CRETACEA F.A.Q
Here you can find answers to and submit questions about the game in it's first edition. All of these are ironed out and addressed in the new book. Please feel free to send any more as you need!
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Current f.a.q
- My T-Rex takes a point of damage to the head. Does she lose 1 pip off the head, and 1 health point? Or does she only lose 1 health point after the head has lost both it's pips?
- During the check phase if a herbivore passes a spot check and moves does it then get to move again or graze in the move phase? Or does that count as it's movement for the turn?
- There is a couple of mentions of free attacks, are these in addition to regular declared attacks? As an example when you get charged you get an attack roll or when you barge you get a free attack.
- What is the order of events when a T-Rex used Snapping Jaw in the last turn but then gets charged by a Triceratops with initiative in the current turn? What if the Triceratops barged instead?
- Last turn a herbivore grazed, this turn it meanders 3", can it graze again or does it need to move a little more?
If you feel this still doesn't make sense either simply take our word for it, or add 1" to meander distances. :)
- If I have a team of 5 Triceratops they have a grazing goal of 10. They can all graze the first turn, meander during the second turn checks and then graze again. Effectively they could win a scenario before the Predators can get close enough to do anything. Is there something wrong with the way this was done?
- Is roaring done during the combat phase instead of an attack?
- Is the Famous Bite attack affected by any of the original attack's modifiers, such as from charging or if your target disengaged?
- When prey meanders, if the result says the dino moves to one side or the other, does the figure get turned to follow the direction of travel for free, or does it simply "slide" sideways? Similarly, if the direction of movement indicates backward movement, does the figure simply move backward, or does it turn around (180 degrees) and then move forward ("backward" relative to where it started its meander as opposed to literally in reverse)?
This is something that could use one more sentence for clarification in the book.
- I'm having some trouble really getting a handle on how initiative order is applied during each step of the turn. Would you be able to provide a few sample turns to give me a better feel for how the flow of the game interacts with initiative/player order?
The turn sequence is broken down and then again broken down further in each relative section, if you use the book as a play by play guide for your first game this should unveil itself.
- The Combat rules state that you "must announce your intended attack after a sneak, barge or charge action" (p. 16). Can you also declare an attack after a walk or run action, or must you initiate one of the stated actions to declare an attack?
If they MUST declare it at the end of the charge or barge then they get the correct benefits but legally and fairly. It's recommended you announce all attacks at the end of any move if within combat distance to prevent free disengagements from un announced combats, however it is only necessary for charges and barges due to their extra (and powerful) benefits.
- If a predator passes through the line of sight of prey but does not end its move in the prey's line of sight (moving between clusters of trees, for example), does the prey still make a Spot check because of the movement?
- When prey make spot checks during the Checks step, do they make a spot check for each predator in their line of sight, or just one spot check for all of the predators they can see? If the latter, which initiative score is added to the predator roll?
For further clarification imagine each game step (movement, combat) as one single minute in time, if a prey fails a check in it's check phase but then a dino moves into it's line of sight in the combat phase, they can re check as they may have not noticed one a minute ago, but they might now. If there is more than one predator in an area and a herbivore is making checks always use the closest and do one check.
- Do the predators make their Smell checks before the prey make their Spot checks during step 2 of the turn if the predators won the initiative?
Page -8- "Checks and tests in this phase of the game go as follows (starting with the team that got initiative)"
- Some barge questions:
1) does the free attack at +1 for a barge occur during the movement step, and if so, does it occur before any topple check resulting from the barge?
2) Is it correct that the barge still allows the barging dino to make a normal attack during the combat step if the barged dino is within 2"? If so, does that attack have to be declared during the movement step, or can the attacker wait until the combat step?
3) If the carcharaodontosaurus in the left image on p. 12 were facing the opposite direction, could it still make a barge against the herbivore? The rules suggest yes; it just seems counterintuitive, as the carch would be running backwards to initiate the attack.
2) If you mark the barge it is plausible you could avoid issues by just pointing to said marker in the combat step however due to their complicated nature barges, charges and sneaks must be marked before then, meaning you announce them before the combat phase to avoid any free disengagements. Steps 1 and 2 of the combat phase are mostly for cleanup and final announcements as well as giving the attacked a chance to get attacks back!
3)In effect you are right, however when limiting this rule in play testing it seemed unfair that they couldn't barge being that (for instance) i could barge another human sideways from a forward or backward facing with appropriate timing. So therefore surely a double decker sized monster could too! If anything it is easier for them!
- The turning rules seem to suggest that smaller dinos can turn any amount whether during movement or while in combat, but larger dinos can only turn up to 90 degrees while in combat. How far can larger dinos turn during movement? Is 90 degrees the limit then too? Is “free turning” only a concept used in combat to change tactical facing, separate from any kind of free turning used during movement?
- The rules state "if you are engaged from a previous turn of combat you announce your attacks and combat actions at the beginning of the combat phase." (p. 16) Does this mean that dinos in ongoing combat announce before the normal 4-step structure indicated on that page? Or do they announce at the same time as dinos entering or initiating combat?
- When disengaging, does each opposing dino in combat get a free attack against the departing dino? If not, how do you determine which opposing dino gets the opportunity attack at +1?
- Would it be accurate to summarize movement options as walk, run, sneak, charge, barge, and graze? And combat actions as attack, disengage, and roar? So 6 options during the movement step, and 3 during the combat step?
- when rolling to do damages in combat do you need to equal or beat the def of a hide area?