F.7 Ship Movement

This section defines the rules that ships use to move, which are not identical to character movement. Real ships have a great deal of momentum, and their movement speed and direction cannot be quickly adjusted. This is too much of a hassle to represent fully, so Rise uses significantly simplified ship movement mechanics. However, ships still have more movement constraints than characters, including a concept of ship heading.

F.7.1 Ship Heading

A ship’s heading always points in one of the eight standard cardinal directions: north, northeast, east, and so on. Forward-moving ships can only move within a 90 degree cone centered on their heading. For example, a ship with a heading of north could travel northwest or northeast, but not west or east.

Turning

A ship can change its heading by turning. Each ship has a turning cost based on its size. That cost is the number of feet that a ship must spend out of its movement to turn by 45 degrees. A ship can pay its turning cost twice, allowing it to rotate more quickly while typically making little or no forward progress.

Reversing

A ship can travel in reverse, allowing it to move within a 90 degree cone centered around the opposite direction of its heading. This has two restrictions. First, the ship must have not used more than half its movement during the previous round to travel forward. Second, the ship’s speed is halved while travelling in reverse.

F.7.2 Movement Timing

Ships automatically move up to their movement speed during the movement phase. They cannot move during the action phase.