Movement During Combat

The character's Speed attribute x5 is the number of yards/meters covered in a melee round (15 seconds). Dividing the distance covered in a melee round by the character's number of attacks indicates how far he can move in one attack/action. However, it's important to remember that an attack/action is not a set measurement of time. Attacks per melee round are not distributed evenly across a melee round based on a time scale. Character's go round robin until everyone is out of attacks. If one character has an extra two attacks per melee round compared to everyone else, s/he uses these attacks at the end of the round with the other characters only able to defend.

Is this fair and realistic? Yes. It's much like a boxing match where both boxers test the other by swinging a punch and parrying/blocking that punch and returning his own counterpunch. This teeter-totter exchange will continue until suddenly, a flurry of blows are swung and/or landed and the guy on the receiving has no hope of returning the attack and must strive only to survive the onslaught. The guy with more attacks will, at some point, launch those attacks.

So how does this work with movement?

Attacks/actions spent do not use the character's next attack per melee, but instead are removed from the character's overall actions and subtracted from the end of the round. How long the character takes to get there depends on the character's speed attribute. A character can move his/her Speed attribute in feet per second. This will help determine how long it takes the character to get somewhere. While moving, the character can still take other actions, such as dodging and trying to attack. The more actions/attacks the character makes while running, the less distance the character can travel.

Can I attack while running?

Yes! However, moving will cause a character's next attack to be considered a wild attack. Wild attacks suffer a -6 penalty to strike. Even dodging (an attack/action that involves moving) can be considered a movement. Only defensive actions that do not use an attack per melee, such as a parry, can be made and avoid movement penalty.

Exceptions to this rule include special techniques such as Body Block/Tackle. These are combat maneuvers that require movement and already count as two attacks, one to move and one to attack. Since they require and are designed around movement, these do not count as wild attacks and can be performed with full bonuses. Another exception includes characters such as a Long Bowman with Superior Bowmanship or characters with other Trick Shooting (such as from the W.P. Sharpshooting in Rifts) abilities. These techniques allow the character to move, attack, and avoid this penalty.

What if I'm on horseback or another mount?

Knights and others can ride a horse or other mount into combat. Since it is the animal moving, not the character, this uses the animal's attack's per melee instead of the character's attacks. Obviously, if an animal is spending all of its actions moving it cannot make other attacks such as a front, rear kick, or stomp. Certain animals do have exceptions, such as a Trample or Charging Horn Ram that function as the equivalent of a Body Block/Tackle technique requiring two actions for the animal.

Characters don't suffer any penalties when making a melee attack. Ranged attacks however lose all strike bonuses and half the rate of fire when firing from horseback, unless special techniques are known such as Superior Bowmanship. Depending on G.M. ruling, the character may still need to spend one action per round to maintain control of the animal. While the animal is doing most of the work, control still requires some level of concentration that distracts the rider's full attention from attacking. Additional actions for Horsemanship skill checks may be required if performing complex maneuvers.

Can I move at all without it being considered an attack/action?

Yes. In combat, people move. They advance, pull back, and after a long battle may end up across the room, into the hall, and up the stairs. Characters can move at approximately 20% of their total speed without resulting in a movement penalty. This means characters can move a distance equal to their Speed attribute in yards/meters per melee round. While nice, in the grand scheme of the battle this is considered inconsequential.

What if my character and another character have the same Speed attribute and we're in a race, does this mean the race will always end in a tie?

Good question! However, every race ending in a tie isn't very interesting. If two (or more) characters can reach the same objective before the end of the melee round, then the winner is decided with an initiative roll. The initiative for the melee round doesn't apply to this race, and the initiative roll for this roll won't affect the combat order either. This is a special roll just for this situation.

For even shorter races, something that won't take a full melee round to reach, if multiple characters can reach the target in a single melee action, also roll initiative. I know, I just said that attacks per melee aren't a measurement of speed, so how come if a slower character can reach the same destination in a single melee action they can compete with a faster character? A race is not always about speed alone. In a track meet, being the first off the line can be important. So in very short distances, that slower character might just react faster and get their first. The greater the distance, the better the edge for the fast character.

So how does this all work together?

Let's say I have a character with a Speed of 20 and 4 attacks per melee round. This means I can move up to 25 yards/meters by spending one action. I want to reach a target 100 yards/meters away and, in theory, I can make it in one melee round. I start running as my first action. Someone fires an arrow at my head, so I spend an action dodging. Along the way, I pass a friend in trouble and decide to lend a helping hand as I pass, giving a quick slash to the back of the enemy. This is a wild strike and I suffer a -6 penalty to my strike roll. I spend my last action for movement. I'm out of actions and traveled 50 yards/meters during the round.

Now to explain this more visually: I didn't suddenly run 25 yards/meters and then stop because my action ended, wait, dodge, still standing there attack an enemy, stand around more, and then run 25 more yards. No, I was running the entire time. I was running, weaved to avoid the arrow without stopping, slashed an enemy's back with my sword as I passed and kept moving. While attacking at a -6, I am attacking the enemy's back and he's unlikely to be able to defend. The dodge and the strike forced me to adjust my pace. Accelerating, decelerating, and potentially stumbling caused me to slow down and only make it half way to my goal, but I was running the entire time. This is why movement comes off the character's total actions, not the character's next action.