Fighters can jump up, down, or across gaps. They can get knocked or dragged off platforms, trip, or fail to land well when jumping.
A variety of Skills and Equipment allow a fighter to jump better, trip less, or mitigate harm from falling.
Edges
Movement rules are often concerned with "edges". First, there are the edges of the battlefield.
Then there are the edges of elevated terrain such as platforms and bridges.
Finally there are the exposed edges of holes in the terrain, which are referred to as Pitfalls.
Battlefield Edge
It is scenario-specific whether a fighter can move off the battlefield edge, and what the consequences (if any) are for doing so.
In some scenarios, fighters are not allowed to leave the battlefield and treat the edge like a wall.
In other scenarios, fighters are allowed to leave and count as being Out of Action but unharmed if they do.
In some scenarios, fighters leaving the battlefield become Reinforcements and may reenter later.
And so on. If a fighter would fall or jump off the battlefield, refer to the specific scenario instructions for leaving the battlefield.
Other Edges
When determining if a fighter falls off or into something, the distance to remember is ½''.
If a fighter becomes Prone (Pinned or Seriously Injured) within ½'' of an edge of a platform due to failing an Initiative check for any reason, they fall off the edge.
If the fighter was forced Prone and did not yet make an Initiative check, they get to make one. If they fail the check, they fall off the edge.
Railing, Obstructions, Crenellations, Etc
If there is some element of terrain between the fighter and the edge they are within ½'' of, it might prevent the fighter from falling.
To determine what benefit (if any), the fighter receives from the terrain element, the following determination is made.
If the fighter were standing directly behind the terrain element, how much cover would it provide them against an attack from the other side of the terrain element?
If the answer is No Cover, then it offers no protection from falling. If the answer is No Line of Sight, the fighter does not fall off that edge.
If the answer is Partial, the fighter gains a +1 bonus to their Initiative check. If the answer is Full, the fighter gains a +2 bonus to their Initiative check.
Leaping Across Gaps
Fighters can attempt to move across gaps between platforms or across a Pitfall.
Fighters treat gaps smaller than their own base as normal terrain and can move across such small gaps freely, but must attempt to leap across larger gaps.
First, a fighter must move up to the gap, with the front edge of the fighter's base on the edge of but not hanging over the gap.
Next, the fighter must have sufficient movement remaining to move completely to the other side of the gap (so that their base is fully on the other side of the gap, and not hanging over in any way).
If they do, the fighter is moved across the gap and set up with the back edge of the fighter's base on the edge of but not hanging over the other side of the gap.
The fighter must now make an Initiative check; if they fail this check the fighter falls into the gap. If the gap is a Pitfall, the Pitfall rules are used, otherwise the normal falling rules are used.
If the fighter succeeds at their Initiative check they may continue their move. A fighter may attempt to leap multiple gaps in a single move if they have sufficient movement.
A fighter leaping across a gap can leap up or down to a higher or lower platform or the ground, as long as the total vertical distance traveled is 2'' or less.
Step Down
During a fighter's move, they can move down ½'' or less without any penalty to their movement.
To move down more than ½'' in this way, the fighter must jump down.
Jump Down
Fighters can attempt to jump down from a platform to a lower platform or the ground. The vertical distance traveled by a fighter when jumping down does not
use any of the fighter's movement but horizontal distance traveled uses 2'' of movement for each 1'' moved horizontally as measured from the spot the fighter
jumped from to the spot they are landing.
A fighter jumping down is set up on the spot they are leaping to, and then must make an Initiative check with a -1 penalty
for each full 3'' of vertical distance the fighter jumped down. If the fighter makes their Initiative check they land safely and may continue their action.
If the fighter fails their Initiative check they are pinned and suffer falling damage determined by the vertical distance they moved.
Step Up
During a fighter's move, they can move onto or over
structures or obstacles that are up to ½'' tall without any
penalty to their movement. Taller structures and obstacles
will need to be climbed. Note that sets of stairs, steps,
caskets or anything else which is individually no higher
than ½'' tall can also be climbed up using Step Up without
a Movement penalty.
Kip Up
A fighter below the edge of a platform that is no more than 3'' above where the fighter is standing may attempt to pull themselves up onto the platform above them as part of their movement;
this uses 1'' of the fighter's movement for each 1'' of distance between where the fighter is currently standing and the top of the platform they are kipping up to.
The fighter must make an Initiative check; if the fighter passes the check they may be set up onto the platform above them with the back edge of their base touching the edge of the platform.
If the check is failed the fighter does not move up to the higher platform and becomes Pinned where they stand. If they become Pinned within ½'' of an edge, they may fall.
Falling
A fighter who falls moves the shortest horizontal distance possible so that their base is suspended entirely in mid-air, then moves straight down until they hit a lower level or fall into a Pitfall.
If a fighter does not fall into a Pitfall, they are immediately Pinned. The fighter now suffers a hit using the values shown in the Falling Impact chart depending on how far they fall (rounding up to the nearest inch).
Falling Impact
Distance Fallen
Strength
AP
Damage
If a falling fighter lands on another fighter, they are also Pinned, and suffer a hit with the same Strength, Damage and AP as the falling fighter. Move the falling fighter the shortest distance possible so that the two fighters are not overlapping.
If a falling fighter lands within ½'' of an edge, they must make an Initiative check to see whether they fall again, as though they had gone from Standing to Pinned within ½'' of the edge.
If the fighter is still on the battlefield after their fall is resolved and they fell during their own activation, their activation ends immediately.
Falling Into A Pitfall
Sometimes there are Pitfalls on a battlefield, representing a deep hole of some sort. A fighter that falls into a Pitfall is immediately taken Out of Action and a Lasting Injury roll is made for them; if they fell into the Pitfall due to the direct action of an enemy fighter, that enemy fighter gets bonus XP for having taken the fighter falling into the Pitfall Out of Action. An object that falls into a Pitfall is simply removed from the battlefield.
