Terrain

You do not have to use terrain in a Mage Knight game, but adding terrain to the battlefield will make your game more challenging and interesting. There are three main types of terrain features: clear, hindering, and blocking. These terrain types can exist at ground level or they can be elevated. In addition, there are several types of special terrain features. A warrior occupies a terrain feature if its center dot is in the terrain.

## Clear Terrain

Clear terrain can represent features such as grassy plains or a city square. The entire battlefield is clear terrain, except those areas where hindering, blocking, or special terrain features are placed. Clear terrain has no effect on game play.

## Hindering Terrain

Hindering terrain can represent features such as brush, light woods, and debris. You can represent hindering terrain using shapes cut out of construction paper or cloth. The outer edges of these shapes are the boundaries of the hindering terrain. Hindering terrain should lie flat on the table so that it will not interfere with the placement of warrior bases.

Warriors can move into and through hindering terrain, but with some restrictions. If a warrior begins a movement with any part of its base overlapping clear terrain, its movement must end immediately when its base crosses completely into hindering terrain. It does not have to stop if its base does not cross completely into hindering terrain. If a warrior begins a move with any part of its base overlapping hindering terrain, its unmodified speed value is halved (round up) for that movement.

### Hindering Terrain Modifier

Close combat attacks are not affected by hindering terrain. If a line of fire passes through any amount of hindering terrain, or targets a warrior occupying hindering terrain, the target gets +l to its defense value. This is called the hindering terrain modifier.

If a warrior that occupies hindering terrain makes a ranged combat attack, it might not be penalized by the hindering terrain modifier. If the line of fire does not cross any hindering terrain except beneath the attacker’s base, no hindering terrain modifier applies to that attack. This represents the attacker’s ability to fire from the edge of hindering terrain, protected but not penalized by it.

### Concealing Terrain

Concealing terrain represents tall grass or other light cover. Concealing terrain is clear terrain for movement purposes and hindering terrain for line of fire purposes.

## Blocking Terrain

Blocking terrain represents features such as large boulders, high walls, and buildings. You can represent blocking terrain using common items such as decks of cards, small cartons, and scale models. Warriors cannot occupy, or have their movement paths cross, blocking terrain. Warriors cannot have any part of their bases overlapping blocking terrain. Blocking terrain blocks any line of fire crossing it.

### Chasms

A chasm represents a canyon or gorge. Chasms are blocking terrain for movement purposes and clear terrain for line of fire purposes.

## Elevated Terrain

Clear, hindering, and blocking terrain can be elevated to form hills and low plateaus. Elevated terrain features have gradual slopes up to an elevated point. All elevated terrain features represent the same level of height above the battlefield, and all points of a single elevated terrain feature are at the same level. You can represent elevated terrain using stacks of books and magazines or by using scale models. If you use models for hills, use models with a distinct elevation change and flat upper surface.

A warrior must end its movement as soon as it occupies clear or hindering elevated terrain. After that, the warrior’s movement is subject to clear or hindering terrain movement rules while occupying the terrain, depending on the elevated terrain’s type. A warrior cannot occupy elevated blocking terrain. When measuring a warrior’s move onto or off of elevated terrain, don’t measure any vertical distance traveled, only the horizontal distance traveled.

### Line of Fire and Elevated Terrain

An elevated terrain feature blocks line of fire if neither the attacker nor the target occupies that elevated terrain feature. If the attacker and target both occupy one elevated clear terrain feature, line of fire is affected by elevated hindering terrain on that same elevated terrain feature or blocked by elevated blocking terrain and the bases of other warriors on that same elevated terrain feature. If the attacker or target is on an elevated terrain feature, but the other is not, line of fire is blocked under the following circumstances:

* The line of fire crosses a warrior base on the elevated terrain feature.
* The line of fire crosses a different elevated terrain feature.
* The line of fire crosses a blocking terrain feature, elevated or non-elevated.

Hindering terrain affects line of fire only if either the attacker or target is in hindering terrain or the hindering terrain is elevated; otherwise it has no effect. This line of fire crosses hindering terrain and a warrior’s base, but because the attacker is elevated, the intervening features do not block line of fire.

