Choosing a Warlord power with a non-combat application was difficult, but not difficult in the same way as the Ranger or Rogue. While most classes are about hitting stuff, the Warlord is all about directing allies and creating a tactical advantage. Although I finally decided on showcasing Opening Shove, I’d like to point out that Commander’s Strike, Furious Smash, and Viper’s Strike also have excellent off-the-grid applications.

Opening Shove

Holly heard the cries down the market streets and turned to see a large, white horse careening down the cobblestone—wagon and frantic driver in tow. She began to retreat to the safety of a side alley when her sharp eyes spied a crumple of red and yellow fabric screaming on the road.

A little girl, no more than 8 years old, had been knocked over by the crowd. Her fine clothing was a flailing mass of frills as she tried to scramble to her feet. She might make it in time, she might not, but Holly was not the kind of woman who left anything to chance.

Holly pressed through the crowd, but was no match against the retreating mass of shoppers and keepers. Unable to make progress against the burly man in front of her, Holly raised a small slippered foot and kicked him out of the way. Now with a clear view ahead of her, Holly channeled her inner strength and shouted, “get off the road!”

The voice pierced the air like the note of a flute. It was a voice that had overpowered the clash of blades, the roar of fire, and the screams of the dying. It was a voice that years ago commanded thousands of men over miles of blood stained earth. It was a voice that had no trouble crushing the noise of a scared throng or the rapid impact of horse’s hooves on stone.

The little girl on the street stumbled and without standing completely upright, managed to scramble to the curb and avoid being trampled. Holly breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed her body.

The retired lady of war turned to be on her way, but was stopped by four fat fingers encircling her arm. “What do you mean by kicking me?” Holly turned and found a large face staring back at her. Her body tensed once more and she took a deep breath. The worst of the day may not be over.

The girl falls in the street and gets tangled up in her clothing, making her slowed. The crowd has become a mobile obstacle that Holly cannot move through to get to the girl, so she resorts to Opening Shove to grant the little girl a shift equal to Holly’s intelligence modifier. Holly makes a strength versus reflex attack against an innocent bystander and easily succeeds. The little girl then shifts as far as her slowed state allows, but it’s just enough to move her out of the way of the oncoming cart.

Before anything existed, the Maker dreamed. It dreamt motes of nova-bright light never-ending shrouded in dark mists. It dreamed of subtance that buoys the feet yet crumbles into grain between fingers. The Maker dreamed of fire.

The Maker opened its eyes. Flame filled its mind. The Maker thought, and in thinking discovered thoughts the same as its dreams. The Maker thought again and time flowed. Whirling gas condensed and stars shone into being. Worlds formed from sudden implosions of matter and ether. Life made its first shuddering steps in the wake of the Maker’s stream of thought. The Maker wove all that is into existence with furious passion and vision, his mind at the center of vast expanding web of being.

Not even the Maker can sustain such passion without strain or without limit. Now that life was beginning, it needed to be nurtured. The Maker’s presence was still required in through the creation of the cosmos and beyond. The true beauty of the Maker’s creations would be that would change and grow, but it could not without guidance. The Maker distributed attention through every strand of creation’s web, its thoughts galloping on etheric threads to the worlds built and now growing.

Though it could provide guidance and some protection to all creation, the Maker knew that it must provoke change with force, not mere observation. The last of the Maker’s will was kept for the Maker itself. With it the Maker created a hammer. It shaped a mountain in the lands floating around its body into the shape of an anvil which gathered the energies surrounding the Maker to its face.

With its last shred of consciousness, the Maker compelled its own body into the rhythm of striking the anvil’s face with its hammer.

When the hammer strikes the anvil, the collected energy flies apart, breaking away from the face in all direction. The sparks travel the infinite expanse of creation, imperceptible until they burst and manifest as dreams, as people, as gods, as planets, as stars.

All who have received the Maker’s Gift knows this story.

The Maker’s Gift

The Maker has never manifested in psychic or physical form, but its consciousness exists in all things. In the infinity of existence, it is always observing even as its body mindlessly toils at the Forge. It is content to watch for aeons, playing no part in the cycle of existence. The Maker loves all existence but loves living things the most. A star will always work as the Maker made it, as will a mountain, as will a flame. But life emerges from the Maker’s intentions at dizzying vectors and angles, impossible for the Maker to know fully.