Relevant Traits
The following Traits interact with falling.
Drag (X): After a hit made by an attack with this trait has been resolved normally
(i.e. after any wound, save, and injury rolls have been made), if the target was not taken Out of Action the attacker can attempt to drag the target towards themselves.
To resolve this, the attack is considered to have a Drag Force equal to the number shown in brackets + D3; if no number is specified the number is assumed to be equal to the attack's Strength.
For instance, an attack annotated as having Drag (5) has a Drag Force of 5 + D3, while an attack annotated as simply Drag has a Drag Force equal to the attack's Strength + D3.
The target is considered to have a Drag Resistance as indicated in the below table.
The Target Is...
Value To Subtract
another fighter
target's modified Strength + D3
an object that can be carried
using the Carry Object action
1 + D3
an object that can be carried using
the Carry Heavy Object action
4 + D3
Subtract the target's Drag Resistance from the attack's Drag Force to determine the Drag Distance (minimum 0).
If the Drag Distance is 0, the target is unaffected by this trait.
Otherwise, the target is involuntarily moved that many inches straight towards the attacker, stopping if they come into contact with an opposing fighter's base (become Engaged).
For instance, a Strength 4 attack with this trait has a Drag Force of between 5 and 7, while a non-heavy carryable object has a Drag Resistance of between 2 and 4.
Thus, depending upon comparative dice rolls, such an object would be dragged between 1'' and 5'' by such an attack.
Similarly, a Strength 4 fighter has a Drag Resistance of between 5 and 7 and might be entirely unaffected by the same attack, but even in the worst case would be dragged no more than 2''.
If the target is moved off a ledge by this trait it falls and may suffer falling damage.
If the target is moved into an obstruction, the target stops moving and suffers a hit resolved with a Strength equal to the Drag Distance, no AP, and 1 Damage;
if the obstruction has Wounds, it also suffers an identical hit.
The 1'' rule does not apply to this involuntary movement. If a target fighter would end their movement within 1'' of one or more enemy fighters they are instead moved into base contact with the nearest enemy fighter.
If an attack with this trait also has the Impale trait and hits more than one fighter, the last fighter to be hit is considered to be the target for purposes of resolving this trait.
At the end of resolving this trait, if the target is a fighter and they remain Active, that fighter becomes Pinned.
Drag: on hit, Drag a # of inches = (attack S + D3) - (target's S + D3);
directly towards attacker. If obstacle encountered, suffer hit w/ S = Drag distance, no AP, 1 DMG, obstacle suffers same hit.
Heavy-G: Mark the location on the battlefield where a Heavy-G attack hits with a counter. An area of increased gravity and magnetic interference extends 2.5'' out horizontally from the center of the counter, and extends infinitely vertically upwards and downwards (a cylinder). A marker placed at the center point plus use of a measuring device, or a 5'' Blast marker can be placed on the battlefield to mark the area.
All fighters and destructible objects within the affected area are hit by the Heavy-G attack. After the hit is resolved, a Heavy-G field remains in effect until it dissipates. In the End Phase roll a D6; on a 3 or less the area dissipates and the counter is removed.
Until the Heavy-G field dissipates fighters can move through the affected area, but all movement is halved (rounding down). If a fighter in a Heavy-G field must make an Initiative check to avoid falling, they gain a +1 bonus if they would fall away from the center of the Heavy-G area, or a -1 penalty if falling towards the center.
Ranged attacks across the affected area suffer a -1 penalty to hit and have their Strength reduced by 1. Finally, when an effect that use a Blast marker misses a target within 6'' of the affected area, instead of scattering randomly it is moved D6'' towards the Heavy-G area.
Knockback: After a hit made by an attack with this trait has been resolved,
if the target was not taken Out of Action they may be involuntarily moved away from the direction of the attack.
To resolve this, the attack has a Knockback Force equal to the attack's Strength + D3.
Subtract the value indicated in the Knockback Resistance table below from that Knockback Force to determine the Knockback Distance (minimum 0).
The Target Is...
Value To Subtract
another fighter
target's modified Strength + D3
an object that can be carried
using the Carry Object action
1 + D3
an object that can be carried using
the Carry Heavy Object action
4 + D3
If the Knockback Distance is 0, the target is unaffected by this trait. Otherwise, the target is involuntarily moved that many inches directly away from the direction of the attack.
If the target is moved into an obstruction, the target stops moving and suffers a hit resolved with a Strength equal to the Knockback Distance, no AP, and 1 Damage;
if the obstruction has Wounds, it also suffers an identical hit.
For instance, a Strength 3 attack with this trait can generate Knockback Force between 4 and 6, while the Knockback Resistance of a Strength 3 fighter is also between 4 and 6.
Thus, depending on comparative dice rolls, that fighter might be entirely unaffected or might be moved back 1'' or 2'' if hit by that attack.
The 1'' rule does not apply to this involuntary movement. If a target fighter would end their movement within 1'' of one or more enemy fighters they are instead moved into base contact with the nearest enemy fighter(s).
At the end of resolving this trait, if the target is a fighter and they remain Active, that fighter becomes Pinned.
Falling: A fighter will fall if they are moved off a ledge or over a pitfall. They may also fall if they become Pinned near a ledge and fail the subsequent Initiative check.
If this occurs, first finish resolving the attack which knocked them back, then resolve falling damage only if the knocked back fighter remains on the battlefield.
Knockback: on hit, KB a # of inches = (attack S + D3) - (target's S + D3);
directly away. If obstacle encountered, suffer hit w/ S = KB distance, no AP, 1 DMG, obstacle suffers same hit.