Can You Split Movement in BRP?

[Stan Shinn]

Asking about something my D&D players in my upcoming game are sure to want to know.

Can you split your move? For example, if you're behind the corner of a brick building in the middle of a gun fight, can you move 2m around the corner to see your enemy and shoot at them, then take the remainder of your movement and run back behind corner of the building (moving into full cover out of line of sight), all as part of your turn?

Thanks in advance for any insights on how to handle this! 🙂

 

[SDLeary]

1 hour ago, Stan Shinn said:

Asking about something my D&D players in my upcoming game are sure to want to know.

Can you split your move? For example, if you're behind the corner of a brick building in the middle of a gun fight, can you move 2m around the corner to see your enemy and shoot at them, then take the remainder of your movement and run back behind corner of the building (moving into full cover out of line of sight), all as part of your turn?

Thanks in advance for any insights on how to handle this! 🙂

 

It doesn't appear so. Attack (p.125) states "Your character can make an attack against a target on their DEX rank, in addition to moving up to 5 meters. Unless modified otherwise, this attack is performed at the full skill rating." There is an implication here of being able to move further with a penalty, but I see no table stating what those penalties would be

Engage (p.125) states that "An unengaged character can move up to 5 meters and make an attack and/or defensive action without penalty, engaging in combat." It appears that whether you can continue movement during that round will be up to your GM.

So movement before or during an attack; the attack itself ends the action. 

SDLeary

[smiorgan]

I'd say, yes if they have enough DEX ranks left and if the don't get in an engagement as a result of their actions.

I would handle your case as follows. Imagine your character has DEX 12. Since the movement is just 2 meters (less than 6) it does not affect initial action DEX rank. So your character shoots at DEX 12. Then I would apply the DEX penalty for second action to calculate when the second leg of movement starts, which is DEX 12-5=7. At DEX rank 7 the character moves back into full cover. This means that if the enemy acts between 12 and 8 they will catch the shooter out of cover. If they are quicker than 12 the may of course opt to wait until the guy comes out to shoot. If they are DEX 7 or slower they will be too slow to catch the character out of cover. 

 

 

 

Edited April 26, 2023 by smiorgan

[Alliante]

TOTAL NEWB ALERT (but learning voraciously)

(a) I believe so - you can use multiple actions as per p125 of the new BRP book. You'll use the Move the minimal 6-15 meters And then an attack action is taken at -5 your DEX rank, then use the inclusive 5 meter move back into cover  in the Attack action.

(b) You could also could Attack with a 5 meter move to push out of cover attack, THEN use a Move action to run back behind or away from the returning fire. The Move action would be at your DEX, while your Attack and Fade will occur at DEX-5.

I'm not immediately reading a "Hold Action" or "Overwatch" for your enemies, so option A should be the safest.

Veterans: Please gently correct me if I'm misreading, misguided, or just plain wrong 🙂

Edited April 20, 2023 by JDGwf

[g33k]

15 minutes ago, smiorgan said:

I'd say, yes if they have enough DEX ranks left and if the don't get in an engagement as a result of their actions.

I would handle your case as follows. Imagine you character has DEX 12. Since the movement is just 2 meters (less than 6) it does not affect initial action DEX rank. So your character shoots at DEX 12. Then I would apply the DEX penalty for second action to calculate when the second leg of movement starts, which is DEX 12-5=7. At DEX rank 7 the character moves back into full cover. This means that if the enemy acts between 12 and 8 they will catch the shooter out of cover. If they are quicker than 12 the may of course opt to wait until the guy comes out to shoot. If they are DEX 7 or slower they will be too slow to catch the character out of cover. 

I think this analysis is mostly correct.
Small initial movement in a round (5m or less) appears to be "free" at the beginning of your turn.

Then you make your attack.

Emerging from cover & attacking is "your turn."  But -- if your DEX is high enough -- you may get another turn this round.

The odds are high, however, that one or more of your foes will get in a turn (on their DEX rank) before you can retreat (on your DEX-5 rank).

[ n.b. this understanding is based on conflating the terms "attack" and "action," as used in the 1st paragraph of p.125 -- which the book itself seems to do, both in that paragraph and in the "Combat Actions" list lower down the page. ]

Edited April 20, 2023 by g33k

[Nakana]

there are so many different ways you could play this! The only wrong way is the way you don’t like. 
 

My rule of thumb is that the best way is the way that leads to the most epic storytelling despite what any of the rules say. 
 

Personally, I would run it as the player can move and shoot, then on their next turn shoot and then move. The rationale being that while they are shooting they are also exposed. With the physics of time being an entire round is x number of seconds, even though we break up turns sequentially, the action is all happening somewhat simultaneously. This also simulates the anxiety of exposure during an actual gunfight. 
 

But, it’s all subjective to a degree. Play as you like and have fun creating epic stories with each other!

[soltakss]

3 hours ago, Stan Shinn said:

Can you split your move? For example, if you're behind the corner of a brick building in the middle of a gun fight, can you move 2m around the corner to see your enemy and shoot at them, then take the remainder of your movement and run back behind corner of the building (moving into full cover out of line of sight), all as part of your turn?

My number one rule is "If you can do it in real life then you should be able to do it in BRP".

So, I would say yes you can. However, as a GM you have to work out how long it takes to do the first move, how long it takes to fire and then how much of the round you have got to complete the move. With Strike Ranks it was a lot easier to handle, move for 2 SRs, fire on your DEX SR 3 at 3+3= SR 5, then prepare to move at SR8 and move for 2 SRs. In the new version, I haven't looked at how it splits rounds up.

[trechriron]

1 hour ago, smiorgan said:

I'd say, yes if they have enough DEX ranks left and if the don't get in an engagement as a result of their actions. ...

 

 

 

I like this! (This is the way)