On rare occasions, it grants a living being a gift. It transmits the first dreams of the Maker, filling the recipients mind with the images and sounds of the true story of existence. The gift informs the recipient how to visit the Maker’s realm. Last, the recipient receives a message in the form of a compulsion: Offer yourself to the anvil, and receive your deepest wish.

Most cannot receive the Maker’s Gift. The cosmos laid bare before them, unfortunate recipients typically become incoherent and mad, turning away from the Maker’s light. Those who retain their sanity often become known to their fellows as madmen or crazed, false prophets speaking of realities unheard and unheralded. Very few are able to hold the Maker’s Gift and their sense of self at the same time. They speak of the Maker little or not at all. These souls become known as the wisest men and women of their age, possessing a truly advanced understanding of reality.

Fewer still are those emboldened with that knowledge to make the pilgrimage to the Worldsoul, and fewer those who survive the journey.

But for those few, all things become possible.

The Forge of the Worldsoul

The Worldsoul is the Maker’s realm, a vast strip of land looping around its body. The landscape shifts constantly into new vistas and terrains. Plains become oceans and oceans become flame and flames become plains once again. The black sky is finds it light in the Maker’s aura, its form dwarfing planets and unable to be seen fully from anywhere in the Worldsoul. At most one can glimpse only a portion of the Maker’s form.

Sparks from the forge occasionally strike the Worldsoul itself , giving birth to many creations on the land of the Forge itself. The creatures of the Maker’s realm are the most unlikely sort, creations unlikely to be seen in any of the infinity of worlds. Whole races rise, live and die in the Worldsoul, as do beings of god-like power. Those who visit the Worldsoul are forever imprinted by the sprawling diversity and strangeness of beings and sites found in the Maker’s realm.

The only constant in the Worldsoul is change. And the Forge.

Almost anywhere you stand on the Worldsoul you can see the Forge on the horizon. It is a field of corruscating energy with an immense mountain shaped by the Maker’s thoughts into an anvil. Forge of the Worldsoul is the heart of creation.

The most difficult task in all worlds is to enter the Forge and ascend to the Anvil’s face. The Forge drains and tests and drains again the body and will of those who seek to conquer it. At the end of the journey, the ascendant traveller meets his reward. The thunderous breaking of sky, the sudden paralyzing shadow of the hammer’s descent…and the fulfillment of any wish.

The Forge of the Worldsoul is the first in a series of wondrous places for your 4e game.  The next part will be continuation describing how to use the Maker and the Worldsoul in your game, as well as key personalities and sites.  Like what you’re seeing?  Please comment and share!

Protectors of the earth and the natural world, primal characters reach into the energy of that same ecosystem they protect in times of crisis to bring punishment those who transgress against the natural order.

The Ultimate Exaltation of Earth

The eternal enduring cycle of life and death, of destruction and renewal, flows through you.  Your body takes the form of  earth that is constantly crumbling to dust and reforming.  Your spirit, like the earth, can never truly die.

Encounter*Primal,Limit,Polymorph
Minor Action

Effect: You drop to zero hit points, but are not dying, and not unconscious. You automatically pass all death saving throws.  You become immune to damage and are weakened. At the beginning of your turn, expend a healing surge or the power ends.
Heroic Effect:When this power ends, you regain hit points equal to your healing surge value and recover 1d4+2 healing surges.

Paragon Effect: When this power ends you regain hit points equal to your bloodied value and recover 1d4+2 healing surges.

Epic Effect: When this power ends you regain all of your hit points and recover 1d4+2 healing surges.

Howling Ascendancy

You connect with the wild, drawing forth the attributes of all of nature’s creatures. With a supernatural howl, you become nature’s vengeance.

Encounter *Primal,Limit,Rage
Minor Action

Effect: Your speed increases by 2.
Heroic Effect: Once per turn as a free action, you may choose one of the following:  +5 to Athletics, +2 AC, or +4 damage.  The effects last until the start of your next turn.

