Re: (TFT) States of a figure (standing, kneeling, prone, ...)

[Christopher Fuhrman <fuhrman8or@yahoo.com>]

Thanks for the reponses to my questions. 

The more I read, the more I think crawling's *is* a separate state. Some other
discussions earlier in November, referring to clarifications on the Fantasy
Masters' Screen, seem to talk about transitions from crawling ->
kneeling/standing: http://tft.brainiac.com/archive/0611/msg00095.html - I will
have a look at the FMS when I get some more time.

I found some more insight on crawling in Wizard:

"A crawling figure is assumed to have all rear hexes for all purposes, and may
not attack."

Also, this implies it's a separate state:

"A kneeling, prone, or crawling figure cannot disengage; it must first stand
up."

I have a couple of remarks about Peter's reply in his text below:

--- pvk@oz.net wrote:

> I think there is a Change Position option, which lets you change to any
> legal position in one turn, as well as to lie down without having to waste
> the next turn without an action.

I couldn't find this option in the canon. The missing part for me is how to
transition (closest to canon) from kneeling <-> prone (and, eventually
crawling). I skimmed the Errata for ITL/AM/AW and couldn't find it either.

> Drop is falling down and is a free or involuntary action.
> 
> I think a prone crossbowman with a loaded crossbow could move one hex and
> fire, but wouldn't get the bonus to-hit for being prone and stationary
> unless he waited until his next turn to fire. It's not that he's returning
> to prone; it's that he's not stationary, but that's from memory.

This is a simple and reasonable extension; I like it. But, if going by canon, a
crawling figure cannot attack, then I'd say that any turn where a prone figure
wants to move, it must crawl. Thus, during the turn it crawls, it's in a
"crawling" state and cannot attack.

I'd put forth that a kneeling figure has to either stand up to move (which, if
you read the stand-up option in AM, it can move 1/2 its MA on the same turn if
its disengaged), or go prone and crawl (but crawling would be movement on next
turn). I'm going to re-think some of these states and try to come up with
something closest to the AM canon.

> So I see four body position states:
> 
> Standing
> Kneeling
> Fallen
> Lying down
> 
> Any postion allows Change Position (max 1/2 MA), to any other position.

I'm not sure this last statement is correct. Going by how I read this, a figure
that's lying down could move up to 1/2 MA and lie down again? It's a loophole
around crawling at MA 2. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding.

> Drop is a free or involuntary (e.g. Trip, damage, HTH) action which
> immediately puts the figure in the "Fallen" state.

I don't agree on the "free" drop consequence. To me, a voluntary drop doesn't
mean fallen (or knocked down, as I had called it), at least in terms of canon.
I like using "fallen" as a state name better, because I hadn't considered
tripping, etc.

I couldn't find a volontary "drop" action for engaged figures in basic
Melee/Wizard, but it seems possible in the AM rules. In fact, the AM canon says
you can "Drop and fire a missile" in the same turn.

> Fallen state automatically becomes "Lying Down" after one turn. Fallen is
> only different from Lying Down in that the only actions available when
> Fallen are crawling or Change Position.
>
> Crawling is a type of movement (not a position) available to anyone who
> isn't Standing.

Again, the canon seems to imply that crawling is a separate state from which
one cannot attack. I couldn't find any thing in the rules that say if a
kneeling figure can crawl or if it must first drop to prone (and which action
that is).
 
> Bows can be fired while Kneeling, but not while Lying Down.
> 
> Crossbows can be fired while Kneeling or Lying Down.
> 
> Braced crossbow bonus allowed only when Lying Down and not moving that turn.

Again, if crawling prevents attacking, then it's more than the attack bonus
that's lost. 

> Facing, engaging, and other non-HTH/spell attacks are only allowed when
> Standing.

I'm not sure what you mean by facing/engaging. A figure that is kneeling cannot
engage another figure? I have found in the rules that prone/crawling figures
have all rear hexes, so it stands to reason that they can't engage. But I've
yet to find explicitly how that works for kneeling figures. However, if
kneeling figures can't attack except for bows, then I don't think they can
engage for this reason. So I agree the canon supports this point.

With respect to spells, however, Wizard (and AM) rules say, "A wizard may cast
spells while prone or kneeling at no DX adjustment."

One of the things I dislike about the presentation of "options" in AM is the
fact that the authors tried to fit the rules into as little text (concision) as
possible. It's elegant, but it is hard to identify all the *true* actions, with
their pre-conditions.

So, I put up a page on the wiki that describes some of these things together,
taking into consideration engagement conditions, states and actions. It's not
yet fully thought out, but is a start:

http://tft.brainiac.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Rules.Actions


 
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