How does run Spd work in combat?

[Kinghawke]

how does one use a character's run spd in combat? in pathfinder and D&D they have squares (5ft per square) with so many feet per movement.
as a GM, I'm having trouble figuring out how to keep track of how fast everyone runs around a board & how to tell distance for Palladium.

[zerombr]

well, I guess this really only depends if you're really a stickler for grid patterns or not. I tend to abstract things myself so everything is relative in terms of foot speed. I think I've seen equations to equate spd to mph, but it seems to me you only need footspeed for two things, A)to compare against someone else in a race of some sort, and B)to determine if you can clear ground to a target in one action.

I do tend to use SPD for other things, like if a character doesn't have a jump distance, then I use SPD check on a d30 to see if you could muster the speed to make the jump

[glitterboy2098]

the speed attribute governs how far a character can run in a given time.

SPD x 20 is how far in yards they can run in the span of one minute.
SPD x 5 is how many yards they can cover in one melee round (15 seconds)
and you divide that figure by their number of attacks to determine how far they can travel in the span of a single 'attack'. beyond that there really isn't any rules. Palladium's rule system doesn't really have map focused movement rules the way D&D does (D&D has them because it evolved out of miniatures gaming way back when)

PB's rules are a lot more freeform and flexible, and it is up to the GM as to whether they want to houserule in something more detailed.

[Vincent Takeda]

the speed attribute governs how far a character can run in a given time.

SPD x 20 is how far in yards they can run in the span of one minute.
SPD x 5 is how many yards they can cover in one melee round (15 seconds)
and you divide that figure by their number of attacks to determine how far they can travel in the span of a single 'attack'. beyond that there really isn't any rules. Palladium's rule system doesn't really have map focused movement rules the way D&D does (D&D has them because it evolved out of miniatures gaming way back when)

PB's rules are a lot more freeform and flexible, and it is up to the GM as to whether they want to houserule in something more detailed.

And I always thought speed x20 is yards per minute was a very clunky way of saying your speed score is equal to feet per second.

[Axelmania]

Would probably be easier to say Spdx15 is feet/melee considering most weapon ranges are given in feet and not yards.

[Glistam]

The Palladium Fantasy Role Playing Game Paper Miniatures: Free Sample offers this guideline for grid movement:

Step 1 - Set up. Movement is based on a scale of 1 inch = 5 feet. If you have a piece of grid paper you can use it as a board, otherwise you'll need a ruler (included on this page!) and a clean, flat surface.

The document then present 4 character with individual Spd scores and 3 attacks each. They have listed values derived from their Spd score:
Spd x 15/3 = the total feet a character can move in an attack.
Spd x 15/3 x 25% (rounded down) = the number of feet a character can move and still perform an action in an attack.

[Glistam]

You could also try using the Murderthon rules from Rifts World Book 10: Juicer Uprising:

Remember that the speed of a character, times 20, is the number of yards/meters covered in a minute. Every melee round, the Juicer covers five yards/me­ ters for every point of speed. For example, a Juicer with speed 60 will cover 300 yards/meters in one melee round.

If a character is attacked while running, he can parry or dodge, but in either case he is slowed down; reduce Speed by -20% for each dodges or counterstrike, and 5% for a parry in which he parries and keeps going (-20% for a parry that misses; the shock of getting hit and hurt slows him down a bit) for that melee round. At the beginning of each melee round, we assume the character is moving at maximum speed.

Attacking while on the run is at -3 to all attack and defense rolls.

If a Juicer is hit and takes serious damage, 12 points or more, reduce his speed by 1 point for every such injurious attack, any­ thing else is shrugged off, at least for the moment (consider ef­fects from blood loss).

Every act of attacking (strike). For example, a Juicer who attacks four times during that melee will lose -80% of his speed; most Murderthon players will only attack once or twice per melee. A character can only attack the targets on either side or directly in front of him. To attack the guy behind you is pure folly.

Attacking is only possible if the target is within 30 feet (9.1 m) of the attacker

[Axelmania]

Spd x 15/3 = the total feet a character can move in an attack.
Spd x 15/3 x 25% (rounded down) = the number of feet a character can move and still perform an action in an attack.

Nice find! So basically you can move 1/4 spd for free without spending actions? Important to know for dodging.

I wish auto-parrying/auto-dodging reduced speed somewhat, I know I'd run slower if I had to focus on fending off attacks. Maybe not to the point it takes up 75% of your speed, but maybe 25%?

[quote=he can parry or dodge, but in either case he is slowed down; reduce Speed by -20% for each dodges or counterstrike, and 5% for a parry in which he parries and keeps going (-20% for a parry that misses; the shock of getting hit and hurt slows him down a bit)[/quote]

Workable! Slowing down the % of max speed is a good other approach to simply occupying a % of it.

I guess auto-dodges ought to work like parries (5%) while those lacking auto-parry (no HTH) should have it function like dodges (20%).

Another issue is if the 20% for a parry that misses (I assume they mean that rolls and fails to tie/exceed a strike?) could be viewed as either +300% to the existing penalty (meaning a -20% would become a -80%) or simply a blanket -15% to speed for failed active defenses.

It seems like it should apply to failed dodges too, after all, shock of getting hit/hurt should be universal.

Seems like it ought to scale based on damage too. There is the issue that you can be hit without being hurt... maybe something like -1% per 10% of your total HP/SDC of kinetic damage (regardless of whether or not you are hurt) and additional 1% per 10% of your total of injury suffered?

[Nekira Sudacne]

how does one use a character's run spd in combat? in pathfinder and D&D they have squares (5ft per square) with so many feet per movement.
as a GM, I'm having trouble figuring out how to keep track of how fast everyone runs around a board & how to tell distance for Palladium.

I've found in Rifts, combat is heavily ranged and so exact positioning is not nearly as important as it is in D&D and Pathfinder. So long as the group is within roughly a half kilometer of each-other they're generally vunerable to anything the other side wants to do, so in practice manuvering is mostly useless for PC's save to duck behind any available cover, at which point they are no longer moving anyway.

also the formula for converting Spd. attribute into distance traveled per turn is (Spd.*30)/22) in total distance by melee round, so divide that result by the characters number of actions

If they're a borg or something with a speed directly mesured in MPH, then the formula is simpler, MPH*22 is the distance in feet per melee round, again, divide by attacks per melee.