Paragon Effect:Once per turn as a free action, you may choose one of the following:  +5 to Athletics, +2 AC, +6 damage, or spend a healing surge to recover hit points.  The effects last until the start of your next turn.

Epic Effect: Once per turn as a free action, you may choose one of the following:  +5 to Athletics, +2 AC, +8 damage, spend a healing surge to recover hit points, or fly your speed.  The effects last until the start of your next turn.

Primal Army

The primal spirits that inhabit all things respond to your urgent need.  Nature’s threads bind you all, as you become a general of these wild spirits, if only for a time.

Encounter *Primal,Limit,Conjuration
Minor Action

Effect: You summon one or more wild platoons.  Each wild platoon counts as a large creature and can block movement and counts as concealment against enemies.  A wild platoon may not be destroyed, but may be dismissed by you as a free action. You may spend a move action to move all wild platoons five spaces. At the beginning of each turn, expend one healing surge or dismiss all wild platoons summoned.

Heroic Effect: You summon one wild platoon within 10 squares of you. Any enemy that starts its turn next to a wild platoon is slowed until the end of turn and takes 5 psychic damage.

Paragon Effect: you summon two wild platoons within 10 squares of you. Any enemy that starts its turn next to a wild platoon is slowed until the end of turn and takes 5 psychic damage.

Epic Effect:You summon three wild platoons within 10 squares of you. Any enemy that starts its turn next to a wild platoon is slowed until the end of turn and takes 5 psychic damage.

Form of the Great Sea

Let the salt of Earth admonish the water to bear the virtue of the Great Sea. Blood becomes water neverending.  Drenched in this water, past injuries are forgotten as you bring the force of the great yawning tides to bear upon your enemy.

Encounter*Primal,Limit,Polymorph
Minor Action

Effect: You assume the guardian form of the Great Sea.  Your hit points change to that of your bloodied value.  Whenever you expend a healing surge to regain hit points, those hit points become temporary hit points instead. If an effect would heal damage, it instead grants that amount of temporary hit points.

Heroic Effect: whenever one of your attacks hits an opponent, as a free action you may spend one healing surge to daze that enemy until the end of its next turn. The enemy is also weakened (save ends).

Paragon Effect: whenever one of your attacks hits an opponent, as a free action you may spend one healing surge to daze that enemy until the end of its next turn. The enemy also is immobilized (save ends).

Epic Effect: whenever one of your attacks hits an opponent, as a free action you may spend two healing surges to stun that enemy until the end of its next turn.  The enemy is also immobilized (save ends).

So there’s a lot of information on gaming with wave, but finding it can be a chore.  I do my best, but I’m just one person.  Many minds are always better than one, so kaeosdad and I created a small network (affectionately referred to by myself as a “tide”) called “The Echo Planes“.  If you’re on wave, and you have questions, need resources, or want to announce a game and find players, the Echo Plane is the place that you want to be!  The tide is publically accessible, so all you have to do is go there to find other people who are also interested in 4e and wave.  You can find collaborators and players for anything wave-related here.  I hope to see you there!

If you have questions for me specifically, I am gamefiend on twitter and quinn (dot) murphy (at) google wave.

Don’t go looking in your core rulebooks for this because you’re not going to find it.  It’s something I’ve  cribbed from other games and ported into 4th Edition D&D.   How often have you been adjudicating a skill challenge and one of your players makes a check that goes beyond a simple secondary skill, in a way that is both creative and reasonable but doesn’t directly contribute to winning the challenge?  Many times, you dole out a +2 to the next check and go on with it, but as a DM, I found that got really lame really fast.  It increases the odds of  the next check succeeding by 10% but if it doesn’t help (or isn’t necessary), the player may not feel particularly inclined to come up with another unique idea later and I definitely want to encourage that sort of thinking.

When one of my players goes in a direction with a skill check that I didn’t expect and passes a level-appropriate  DC, I throw them a little chip with the word “Bonus!” on it.  (I play mostly on MapTools VTT so I can make all sorts of weird virtual stuff).  It tells the player that I officially recognize the successful skill check and feel that it was somehow appropriate but have no idea how to incorporate that check at this exact moment.  I also take particular care to NOT describe that check in the game story when it’s made.

