I've been playing 4e for some time now and decided to give pathfinder a try, I've fallen in love with the adventure path Carrion Crown. We played "We be Goblins" to get us a bit more familiar with the system and ran into a strange issue, diagonal movement. The extra movement cost may make sense but it really just struck us all as an annoying complication. I'm planning on simply dropping the extra movement cost for diagonal movement as it is in 4e. My concern is this, I'm not familiar enough with the complete rules set and all the interactions of Pathfinder, will dropping the extra cost of diagonal movement cause some strange problem or interaction later?
I found it odd too, but it makes strange differences when you dont apply it.
I got used to it, and now its fine...
You could simply convert over to hexes.
It's just a matter of familiarity. 4e's movement seems weird to me! :)
You could simply convert over to hexes.
+1; you'll be glad you did. Once I started, I never looked back movement and AoE is so nice now.
We tried simple diagonal movement in our Pathfinder game and didn't have a problem. Not to say there aren't problems out there, just that none ever came up.
It creates the weird situation were the max distance to charge is between 60 and 90 game world feat depending on angle relative to the grid.
The biggest impact will be that really the diagonal system is about measurement, not just movement. So the same change would be applied to area spells as well. A 30ft radius fireball spell becomes six squares, which gives you a firebox spell.
While 4e is designed for that, in 3.5e/PF you'll find that there's hugely more call for measurement and circles and cones. The spell system is massively more... rich/complex.
This won't destroy balance or anything, but it'll certainly be different.
I hope that was a joke @ wings.
It's just a matter of familiarity. 4e's movement seems weird to me! :)
For me, it's more than that. Firecubes aren't weird, they're simply moronic. And even worse is that your speed varies according to direction. If the square is aligned so the sides point towards north, moving northwest (i.e. diagonally) will increase your movement by about 41%.
I'm all about a decent balance between playability/ease of use and realism, but a simple one-two count simply is not too hard for a thinking human being, especially when it avoids an absurdity of that scale.
You could simply convert over to hexes.+1; you'll be glad you did. Once I started, I never looked back movement and AoE is so nice now.
I tried. My players whined like the little girls they are and I had to go back to squares.
(And if any of you read that: Yes, you're little whiny girls! :P)
We play on terrains with no grid. If there is a question of distance, we get the ruler or measuring tape out. Distance is easily calculable and fair each and every time.
We play on terrains with no grid. If there is a question of distance, we get the ruler or measuring tape out. Distance is easily calculable and fair each and every time.
I'll +1 this too.
Though simpler, the 4e rules create weird distancing effects. A guy charging 8 squares straight covers 40 feet. A guy charging 8 squares diagonal covers 60 feet. Interesting. Think of what bizarre spatial distortions must exist for this to be the case. Space in the 4e universe must be polarized, impeding movement in the straight but speeding it in the diagonal as if all diagonal movement were downhill and faster. 4e is an experiment in spatial anomolies. Perhaps 4e space is curved, but the curves flow in microcosmic waves that are aligned to the diagonal grid?
Though simpler, the 4e rules create weird distancing effects. A guy charging 8 squares straight covers 40 feet. A guy charging 8 squares diagonal covers 60 feet. Interesting. Think of what bizarre spatial distortions must exist for this to be the case. Space in the 4e universe must be polarized, impeding movement in the straight but speeding it in the diagonal as if all diagonal movement were downhill and faster. 4e is an experiment in spatial anomolies. Perhaps 4e space is curved, but the curves flow in microcosmic waves that are aligned to the diagonal grid?
Actually it would have to have objective movement relative so some other point to actually have diagonal movement since all movement is actually straight barring outside influence or perspective (and even then it is still straight, only altered or perceived incorrectly).