Running

**Running**

**Use:** Macro
skill use for long-distance travel.

**Sample specializations:** Sprinting,
long distances

*Running* is primarily
used for speed pushes (see Chapter Four) when a character wants to move faster
than her running limit value as given in Chapter One. It can also be used as a
macro skill to determine how long it takes a character to run a certain
distance or how far she can get in a certain amount of time. It may also be used
to determine if a character can successfully run over difficult terrain. The
following modifiers are used when a character makes a speed push roll with *running*. The
gamemaster can also take them into account when determining the difficulty
number for non-push runs.

**RUNNING MODIFIERS**

**Condition Modifier**

Smooth
track -2

Rough/uneven
terrain +2 Or more

Yielding
obstructions (tall grass, brush) +2

Unyielding
obstructions (boulders, trees) +4

Uphill,
gentle grade +3

Uphill,
steep grade +5

Downhill,
steep grade +2

In
non-combat situations, characters can move at their full running speed for only
a short amount of time. For macro uses of the skill, reduce the character’s
running limit value by two for distances over and reduce it
by three for distances over (about three miles).

**Timed**
Movement

You
can find out the time value for how long it takes a character to move a
particular distance by subtracting the appropriate movement limit value (or
speed value if the character is moving at less than his limit value) from the
distance value, then adding five. That value, when converted through the Value
Chart in Chapter Four, is about how long it takes the character to cover that
distance. Characters can increase their speed above their limit value with a
macro use speed push, reducing the amount of time required, but they will
suffer the detrimental effects of the speed push at the end of their movement
(see Chapter Four for the details.)

***Example:*** Paul’s
character Quin is trying to run a kilometer as fast as he can. His running
limit value is 9, reduced by two because of the distance involved, to a 7. Quin
does not have the *running* skill
so his *Dexterity* is
used to generate the action total for the speed push. Paul rolls fairly well
and Becky tells him the result of his speed push is a +2 bonus to his speed
value. This brings his speed value back up to 9.A kilometer has a distance
value of 15, so subtracting nine from that and then adding five produces a time
value of
time value of 11 is 150 seconds, so the run takes Quin about two and a half
minutes. If Quin was not trying to run as fast as possible and just ran at his
running limit value, his time value would have instead been 13 which converts
to about six minutes. It takes longer, but Quin doesn’t suffer the side effects
from making a speed push. To calculate how far a character can travel in a
specific amount of time, the formula is only slightly different. The time value
is added to the character’s limit (or speed) value and five is subtracted from
that number. That value, when converted through the Value Chart, will be the
distance covered in that amount of time. For example, a character with a speed
value of 8 who runs for one minute (a
time value of 9) will cover a distance value of (8 + 9 - 5) 12, which is
.
These formulas work with all of the macro use movement skills; *beast riding, climbing, flight, running* and
*swimming*.
They can also be used with Sailor