In this way, I don’t feel like I ever have to say “no” to anything, but the pressure to come up with the result immediately is lifted.  Later on in the challenge, players can ‘cash in’ their tokens for other effects related to the skill check.  Here’s an example – the players are chasing a thief through a busy town.  The primary skills are Athletics, Acrobatics, Perception, Endurance and Streetwise.  Your player’s Cleric is not trained in any of these things, so she decides to use Religion; she prays to Erathis, the goddess of law and civilization for help.   That seems both creative and reasonable, so upon making her check, you throw her a bonus token.  When the thief is caught, the cleric asks “is the thief part of the evil cult we’re looking for?” and waves her token.

If the thief wasn’t already a cultist, but you’re prepared to play it that way you have her return the token and you say “yes, in fact he is and he has the entry password tattooed on his left hand.”  Perhaps you don’t want to go just hand your players quite so much information.  You could trade that token for  “no, he isn’t, but one of the guards that comes to arrest the thief comments that the last couple burglars they’ve caught were dead and marked with a strange sigil in blood.”  Now if  the PCs were about to botch the challenge and had only one or two failures left, maybe the cleric player could decide to use the token more mechanically, say to add 2 to a check an ally has already failed in the hopes that it would then succeed or grant a new reroll altogether (much like the way the LFR card system works).

However you do it, the purpose of the bonus token is to teach your players that a unique, creative idea will pay out somehow in a meaningful way.  A simple +2 bonus may be the DM’s best friend, but after a few sightings, that Bonus Token will become your players’ best friend.

Limit Scaling

Limit powers scale up in effect at Heroic, Paragon and Epic levels.  Each limit break will list an effect as normal for the heroic level, as well as paragon and epic levels.

Divine Limit Breaks

Divine limit breaks summon the power of the gods themselves, creating a temporary unity of the mortal and the divine.  This energy is often harnessed to bombard foes or heal allies with radiant power, but can be used to reverse the flow of time or summon the power of a god’s avatar to this plane.

Called to Serve

Your god calls you to service, requesting you to vanquish this foe.  As radiant power fills your limbs, you answer the call.
Encounter Divine*Limit
Minor Action

Effect: Once per turn as a free action, you may expend a healing surge to regain the use of your channel divinity power for the encounter.

Heroic Effect: Whenever you use your channel divinity power, each enemy within 3 squares of you takes 5 radiant damage.
Paragon Effect: Whenever you use your channel divinity power, each enemy within 3 squares of you takes 10 radiant damage.
Epic Effect: Whenever you use your channel divinity power, each enemy within 5 squares of you takes 15 radiant damage.

Final Prayer

At your behest, your god wipes from the world the recent actions of a comrade or a foe.

Encounter Divine*Limit
Immediate Interrupt
Trigger: Any enemy or ally performs actions during his turn that you dislike.

Effect: Until the end of the encounter, you grant combat advantage to all enemies.

Heroic Effect: Rewind the ally or enemy’s turn and replay the turn, playing out actions as normal.  Any attack roll an ally makes gets a +2 bonus, while an enemy gets a -2 to any attack roll.
Paragon Effect: Rewind the ally or enemy’s turn and replay the turn, playing out actions as normal.  Before the target acts, you may use their move action for the target.  This move action that you take is considered forced movement. Any attack roll an ally makes gets a +2 bonus, while an enemy gets a -2 to any attack roll.
Epic Effect: Rewind the ally or enemy’s turn and replay the turn, playing out actions as normal.  Before the target acts, you may use their move action for the target.  This move action that you take is considered forced movement. Any attack roll an ally makes gets a +4 bonus, while an enemy gets a -4 to any attack roll.