### Height Advantage Modifier

When an attacker not on elevated terrain makes a ranged combat attack against an elevated target, the target gets +1 to its defense value. This is called the height advantage modifier. A target might get the benefit of the height advantage modifier and the hindering terrain modifier at the same time. In this case, the target gets +2 to its defense value. A warrior on elevated terrain attacked by a warrior at soaring level does not get the height advantage modifier.

### Abrupt Elevated Terrain

Raised parapets, flat rooftops, and plateaus flanked by cliffs are examples of abrupt elevated terrain. Abrupt elevated terrain is treated like elevated terrain except that warriors can move onto or off of such terrain only at an access point, such as a stairwell or ladder. Each abrupt elevated terrain feature must have at least one access point designated when it is placed on the battlefield. A warrior’s movement path must be measured to and from such access points.

## Constructed Terrain

Constructed terrain is terrain made from constructed terrain cards. Using constructed terrain is optional; if it is to be used, all players must agree to its use. Constructed terrain cards display the terrain’s name and describe all the terrain’s game play information, including its terrain type, defense value, fortification value, and structural point value. The pieces with which to build the constructed terrain feature are removed from their card or cards and assembled. After a game, a constructed terrain feature can be disassembled and snapped back into its card or cards for convenient storage.

A constructed terrain feature can be built from one or more constructed terrain cards and can represent many different terrain types. The terrain type indicates what type of terrain the constructed terrain represents:

* **AE** is abrupt elevated.
* **B** is blocking.
* **C** is concealing.
* **E** is elevated.
* **H** is hindering.

The defense value is the value a close or ranged combat attack result must meet or exceed in order to hit and damage the constructed terrain.

### Placing Constructed Terrain

When creating the terrain pile during setup, each player can add two constructed terrain features in addition to their other terrain features. When placing terrain, a player can place two pieces of constructed terrain on the battlefield instead of one non-constructed terrain feature. Constructed terrain is placed following all the rules of terrain placement, except that constructed terrain can be placed within 3˝ of another constructed terrain piece. A constructed terrain piece must be placed with its entire base (indicated by a bold black line) in contact with the battlefield.

### Constructed Terrain in Gameplay

A warrior can occupy constructed terrain. Constructed terrain that allows a warrior to occupy it will have a center dot printed on it. When targeting a warrior occupying a constructed terrain feature, instead of drawing the line of fire to the warrior, draw the line of fire to the constructed terrain feature’s center dot instead. Note that with constructed terrain, you should look down from above to see if a warrior’s center dot is within it. Whenever a line of fire crosses constructed terrain, refer to the terrain type to see what modifiers might apply or if the line of fire is blocked.

In addition to any modifi ers the terrain type might grant, some constructed terrain also has a fortification value. When a ranged combat attack targets a warrior in base contact with the constructed terrain, and the line of fire crosses the terrain feature, the target adds the fortification value to its defense value. A warrior cannot be given a close combat action targeting another warrior if constructed terrain prevents base contact between the attacker and target at the time the attack roll is made. Some constructed terrain cards have additional rules printed on them. Follow these rules to determine any additional effect the constructed terrain might have on game play.

### Attacking and Eliminating Constructed Terrain

Constructed terrain, unlike other terrain, can be eliminated. The structural point value of a constructed terrain feature is the amount of damage that must be dealt to the constructed terrain during one player’s turn in order to eliminate it. A constructed terrain feature can be the target of ranged combat attacks as long as the attacker’s line of fire can be drawn to an edge of the terrain feature. A successful ranged combat attack deals damage equal to the attacker’s ranged damage value. Close combat attacks can target a constructed terrain feature if the attacker’s front arc is in base contact with the terrain feature. A successful close combat attack deals damage equal to the attacker’s damage value. Lines of fire drawn to or from titans and multiple-dial warriors are not affected by constructed terrain.

## Special Terrain

### Shallow Water

Shallow water terrain, such as streams, fords, and ponds, is hindering terrain for movement purposes and clear terrain for line of fire purposes.

### Deep Water

Deep water terrain, such as rivers and lakes, is blocking terrain for movement purposes and clear terrain for line of fire purposes.

1. ↑ https://www.mageknight.net/wp-content/uploads/Mage-Knight-2.0-Complete-Rules-of-Play-2003.pdf