Was I using the distance concept the wrong way? How far is FAR?

#1

Hi everyone.
English is not my native language, so bare with me :slight_smile:
I’ve been playing ICRPG since it came out, but recently I thought that I might used banana based distance system the wrong way for all my games. Especially when I saw posts like this A “Handy” chart on calculating distance which stated that FAR is exactly the banana length.

This is how I use it:
CLOSE is pretty simple - it your cards touching or almost touching you are close
NEAR is all the things within a circle with my hero at the center and banana as a radius. I can move full of half or any percentage of a banana and make the action
FAR is everywhere that is not in banana’s “sphere of influence”. It’s everything that beyond a circle with my hero at the center and banana as a radius. So in my mind when I move FAR I can move everywhere on a encounter “map” as long as the path is clear.

For example my hero is standing on the road. In my turn I can move 1 full banana length and make the action because I’m moving NEAR. Or I can move 2,3 or more bananas if there’s nothing on the road (as long as I’m inside the encounter “map”, so I cannot just move to another town in 1 turn, common sense. If I want to escape this encounter there might be another encounter). But if there’s a tree trunk blocking the path I can only move from my starting position to the trunk (e.g. it’s 2,35 bananas) - that’s because I need to perform additional action to cross that trunk but I can’t - I’m moving FAR. I imagined that moving FAR is what described in the book - flat out run. You cannot take 90 degrees or so turn when you’re running, you cannot make any additional actions while you’re doing so, but if the path is clear - you good to go.

Maybe it’s working because of my encounter design - I tend to have them pretty small so FAR is actually less then 5 bananas away all the time. And It’s working for me and my players (and when I’m playing ICRPG with another GMs).
When I’m trying to play with the system from a link above everything is starting to feel unnatural. If you need to move 2 bananas to your target - that means you’ve got 2 rounds just moving and doing nothing cool. Yeah, maybe that’s more realistic but I prefer it my way, to be honest.
But nevertheless this question bugs me and I need to know - am I using this as it was designed or I’ve been misunderstanding the rules this whole time?
Thank you for your attention :slight_smile:

#2

You can use very far, and distant. But scale all of it as needed. Most combat should be close near and far. But that is different in space ship combat than Stone Age combat.

The length of a pen or banana is far…your character can run up to that length and attack, or double that length and not attack.

But if your system works for you and your table…keep using it.

#3

Thanks for reply. Looks like my distance system is indeed incorrect in terms of the actual game rules.

You can use very far, and distant

But why should I? For me it seems perfect with this 3 distance “states”. I’m just curios, maybe I’m missing something here.

double that length and not attack

Oh, so maximum movement distance is 2 “bananas”? That make sense. Did I miss that statement in rule book?

#4

No, you are not missing anything…

The other measurements are just if you need more distance you have it for a special game type…like mech combat or something.

I think the dash=double banana is how most of those I’ve played with play…total house rule. But it’s a pretty common understanding. As to how @Runehammer intends it??? He’d probably say “whatever is cool for the story or makes sense in the narrative”

@Alex would probably say, “whatever you want to do with it”

For me…I over complicate things then simplify it…so if I need it, I’ll add the extra distance markers, then not use them after a few sessions.

#5

That works perfectly for me. Actually I was skeptical when I started to use it, like “what, I can move almost everywhere I can in 1 turn?”. But then we tried it in actual games and it turns out great.

But now I’m translating ICRPG CORE to my native language (Russian) and it’s crucial for me to understand what is the “correct” mechanic. And this is the only question that’s not easy to understand from the rules itself. My thought when I’m reading the FAR rule:
FAR is about 50 feet. A few seconds in a flat out run… ok, nice
Anything further than 50 feet counts as FAR. hmm. Isn’t FAR is 50 feet? It was stated before
FAR, is the distance a character can move in one turn. what? I can’t understand how far I can move because I can’t understand where’s FAR. So I can move 50 feet of “further than 50 feet”

And picture below with banana clearly stating that FAR is everything that beyond banana. First it got me thinking that character can move 1 banana exactly but this will only raise up more questions, so I embraced the ‘further than 50 feet’ part and never look back :slight_smile: Until now.

#6

Ah…translations should be more exact than what is needed at the table!!! So I understand why it is important. @Runehammer will have to answer for the exact answer.

The spirit or concept of the rule, is you can between 3 and 7 inches and still get an action, or sprint 10 to 15 inches. But if it should be a bit more or less…no one should care if it’s cool

But don’t be a dick about it and go to the opposite side of the map.

Banana was chosen to express that it’s not that important…

However, as written in the drawings…you can dash as far as you want.

#7

Thanks man. Nice to see that ICRPG is so diverse and robust that you can mess with such fundamental thing as distance system and still have no issues. That’s why I love it :slight_smile:

And I think it’s important to convey this message (about ultimate DIYness) to future russian readers. But we need to translate this rule in it’s original form first. You need to establish the rules before you can bend and break it :upside_down_face:

#8

I agree 100% so let @Runehammer answer it in that context…but he is in the beginning of a move across the country. So give him time.

