Falling and measuring distance when flying/leaping/incorporeally-floating

[Wee Little Puppet Man]

As per the FAQ 3-01-15, we know that leap and incorporeal work the same as flying, minus the damage reduction when falling (and with incorporeal benefiting from damage reduction from sh and ml).
 

 

Q: A model with the Incorporeal Ability ignores terrain when it moves. If it is on the ground floor of a building which is 10” tall, can it end its move on top of the building, even if its Wk stat is less than 10, since it ignores the building while moving? Same question for a model with Flight in regards to vertical terrain.

A: No. Although measurements in Malifaux are generally made from a top down view, vertical distances are measured while moving a model (see pg. 42 of the rulebook, Movement & Terrain). If the model with Incorporeal ends its move on top of the 10” tall building, it would have moved 10” and, unless it has a Wk of 10 or greater, this is not a legal move. However, if the Incorporeal model has a sufficient Wk stat to complete the move, it would be able to end the move on top of the terrain, ignoring the usual rules for climbing, etc. Flight works similarly, except in the case of Enclosed terrain (see Enclosed terrain, rulebook pg. 60).

 

While spirits breaking an ankle when falling might seem counterintuitive (specially when they got up there by floating in the first place!), it can be argued that they suffer damage when materializing in order to avoid going through the ground.

Still, this interpretation leave me with some questions:

1. If a spirit with Wk 6" can float up to the roof of a Ht 5" building, couldn't it float back down? And If it can, couldn't it do it when at the edge of the roof to avoid falling?
   • Let's say a Poltergeist is at the edge of a HT 5" building, that it reached by floating up, as per the FAQ rules. With incorporeal not preventing damage from falling, if the Poltergeist were to fall and then move 6" horizontally, it would suffer 5 damage (and die). But what if the Poltergeist chose to go down as it came up, by floating 5" down and then moving 1" horizontally? Is that possible?
   • As stated by the rules (pg. 42, big book):

      

     Models moving off elevations and falling suffer no damage if the fall was 2" or less. If the fall was more than 2" the fall deals 1 damage per 1"

     Now, it doesn't say that moving off elevations equals falling. It says that falling deals damage, but it might be that a leaping or incorporeally-floating model can choose not to fall.

   • If it is possible, if the Poltergeist were to be lured or pushed, could it also choose not to fall, but to float down?
   • If all this works with incorporeal, does it work the same with Leap?
2. How is the floating/flying/leaping movement measured? I've been told that you should measure diagonally from the base of the model till the place where you want it to land. This seems consistent with the Movement section of the Rulebook (pg. 42):

    

   To move a model measure from the point of its base closest to the direction it will be moving. Determine how far the model will be moving, and then move the model that distance, ensuring no part of the model moves further than that distance.

   
   
   Still, the FAQ explicitelly mentions that vertical movement is measured as per the Movement & Terrain section, where (only climbing) movement is explained as horizontal + vertical distance. And I would say that to measure horizontally + vertically makes sense from the top-down, 2D approach of the rules to measuring.
   
   So, what is it? Diagonal measurement (ignore terrain and measure from the base till the place you want to reach) or horizontal + vertical measurement (the same as climbing as it seems to be described in the FAQ).
   • Just to be sure: you can leap/flight/float onto unclimbable buildings, right?
3. This has already been discussed, and it is mostly a matter of abstraction, but:
   
   we are accepting that a model can leap or flight over a Ht 10" building to move, let's say, its Wk 5" and end on the other side; but it cannot land on top of said building, right? I have to say that's a little wyrd. But, hell, it's just a game!

Edited March 9, 2015 by Wee Little Puppet Man

[Gremlin guy]

I was wondering if empty board space would count as terrain in my scenario so you could ignore it. Maybe it will get another FAQ.

[Adran]

There is nothing in the rules suggesting it could move over the gap without falling/climbing down first.

Disagree.

My reading of it was you move the model, and then at teh end point of its move you consider the height difference. So you can ignore all the Ht between your 2 points, its just the Ht difference from startign to ending that matters.

[Myyrä]

Disagree.

My reading of it was you move the model, and then at teh end point of its move you consider the height difference. So you can ignore all the Ht between your 2 points, its just the Ht difference from startign to ending that matters.

I somehow think you are not talking about rulebook, but FAQ...

[Adran]

I somehow think you are not talking about rulebook, but FAQ...

A bit of both. I'm quite happy to ignore the Ht 5 building during my movement, rather than try and go up over it, and then down the otherside from a movement purpose.

 

I don't see why I couldn't do that for a hole. And then I don't see a difference between a modeled hole, and a gap between 2 other terrain pieces.