Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The Ruler

I finally got to see a ruler in use in Mobile Frame Zero and the effect it has on the game at PAX East.  Before this point I had always used a tape measure.  The reasons behind this are twofold.  One, I'm a little bit old-school.  Two, the original design of the ruler is awful.  Sorry, Vincent and Joshua, it just is.  The one Joshua used when running his game is a "whip" of 1x4 Hinge Bricks about nine pieces long.  Heh, it's a Nine-Section Whip Chain.  :-)  The main body of this brick measures 1.25", each hinge adds 0.25".  With one unit of movement being roughly 1.5" -- there is overlap where the hinges connect -- this allows mechs to move farther on each turn.  At one point, under the old rules, there was an optional rule that allowed a mech multiple activations if they possessed multiple Initiative dice.  Under this rule you could attack multiple times but move only once.  Now I understand why.  Although I wonder what a game would look like with a modification of that rule allowing double movement only if you use a tape measure to measure movement?

I believe I'll be making a Ruler before I play again though.  I can't wait to see what effect it has on my gameplay.

4 comments:

  1. I think this should be revisited once you have used it in a game. Photos of the game you use it in would be nice as well. I think have a Briklink order to place.

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  2. I saw something neat somewhere online about using a tailors tape and cutting it up because it has two rulers in one since they are typically double sided and compacts well for storage and transport.

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  3. As there might be some confusion, the Ruler design I dislike is the OLD Mechaton one that used Technic axles. I like the NEW one that uses Hinge Bricks.

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