up to you. It sounds reasonable. Personally I don't use miniatures or battleboards, but you certainly could.

3) It depends how close the charging character is. If the charger is within a half move he'll attack in melee phase one, before the archer fires in missile phase one. If the charger is more than a half move away, he'll attack in melee phase two and the archer will get a shot first.

**Posted by famouswolf** 2/19/2015 11:57 pm

Thanks, that makes sense well enough.

About the charge vs. archer, I'm not sure about it, not all the time at least. That was what I thought but it just doesn't feel quite right.

It's usually best not to over analyze these things. Stormbringer certainly had a lot of things that had to be played fast and loose. ASSH is somewhat more rules heavy (except the lack of a dedicated skill sub system) than I am used to, so things that the GM has to make judgements on are a little glaring to me so far. I am going to try to run it raw, mostly, so I need to have the rules locked down.

Well, thank you,your response does help.

**Posted by Rastus_Burne** 2/20/2015 6:01 am

Just to add a thought to the battleboard question. I use a chessex map and minis for some of my games. I probably won't with AS&SH, but if I was then I would do it as you suggest: one mini per 5ft square/hex.

**Posted by SavageGM** 2/20/2015 8:07 am

famouswolf wrote:
Thanks, that makes sense well enough.

About the charge vs. archer, I'm not sure about it, not all the time at least. That was what I thought but it just doesn't feel quite right.

It's usually best not to over analyze these things. Stormbringer certainly had a lot of things that had to be played fast and loose. ASSH is somewhat more rules heavy (except the lack of a dedicated skill sub system) than I am used to, so things that the GM has to make judgements on are a little glaring to me so far. I am going to try to run it raw, mostly, so I need to have the rules locked down.

Well, thank you,your response does help.

In regards to your charging vs archer question I find the rules to be one of the best that I have seen in an OSR game. Remember that a "full charge" is a "double move". Then if the charger has a 30ft normal move, he is charging 60ft, or 20 yards. The archer is literally watching him (if not surprised, which may change things up if the archer can get a shot off or not) run 20 yards, maybe more or less, at him at full speed towards him, bow and arrow ready. To me it makes perfect sense he can get a shot off before the charger arrives to cut him down. I have played numerous games without any rule such as the phases and have shook my head in disbelief as a player has gotten to one of my monsters with a double move charge even though the monster had bow and arrow in hand, combat already commencing. It reminded me of the guards watching a certain knight run towards them in Monty Pythons Holy Grail.

**Posted by Handy Haversack** 2/20/2015 8:44 am

Right, so, concretely, a fighter with a MV of 30 could charge from 20-30' (20' min. for charging; 30' = a doubled (running) half move) and attack on phase 1 or 30'-60' and attack on phase 2.

An archer being charged would definitely get a shot (or more!) off if the charge attack came on phase 2. If the charge attack lands on phase 1, then in a basic circumstance initiative would be the determining factor.

That said, and not to muddy the waters or get too mishnaic, I think there's a case to be made for adjudicating this through the weapon-length rules for charging ("When charging at a weapon-wielding defender, the combatant with the longer reach weapon attacks first if the WC difference is 2 or greater"). Missile weapons don't have WC, it's true, but I think one could easily say their reach is quite a bit greater than any melee weapon if one wanted to and just let them always go before a charge.

What think? Supported or just over-fiddly?

Also, we usually have a battle mat down on the table and some minis. We aren't real detailed about it, and I always make clear that the positions of the minis are Heisenbergian at best. The figures I use for monsters are totally not to scale. It all just serves to provide a sense of relative positions and eases some things for me and the players. We do use 5' squares for what it's worth

**Posted by Handy Haversack** 2/20/2015 9:02 am

Also, Maezar made a handy sheet!

http://hyperborea.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=179

**Posted by famouswolf** 2/20/2015 7:07 pm

Got that on favorites. I will take a closer look tonite.
You all are very helpful.