#9

I mean it doesn’t make sense to me to allow unlimited movement and I wouldn’t play that way as it seems silly to me. But at your table if it works for you and your players, go for it! It’s all about having fun right.

Regarding the confusing nature of Far, the various diagrams floating around showing different interpretations, and heck as you point out the rules aren’t exactly clear either. I too had problems with it. it’s another part of the rules that i wish were clear in what they are officially, even if in the next sentence it says “but hey just do whatever is cool” some of us just get too caught up when it isn’t clear.

#10

I thought that way at the beginning. But then I realized that encounters are designed that way so you rarely have a truly “unlimited” movement with no obstacles of some sort on your way.

#11

The canonical way of distances in ICRPG is as follows:
CLOSE: Something that is next to you or within melee range of you. The minis don’t have to be touching each other. How far is still CLOSE is up to you (the GM). This might depend on the weapon at hand etc.
NEAR: This is the maximum distance a character can go during its turn without losing its action. This is also known as a “single banana / single nanner”. Nanner is a silly contraction of banana.
FAR: Anything beyond NEAR is FAR, usually up to twice of NEAR. This as also know as “double banana / double nanner / dub nanner”. If someone walks/runs this far, they can’t normally take an action during that turn. FAR doesn’t imply running but you can rule that it does. Whether you can take any 90 degree turns is not covered by the rules. Again that, and whatever you see fit, is up to you but keeping things simple is generally very good and it is the default approach of ICRPG.

The rulebook isn’t as clear as it could have been on this distance issue. Like others have explained, what the absolute distance of a single banana represents is up to you and you can even change it from encounter to encounter. Sometimes you can rule that 6 grid squares or 30 feet is a banana and therefore NEAR. Sometimes it is 10 squares or 50 feet. If you don’t use grids and don’t have squares, whatever scale is appropriate for the encounter is defined as NEAR. Just eyeball it per encounter.

#12

From page 13 of the ICRPG Mobile PDF:

WHEN DISTANCE MATTERS

Many games reach a moment when distance is important to the outcome of the action. Whether the heroes are firing arrows, fleeing for their lives, or casting fireball, ICRPG uses three distance terms. The more you play ICRPG, your GM and the books will use these terms to describe everything. Playing at the table, you can visualize this with a banana.

CLOSE: Toe-to-toe, or arm’s reach. This is melee weapon distance, punching distance.

NEAR: This is a few steps, or a long lunge. Think of it as 25 feet or so. Lots of action happens in the NEAR area.

FAR: Far is the realm of ranged weapons, a sprinting run, or further.

From page 6 of the same PDF:

When it’s your TURN, you can do some cool role-play, say a few lines, and choose one of three TURN types:

MOVE FAR: Use your entire TURN moving as FAR as you can. It’s an all-out dash to cross a battlefield, reach a closing door, or flee a deadly hazard. Run!

MOVE NEAR + ACTION: This is the most common TURN type. You’ll move a short ways, then do something such as attack a foe, pry a gate, or RECOVER your guts.

STAY PUT + ACTION: If you’re right where you need to be, then there’s no need to move. Keep fighting, hold the hatch open, repair your blaster or call for help!

Do these help clarify things from what was originally printed in the second edition Core book?

#13

CLOSE is OK. NEAR and FAR are too vague and confusing. Turn types are OK too but they add to the confusion of the definitions of NEAR and FAR.

#14

Not really no. The problem always exists because it doesn’t specify far.

If far is double near and near is 25 then just call out far as upto 50. There isn’t a reason to dance around it so just be clear.

#15

This looks better, thanks. Hmm, never managed to read mobile pdf.

So looks like my interpretation was correct. You can indeed move as far as you want. At least if I understood this correctly.

#16

Where do this ‘far = double near’ thing comes from? Sorry, I wasn’t reading the runehammer forums actively and might miss it, but there no place in rulebook that calls specify far as like near but doubled.

#17

People have been telling you all thread that double banana is the common understanding of the rules.

And you are exactly right it’s not clear in the rules and I can totally understand why you think you can move unlimited. But I’m quite sure that isn’t the intention.

For instance unlimited Far distance moving totally breaks the tension of the ending of “the last flight of the red sword”

#18

In my game, I’d say you can run as far as you’re able. If you’re a halfling or a dwarf running in a full sprint, you’re not going to make it as far as a human. And a human won’t make it as far as a giant.

Movement distance in one turn should be limited by bio-form, plus any terrain or situational modifiers.

#19

One thing I’ve seen GMs struggle with is the numerous weapons (typically spear types) that get the NEAR tag. It implies that with one, I can strike anyone within 25 feet. Considering what ICRPG is I personally can roll with it. But I also see how people can struggle with it. I mean, it’d be extra hard to tote a spear that large around. heh

#20

Now I’m deep in the history of spears on Wikipedia. There goes my day! :laughing: