I'm thinking that there should be an option for a character or creature that just wants to run flat-out during his (or its) turn. Here's what I've come up with as a possible solution

RUN (maneuver)

If a character wishes to cover a lot of ground by moving quickly, he may run. A character that chooses to run on his turn must declare this before taking any actions. Once this maneuver is declared, the character moves up to three range increments, but no less than two. When this move is complete, the character's turn immediately ends, with no actions allowed. A running character is sacrifcing defense for speed, and so can take no actions until the start of his next turn.

Characters who are critically injured, engaged, or restrained cannot run unless the GM allows it.

Does that sound fair?

Fairish. If you want to be lenient on the active defenses, require them to spend 1 fatigue and/or stress per increment ran if they want to use it. That way they're not hosing themselves by losing the chance to dodge or block a blow as they rush by.

Why does the existing rule of taking extra fatigue to cover extra distance not work for you or your group? It seemed logical to our group that running to the extreme range of a bow in a single round should pretty pretty exhausting.

Currently we use the rules as stands - and the player can then follow up with the Stunt action card - it allows a chance at another free manuver and at fatigue recovery.

You option looks interesting but with the 'spend extra fatigue' rule already in place my group is satisfied.

Concerning our debate about "fast" characters and beasts, you may check the Giant Wolf : his swift ability is what we said... "Swift : may perform 1 free move manoeuvre each turn"

Venthrac said:

That sounds fair, but perhaps overly generous, for the runner. It seems a little unfair for archers, to be honest, and I think it will give melee too much of a boost over ranged combat and ambushes.

I suppose I should back that up with evidence or arguments. Sorry if this derails your thread at all...

I don't feel the game needs this running option (or any other homebrewed enhanced running option), because even without it, characters can cover ground exceptionally fast.

To illustrate my point, let's explore how the standard compares to 2nd Ed. (My 2nd Ed is really rusty, so if anyone spots any mistakes, let me know). In 2nd Ed, most humans have a Movement statistic of 4. This allows them to move 8 yards per combat round normally, or up to 24 yards in an all-out run where they're doing nothing else. Within that system, bows and firearms have a range of 48. So if you were attacked by someone with a bow at long range for their weapon, it would take two full rounds of just running to get within melee range. If you were taking a more cautious approach (not running or charging) it would take 6 rounds to reach them.

Now compare that to 3rd Ed, where the range for an equivalent weapon has range "Medium". Moving at a full run, you can get there in a single round, for 1 fatigue, and you still get to attack. (You spend your free maneouvre to move from Medium to Close, and then pay a fatigue to engage them.) If you take a more cautious approach (no fatigue), you get there in just two rounds. So, characters in 3rd Ed are, by default, moving much faster than characters in previous editions.

Comparing it to D&D we'll again see that WFRP characters are by default moving really fast. In 3.5 D&D (likewise, my 3.5 is kinda rusty, so correct me if I'm wrong), a shortbow has a range increment of 60 feet, and it's maximum range is 600 feet. You won't often take shots at that kind of range because your odds of hitting at 10 increments are pretty dreadful, but a reasonably competent archer is likely to be willing to take shots out to four range increments, aka 240 feet. An unarmored human PC can walk 30 feet per round, or run 120 feet per round. So again, to travel from the likely archery range to melee range takes 2 rounds of full-out run, or more than 6 rounds of more reasonable exertion. And if you were taking fire from some hotshot archer who wanted to hope for natural twenties at the full 10-increment range of their shortbow, it would take you 5 rounds of full running to reach them.

What I conclude from all those comparisons is:

* a) WFRP 3rd Ed assumes your basic movement in combat is a hearty jog, not a calm walk.
* b) If you're taking one or more fatigue from movement maneouvres in WFRP, it represents a full-on run.
* c) WFRP 3rd, as written, is much kinder on the melee-only character than either 2nd Ed or D&D, at least in terms of them trying to get into range while under fire.

So, given those conclusions, I see no need or reason to allow any better movement than the default maneouvre rules in WFRP.

Just to make sure those conclusions hold up, I'll also run the results on a longer-range weapon.

In WFRP 3rd Ed, a Hochland Long Rifle or a Longbow can hit to Extreme. It takes 7 maneouvres to reach that distance (3 from extreme to long, 2 from long to medium, 1 from medium to close, 1 to engage while at close). You can cover the whole distance in a single turn if 6 fatigue isn't enough to knock you out. Or you can cover the distance over 7 turns at a slow pace without fatigue.

In WFRP 2nd Ed, a Hochland Long Rifle has a range of 96. A typical Move 4 human can cover that ground in 4 turns of all-out full running. If they try this without running, it'll take them 12 turns to get there.

In 3.5 D&D, a composite longbow has a range increment of 110 feet, so from the point where they start having a better than 5% chance of hitting to when you reach melee is about 3 or 4 turns of all-out running. At a non-run pace you're looking at about 14 rounds of walking.

So, in terms of getting somewhere in a hurry, WFRP 3rd is being very generous to the guy who rushes into melee. It does so, of course, at the expense of giving you a lot of fatigue if you want to run so remarkably fast. Then again, you may be able to shrug off the fatigue with the right talents or career ability, and you still get an action on the turn(s) you run, unlike the other systems.

If my players complain about there being no running option, I'm going to politely tell them that spending fatigue for extra maneouvres is the running option, and that it's far more generous running rules than any non-supers game I know.

If they have a problem with that, they should look at the "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" and/or "Made Of Iron" Tactics Talents. Either will let them get to extreme range in 3 turns for a total of 2 Fatigue. If they take both (and have the slots for them, so either Troll Slayer, Thug, or Wardancer, or a member of a Party Card with a Tactics slot), they can run the whole distance in 1 turn for 3 fatigue.

Those without Tactics might consider the Strong-Willed Reputation, or even a stint as a Soldier or Commoner. Or, they could just describe some colorful trick they do while running, and hope for 2 boons on "Perform a Stunt". This would allow them to squeak an extra maneouvre (or fatigue refresh) into each turn spent just moving.

I suppose I could see room for some sort of enhanced move Action being added to the game, as in one you pay an Advancement to purchase. You'd have to be careful not to make it too good, though, or else it would become an automatic upgrade for all melee characters.

Yeah, I tend to agree with R.B. the game already has rules for how to move more than once on a turn. So why bother trying to change that. Only thing I can maybe see, is allow the option to trade your action for a 2nd free maneuvre, not just for movement, could be for lots of things, draw a weapon, then drink a healing draught, or draw a weapon, and read a sheild, but the option to do something with your action, other than an action, and I know preform a stunt can be used, but I'm thinking something just a little bit easier, and with less dice rolling involved.