Hth combat and hex maps

[Tywyll]

I think I just figured out why I get confused with facing and stuff in HERO. Are two characters engaged in Hth combat actually in the same hex? I always assumed you attacked an adjacent hex...but I have seen a lot of builds where it only makes since if melee combat takes place in the same hex.

 

It also explains why Spears with stretching 1" work...all melee would have 1" range if attacking adjacent targets.

 

Am I right?

[Ternaugh]

The hex is an abstraction, like the 5 foot squares in D&D. It's a method for showing general placement of characters in a combat, while still remembering that the character would be moving around quite a bit during their actions.

 

Likewise, while we use the Time Chart to say that actions happen on a certain Phase, this is also an abstraction for the purposes of game playability, and characters don't really move, then freeze until a few seconds pass.

[Duke Bushido]

By the rules, HtH can occur as far away as the adjacent hex; this has been a rule forever, even when hexes were two meters across.  The only difference I can see now is that it's much harder fit two characters into a single hex than it used to be and still give them room to fight. 

 

Though extrapolating, I suppose you could grandfather in that you can now HtH with someone two hexes away.   

 

Seriously: I don't have a problem with that, and even less of a problem with melee at that range. 

[Tywyll]

9 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

By the rules, HtH can occur as far away as the adjacent hex; this has been a rule forever, even when hexes were two meters across.  The only difference I can see now is that it's much harder fit two characters into a single hex than it used to be and still give them room to fight. 

 

Though extrapolating, I suppose you could grandfather in that you can now HtH with someone two hexes away.   

 

Seriously: I don't have a problem with that, and even less of a problem with melee at that range. 

But is the default assumption that 'HTH range' (like when you buy a power with no range) would be in the same hex?

[Tywyll]

Holy crap, here it is from Fred

"Hand-To-Hand Combat (HTH):   Combat  between characters  who  are  standing  in  the  same  or  adjacent hexes.  Usually HTH Combat  involves punching  or melee weapons such  as swords,  not attacks which work at  range (such as guns  or  energy  blasts)."

[Christopher R Taylor]

Its a common misconception about melee combat that you can only hit stuff immediately adjacent.

 

Even unarmed you have about a two meter radius you can hit targets in: one step and a swing or kick.  Add something like a sword and that distance increases by a good meter.  So someone standing in the center of a hex 2m away from you is comfortably within range of melee combat.

[Duke Bushido]

16 hours ago, Tywyll said:

Holy crap, here it is from Fred

"Hand-To-Hand Combat (HTH):   Combat  between characters  who  are  standing  in  the  same  or  adjacent hexes.  Usually HTH Combat  involves punching  or melee weapons such  as swords,  not attacks which work at  range (such as guns  or  energy  blasts)."

 

Do remember that 5e was still using (I think; I could be wrong about this) 2-meter hexes.  So if you're using 6e you can comfortably assume that two meters away is still acceptable, so figure two hexes instead of 1.

[C-Note]

From 6E2P54:   Hand-To-Hand Combat (“HTH Combat”) is combat between two characters who are within Reach of one another. A character’s Reach is 1 meter around himself — about the length of an ordinary human arm, with a little extra space to allow for the minor movement that occurs during any combat situation. Some Powers or abilities increase a character’s Reach, as can using a long weapon (see 6E2 201). HTH Combat usually involves punching or melee weapons such as swords, not attacks that work at Range (such as guns or Blasts).

 

If you are using 1-meter hexes, I interpret this to mean that HTH combatants can be 2 hexes apart, since each combatant will have a 1-meter reach.

[Duke Bushido]

11 minutes ago, C-Note said:

A character’s Reach is 1 meter around himself — about the length of an ordinary human arm,

 

 

Ah, SWEET!

 

I'm part T-Rex!