Infinite Sanctuary

The area near you becomes a zone where all allies may find shelter, and no enemy can find peace.
Encounter Divine*Limit
Minor Action

Effect: All allies within 3 squares of you gain a +1 bonus to AC and a +2 bonus to saving throws.
Heroic Effect: All allies within 3 squares of you regain 1 healing surge at the beginning of your turn. Enemies within 3 squares of you grant combat advantage to your allies.
Paragon Effect: All allies within 3 squares of you regain 2 healing surges at the beginning of your turn. Enemies within 3 squares of you grant combat advantage to your allies.
Epic Effect: All allies within 5 squares of you regain 2 healing surges at the beginning of your turn. Enemies within 3 squares of you grant combat advantage to your allies.

Desperate Avatar

Summoning the power of your god, you briefly become an avatar of its wrath.
Encounter Divine*Limit
Minor Action

Effect: At the beginning of your turn you must expend a healing surge or the power ends.  You gain a +2 avatar bonus to your AC, gain immunity to radiant or necrotic damage (choose when selecting this power.  The choice lasts for the life of your character), and gain temporary hit points equal to your bloodied value.
Heroic Effect: You gain an additional use of your channel divinity power.  Once per turn as a free action, you may push one adjacent enemy 1 square.
Paragon Effect: You gain an additional use of your channel divinity power.  Once per turn as a free action, you may push one adjacent enemy a number squares equal to your Wisdom or Charisma modifier.
Epic Effect: You gain an additional use of your channel divinity power.  Once per turn as a free action, you may slide one adjacent enemy a number squares equal to your Wisdom or Charisma modifier. This movement can provoke opportunity attacks.

I’ve gotten a lot of questions on how to set up a wave game.  This is great!  My only problem has been figuring out the best way to express what I’ve found to everyone.  After a lot of experimentation and thought, I decided that screencasts are the best possible way to show you how to get your own game going on wave.  I’ll be posting up several of these clips in the coming days and weeks.  Please leave your questions and comments (or requests for questions I might not get answered in the vids)!

Why Gridless?

There are many good reasons to ditch the grid. Perhaps you want to do a play-by-email game. Or maybe you’re at a convention and you forgot your gear. Or you’re just accustomed to other roleplaying systems (or older versions of D&D) and you want to run combat with narration and description instead of a battlemat.

Fluid 4e offers solid guidelines for running 4e combat without a grid, streamlining combat while keeping the combat structure and the feel of 4e powers intact.

Gridless. Not Mapless.

The grid serves a very precise function — it is used to eliminate bickering about character position on the battlefield.“I’m here!” “No, I’m there!” These arguments evaporated when 4e introduced the grid.

Without the grid, we are back to the imprecision of narrative combat, allowing the GM’s descriptions and the players’ imaginations to fill in the blanks. But asking players to picturing several party members’ and their enemies’ relative position is asking for brain overload. A map is essential, even if it’s just a simple diagram sketched on a napkin.

Assumptions.

These rules assume an active and constantly-shifting battlefield. Characters are assumed to be constantly jockeying for positional superiority. Similar to the core 4e rules, what is most important for each combatant is where everyone exists in relation to him or her. Movement (as will be discussed at length later) is always assumed to be in straight lines, with the character moving as safely as he is able.

Lastly, this combat system recognizes that imprecision is inherent in all combat systems (gridless or not) and relies heavily on description from the GM and his group to provide proper context for the situations that arise.

RULES

Rounds and Initiative.

Rolling initiative and the sequence of turns and rounds remain unchanged. Players will start the combat as normal and proceed in initiative order as stated in the core rules.

The Move Save.

In fluid 4e, we assume that all characters attempt to move as safely as possible, avoiding opportunity attacks, traps, and hazards wherever they can. But when your character does get caught, you must make a move save. Just like a normal saving throw, a move save succeeds on a score of 10 or higher. No modifier to saving throws applies to move saves unless it explicitly states that it grants a bonus to move saves. Each move save is modified by the speed of the moving character minus the speed of an opposing character or a terrain modifier.

Move Save modifier = Moving character’s speed – Opponent character’s speed + move advantage + status modifier

Example:Paul, playing an elf, needs to get by a crowd of orcs to reach the shaman at the back of the room. Paul could move around the room’s perimeter, but that would take longer. He’d rather take a direct route past the loosely clustered orcs. The GM informs Paul that he has to move by three of the orcs, so in order to avoid opportunity attacks, Paul must make three Move Saves. His speed is 7 and each orc’s speed is 6, so he gets a +1 to each roll. Paul rolls a 10 (9+1), a 6 (5+1), and a 15 (14+1). He moves cleverly around two of the orcs, but stumbles too close to the last one, provoking an opportunity attack.

The most common reasons to make a Move Save are:

• Resisting and Attempting Flanks
• Avoiding Opportunity Attacks
• Moving at full speed past difficult terrain

Optional Rule:Once per turn as a free action, the GM may allow you to substitute Athletics or Acrobatics in place of a Move save, representing some adroit maneuver that bypasses the obstacle. The DC of such a test is 12 + the level of the foe or terrain. This substitution must be stated before making the save.

Example:Ken’s ranger wants to somersault over a patch of rough ground so that he can move without penalty. The terrain modifier is 5, so he must make an athletics check at DC 17 to move at his normal speed.

Move Advantage

A cousin to combat advantage, move advantage means literally having the upper hand in footwork and positioning. You gain move advantage when your foe is caught in a bad position, temporarily turned away, set off balance, or any other situation that puts him at a disadvantage on the battlefield. Normally gained from power effects and forced movement, move advantage grants you bonuses to your move save.

Move advantage is always represented as a positive number. When applied to yourself or an ally, it represents a bonus when making move saves versus terrain or enemies. When gaining move advantage and applying it to an enemy, the target grants that bonus to when opposing your ally’s move saves. Move advantage is gained from a shift, pull, push, or slide, but never from a move. Move advantage lasts until the end of the next turn of the next target it is applied to.

Move Advantage and Forced Movement

When an effect causes a target to be pulled, pushed or slid, the originator of the effect has two choices. He can move the target the allowed movement, or force move advantage on the target. The number of squares of movement is the amount of move advantage placed on the target. Pushing a target 3 squares, for example, can force 3 points of move advantage on that target until the end of the target’s next turn. All allies of the creator of that effect will gain +3 on move saves versus the target until that time.

Example: A wizard uses thunderwave on a group of orcs. He can push them up to 4 squares each, but decides to force move advantage on them instead. One of his allies wants to attack an orc in the group but needs to get through the other orcs to get to him. The wizard’s ally makes move saves against all of the orcs with a +4 bonus on each save. The wizard’s allies will have that same move save bonus until the end of the orcs’ next turns.

Example: A rogue is engaged with a foe. He uses a power that allows him to shift 2 squares. Instead of taking the movement granted, he uses that for move advantage against his foe, making it easier to escape or flank his enemy. He harries his rivals with deft footwork and successful feints, applying that to any move save he makes against an enemy until the end of his next turn.

Example:A ranger uses a power that allows him to move his speed. Since this is a move, he may not use this power to gain move advantage.

Range and Distance

Instead of using the precise measurements of a grid, in Fluid 4e we need only a few keywords to establish approximate range and position. Range keywords are easy to translate from the core 4e rules and back again.

• Melee/Engaged 0-1 squares
• Short 2-4 squares
• Medium 5-9 squares
• Distant 10-14 squares
• Far 15-19 squares
• Extreme 20-25 squares

Whenever the standard rules reference a number of squares, it instead counts as being in a range keyword that contains the number specified.

Example:Paul uses a power that allows him to move 6 squares. This fits in the medium movement range, so the movement is a medium movement. Roger uses a power that allows him to shift 2. If he is adjacent to a foe (in melee range) then after the movement he is now close to the opponent.

Example:Roger throws a dagger with a range of 5/10. Any target who is in medium range counts as a normal shot, and a distant target counts as far range. Targets who are far or further cannot be hit with the dagger.

Movement

Core 4e movements need only a few modifications to work smoothly in a narrative system. Firstly, when moving you always want to specify your destination. Inform the GM where you are moving, and he will then arbitrate any factors involved in the move. Whenever you move, unless you state otherwise, it assumed you are always moving in a straight line to your target, making any subtle changes in direction necessary to arrive at your destination. A GM should always be forthcoming with players when asked the distance to some feature or target, so that they may make informed moves and choices of destination.

Walking and Running

Walking operates as normal. Most characters will move medium range when walking. A running character can move one range further than normal.

Example:A fighter runs across the battlefield to reach his foes. He covers a distant range when running.

Example:A character has been slowed. He can only move a short range when moving.

Shifting

A shift works as normally. Shifting can be used to gain a minor positional advantage (+1), and can be used to disengage safely from an opponent you are engaged with. A shift can also be used to move from medium to short range, or from short range to melee.

Engaging and Disengaging

Whenever you are in melee range of another combatant, you are considered engaged. When engaged, you are adjacent to any combatant you are engaged with. Disengaging with a move action provokes attacks of opportunity, while moving with a shift to short range does not. A single small or medium size target can be engaged by no more than eight creatures. A large creature can be engaged by no more than 12, a huge creature 16, and a gargantuan creature 20.

Guard

The guard action allows you to position yourself strategically to defend allies on the battlefield. Once per turn as a move action, you may declare that you are guarding a target. Declare the target you are guarding, then move to within short or melee range of the target. Until the start of your next turn, any enemy attempting to engage the target must make a move save versus you or provoke an opportunity attack from you.

Flanking

In an active battlefield, flanking position can be more difficult to attain, or to escape.

To flank an opponent, the target of the flank must already be engaged with one or more of your allies. Choose one ally that you will flank with. Then, use a move action (or use a power that creates movement) to engage the foe. Make a move save versus the target, with a +1 for each additional ally currently engaged with the target (including the first). If the move save is successful, you have flanked the target. The target provides combat advantage to you and your ally until it escapes the flank.

There are multiple ways to escape a flank:

A clean escape can be made if using an ability that allows you to shift more than one square, or one of the opponents flanking you moves out of melee range, whether voluntarily or via forced movement.

A safe escape is made when you shift one square. When attempting a safe escape, declare one of the targets flanking you. Make a move save versus that target, with a penalty to the save for every enemy engaged with you beyond the first. If the move save succeeds, you are no longer flanked. You are still engaged with the enemy you made a save against, but not with the other flanking enemy.

An unsafe escape is made when you use a move action to move away from the flank. You automatically escape the flank, but first provoke opportunity attacks from any target engaged with you.

Example:Tom, playing a dwarf, is currently engaged with an orc shaman. His ally Paul moves into melee range of the shaman and attempts to flank it. Paul has an elf, so he makes a move save with a +2 modifier (+1 for an engaged ally, +1 for speed 7 versus speed 6). He rolls a 15 (13+2), making the save. The shaman is now flanked and is in for a bad time! Each player now has combat advantage against him until he can escape. If Paul had failed the move save, he would still have been engaged with the shaman, but would not have achieved a flanking position against him.

Example:The orc shaman in the previous example wishes to escape. On his turn, he panics, hastily using a power that would push Paul’s elf one square, giving him some breathing room to get away. Unfortunately the shaman misses. If he had hit, Paul would have been knocked back to short range and would no longer be flanking the shaman with Tom.

Example:The shaman’s panic continues. This time he uses a move action to shift, attempting a safe escape. Tom’s dwarf is the least mobile of the two, so the shaman makes a move save versus Tom. The cornered shaman makes a move save with a +1 modifier (his speed of 6 minus Tom’s speed of 5). He rolls 11 (10+1). He made it! He takes advantage of the blundering dwarf’s misstep and moves to the side. He is now engaged with Tom and at a short distance from Paul.

Example:The shaman has found himself flanked again. Throwing caution to the wind, he runs! He provokes two opportunity attacks, one from Paul and the other from Tom. He barely survives the strikes, but has managed to free himself to begin his rout in earnest.

Bursts and Blasts

Powers with areas of effect have their effects modified in the narrative system as well. For bursts, you pick a point of origin as dictated by the range of the burst, and then use the burst/blast table below to determine which targets are hit. For blasts, you must choose to which side you are aiming the blast at. All enemies within the specified direction and range on the burst/blast table are effected by the power.

