Dear community,

We had a lovely discussion during our last campaign concerning doors. I am pretty confident that we understood how doors are working (how to melee attack or range attack them, how to count spaces, adjacency for blast etc.). Nevertheless we felt that the entire door topic is somehow ugly and not really consistent to the rest of the game (in terms of counting and attacking). We finally came up with a house rule that everybody was happy with.

I just wanted to share this with you to get your feedback. I know since this is a house rule we do not need an official approval Nevertheless I appreciate any feedback to see whether we’ve overlooked something or missed something in our consideration.

Here is the simple rule:

(FIZZGRID TECHNOLOGY)

[ ] [ ][ ] [ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ a ] [ ][ ]
[ e ][ ][ b ] [ x ][ ]
[ ][ ][ c ] [ x ][ ]
[ ][ ][ d ] [ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ]

Red brackets = wall
Green brackets = door

Let’s say we want to attack from the left part of the map. In this case we simply assume that the door is occupying the two x-spaces for melee and ranged attacks.

For melee attacks this means that you can attack from spaces a-d (which is different to the rules – here you only can attack from b and c). To our group this felt more intuitive as this would be the rule for all other targets of a melee attack as well.
So we consider spaces a-d to be adjacent to the door for the purpose of melee attacks, interaction or blast. This is quite a bit different compared to the official rules.

For ranged attacks we stick to the same approach: the door is occupying the x-spaces. For counting and LOS you are allowed to do that “through” the door. So if you shot from space e you need 3 accuracy. If you shoot a figure on space b you need accuracy 2. Again this sounds more intuitive as a figure or an object on the spaces b and c should be nearer/closer to the attacker than the door itself (remember according to the official rules you need only accuracy 2). For LOS you can draw that through the door to any of the four corners of the x-squares (as long as it is not blocked by any other figure or obstacle).

It’s as simple as this and we all felt that this way doors a so much more in line with all of the other attack rules concerning figures and objects (you do not have the distinction for ranged and melee attacks, the problem that officially you cannot range attack from space b or c – since the door is officially not occupying the space anymore, the problem with cleave and blast, the problem that a door is occupying a space and in the next round it doesn’t). In a nutshell the only exception we have to make is that we can draw LOS through the door for attacking a door, ranged attacks need +1 accuracy and melee attacks can be performed from four adjacent spaces.

Any thoughts or comments. Or any idea why they made the rules so much more complicated?

Many thanks in advance.

Regards

In effect, the door always occupies the spaces on the "other side" of the door.

If you allow attacking a door with a non-reach melee attack from A and D, do you also allow interacting with a door from A and D?

Yes we do so for interaction. As we consider the spaces a-d to be adjacent to the x-spaces.

Hope it still make sense

In terms of occupying spaces: it really depends a bit on how to interpret the rules. To be very precise: according to the rules the door is not really occupying a space for a melee attack. Instead the rules define the spaces that are adjacent (which in the end is almost the same but not quite as the example with the spaces a-d shows). The occupying spaces topic is only needed for ranged attacks and here usually the two spaces "on this side" of the door are relevant (of course only if not occupied by a figure).

That's why we believed our approach is more charming as we can use it for both kind of attacks in the same way.

Again, hope this makes sense somehow (to us it does).

I would think the strategy of blocking the doors to delay is out of the window, so the remaining strategies are wounding & withdrawing heroes or constantly hitting them with conditions. I'm not sure it will be an improvement to rebel play experience.

How it plays out will of course depend on the heroes / IP class, the players, and the missions / campaign. (Return to Hoth is already very open and the time limit is often on the imperial side, so not affected that much, but it is otherwise already quite easy for the rebels.)

I agree with your thoughts on the blocking strategy. We need to test how this turns out. Valid comment. We haven't thought about the broader picture and basically simply wanted to simplify the rules. If this is changing the odds...mmhhh. Thanks for this a1bert!