Burst/Blast Table

• Burst 1 — all targets in melee range
• Blast,Burst 2-4 — all targets in short range
• Blast,Burst 5-9 — all target in medium range
• Blast,Burst 10+ –all targets in distant range

Example:Roger, playing a wizard, wishes to hit some minions with an area of effect spell. The spell is burst three, so once he decides where to place it he can hit all targets within a short range of the point of origin.

Point of Origin

When players pick specific enemies or allies as the point of origin, area of effect works similarly to the core rules. When they get more picky with placement, the rules can bog down a bit. It is suggested that a GM use his best judgment in such cases, and to err on the side of generosity whenever possible.

Allies in Burst/Blast and Containment

Sometimes an ally will be in the area of effect of a power. In these cases, you may, as the originator of the effect, choose to contain the area so that the ally has a chance to move out of the way and avoid being targeted.

To contain a blast or burst, select the ally who is farthest from the point of origin from the blast or burst. If there are multiple allies at the same range, choose one. You may not select an ally that is in melee range of the point of origin for the blast or burst. That ally may make a move save versus a terrain difficulty of 5. If the ally succeeds on the move save, they are no longer a target of the effect. If the move save fails, the ally is targeted normally.

Example: Roger’s wizard really wants to fry a group of orcs withscorching burst. The orcs are circling his ally in melee range. Since the spell has a range of burst 1, he can hit all targets within melee range of the spell. If he places the point of origin at the edge of the group, he can hit some of the orcs –the GM rules that he could hit half of them in this manner. He can hit them all if he centers the effect on his ally, but he cannot contain the blast in this case. His ally is simply too close.

Example:Roger’s wizard places a burst effect on a different group of enemies. The effect is burst 5, so it will hit all creatures at a medium distance from the blast. Three allies are in the area of effect: Tom (who is a short distance from the point of origin), Paul (who is a medium distance from the point of origin), and Sue (also a medium distance from the point of origin). Roger doesn’t want to hurt all of his allies, so he decides to contain the blast. He must pick the furthest ally from the point of origin. Since he has two allies that fit that description, he gets to choose. He chooses Sue (hoping Paul will forgive him!) and she is allowed a move save. Her speed is 6, so she has a +1 modifier (speed 6 – terrain difficulty 5) to the save. She fails with a 5 (4+1), so she is still targeted as normal by the spell.

Difficult Terrain and Zones

Terrain is no less important on the active battlefield. Characters will still need to navigate the perils of the environment as they have on the battlemap. Effects from powers will also place zones of effect that must be dealt with. There are no squares in a narrative combat system, so instead the GM defines areas of terrain and where they are on the battlefield. Each area of terrain represents not just a square or isolated patch of terrain, but instead defines an area that has multiple obstacles and features within it. The difficulty in these areas will be defined in part by how densely the difficult terrain is packed together and partly on what kind of difficult terrain it is. Each area of terrain has a size and a difficulty.

The size of terrain determines how far a character must move to get through it. Difficulty determines how hard the terrain is to navigate. The default difficulty of difficult terrain is 5. Areas loosely packed or densely packed with obstacles can change that rating to as low as 3 and as high as 7, respectively.

Example:Old pillars and rubble are strewn through the center of the battlefield. The GM determines the size of the the terrain will be distant. Any character moving through that terrain from one end to another will need to move that total distance to traverse it.

Moving through difficult terrain

When moving through difficult terrain, make a move save. If you succeed the move save, you move your speed as normal. If you fail your move save, you move one range keyword slower than you normally would. So if you make a distant move, you instead make a medium move. If you were to move a medium distance, you would instead move a short distance.

Enjoy The Chaos!

When abstaining from the use of a grid, there are many situations that become imprecise. The key here is to embrace that imprecision and embellish with narration and description. Liberated from the grids, players will want to try any manner of different tactics and maneuvers. Using skill checks for acrobatics and athletics, you should be able to adjudicate such maneuvers easily. It is not the aim of these rules to provide rules for every scenario that could arise. Instead, the rules offer a framework for quickly translating the core rules to a more open and narrative format. Enjoy the chaos! Gridless combats move quickly and can be very exciting. At the very least it can be a great break from the usual combat formula.