"There is no Move Action in Cybercore. Every Action includes movement. What matters is where you end up."

The Grid

Cybercore uses a hex grid for tactical combat and structured exploration. 1 hex = 2 metres. Hexes eliminate the diagonal movement problem entirely; every adjacent hex is the same distance, so movement, range, and area effects just work without special rules.

If your table prefers a square grid, that's fine too. Use the same 1 square = 2 metres scale. For diagonal movement on a square grid, use the 1-2-1 rule: the first diagonal step costs 1 square of movement, the second costs 2, the third costs 1, and so on alternating. This averages out to a more accurate distance than treating diagonals as free.

For range bands and weapon distances, see Range and Cover. For AoE templates (blast, cone, line, zone), see Areas & Distance.

Movement Basics

There is no dedicated Move Action. Movement is built into every Action, but each Action you spend is a choice between two modes:

• Run, Spend the whole Action on movement. Move up to your full Speed in hexes. No other action this turn (defence is passive and still works, you can dodge, take cover, soak with AF).
• Move and Act; Spend the Action on a normal action (attack, skill check, use an item, reload, hack, whatever). Move up to half your Speed (round up, minimum 1 hex) before or after the action, your choice.

You must complete all movement either before or after the action; you cannot split it around the action unless a feat or ability says otherwise (such as Nimble).

These rules apply to all combatants; players and creatures alike. A creature with Speed 3 can Move-and-Act (1 hex + attack) or Run (3 hexes, no attack), same as a player.

Your base Speed is derived from your Mass:

Speed = 7 - Mass (minimum 2 for base Mass, minimum 1 if Mass is increased by feats). See Mass and Speed for the full rules.

Run · Speed 4

Move and Act · Speed 4

Terrain Types

Not all ground is created equal. Terrain affects how fast you move and what you can do while moving.

Open Terrain

Standard ground. Corridors, decks, paved surfaces, open cargo bays. Move at full Speed. No modifiers.

Difficult Terrain

Rubble, loose wiring, shallow water, thick undergrowth, unstable flooring, debris fields, ice, mud, sand, low-gravity dust. Each Difficult Terrain effect adds +1 hex to the cost of entering an affected hex. A single effect doubles the cost (1 base + 1 = 2 hexes per hex moved). A character with Speed 4 can move 4 hexes on open terrain, but only 2 hexes through Difficult Terrain.

Difficult Terrain stacks. Multiple Difficult Terrain effects in the same hex each add +1, this is the Cybercore default (everything stacks unless explicitly stated otherwise). Shallow water across a rubble field costs 3 hexes per hex moved. Knee-deep mud across a debris-strewn floor with overhead sparking wires costs 4. Minimum 1 hex of movement per Action, no terrain stack reduces you below the ability to take one step.

If your path crosses both open and Difficult hexes, count each hex by its own cost.

1 DT stack · cost 2

2 DT stacks · cost 3

Hazardous Terrain

Terrain that damages you for being in it: active fire, electrified flooring, toxic spills, radioactive zones, decompressing corridors. You take the listed damage for each hex you enter or start your turn in.

Hazardous terrain does not automatically slow you down; you can sprint through a burning corridor at full Speed if you're willing to pay the price. However, if the GM designates an area as Hazardous Difficult Terrain, it costs double movement AND deals damage. A corridor on fire might be just Hazardous (full Speed, take Hits). A corridor on fire with collapsed ceiling panels is Hazardous Difficult Terrain (half Speed, take Hits).

Hazardous terrain should be obvious in the description and called out by the GM with an approximate damage type and amount.

Impassable Terrain

Walls, sealed bulkheads, solid rock, force fields, vacuum (without a suit), Pool of industrial acid. You cannot move through impassable terrain. Find another way around, or make your own way through; Breachers and Riggers exist for a reason.

Climbing

Moving vertically; ladders, walls, cliff faces, hull exteriors.

Default climbing speed: half your Speed (round up, minimum 1 hex). Climbing requires at least one free hand. While climbing, you suffer Disadvantage on all actions that require two hands.

Falling: If you fail a climbing check, you fall. Take 1 Hit per 2 hexes (4 metres) fallen, plus land Prone. If the fall exceeds 10 hexes (20 metres), the damage doubles to 2 Hits per 2 hexes.

Wading

Moving on foot through standing or flowing water; shallow rivers, flooded corridors, coolant pools, surf, drainage tunnels.

Wading depth is judged against the wader's Size. A pool that submerges a Rodi reaches a Slater's knee. The GM calls the absolute depth in metres; each character checks their own Size band to see which tier of effect applies to them. Size is a useful proxy for height and girth; heavier origins occupy more cubic space, so currents push them around less but they displace more water when submerged.

Size → Depth Table

Cross-reference the GM's depth call against your creature Size to find your tier.

Same pool, four sizes

Wading Effects by Tier

Wading depth applies stacking Difficult Terrain; knee is the "shallow water" entry from the terrain list (1 stack), and each deeper tier adds another. This stacks normally with any other terrain in the same hex (riverbed clutter, sparking wires, debris).

Minimum 1 hex of movement per Action. A Slater (Speed 2) chest-deep in water has cost 4 per hex; they can still move 1 hex per Action. They will be slow. They will be cold. They will be cold and slow, but they will move.

Current While Wading

If the water has a current, waders are subject to the same sweep distances as swimmers. Roll Movement - Athletics vs Mission TL at the start of each round you remain in moving water:

• Failure in a rough current: swept 2 hexes downstream.
• Failure in a strong current: swept 3 hexes downstream.
• Failure in a torrent: swept 4 hexes downstream and knocked off your feet; treated as Swimming until you regain footing on a subsequent turn's Athletics check.

Riverbed Footing

Wet stone, river silt, loose gravel, mud, kelp, debris, submerged wreckage; each counts as one additional Difficult Terrain stack in the affected hex (same rule as any other terrain stack, see Difficult Terrain).

• Knee-deep (1 stack) over loose gravel (1 stack) = 2 stacks, 3 hexes per hex moved.
• Waist-deep (2 stacks) over submerged wreckage (1 stack) = 3 stacks, 4 hexes per hex moved.
• Chest-deep (3 stacks) over wreckage AND silt (2 stacks) = 5 stacks, 6 hexes per hex moved; minimum-1-hex rule still applies, so you can crawl one hex per Action and that's it.

If the depth is already Over Head, riverbed footing only matters when you're trying to regain footing; apply Disadvantage to the Athletics check to stand back up.

Current Severity Guide

GM reference for picking a current tier:

Swimming

Moving through water or other liquid.

Default swimming speed: half your Speed (round up, minimum 1 hex). Swimming requires both arms free unless you have a feat or equipment that says otherwise.

Zero-Gravity Movement

No gravity, no floor, no "down." Welcome to the void.

In zero-G, movement works differently. You cannot walk; you push off surfaces, use handholds, or rely on equipment (mag-boots, jetpacks, manoeuvring thrusters).

Vertical Movement Summary

Forced Movement

Some abilities push, pull, or throw creatures. Forced movement:

• Does not trigger abilities that key off voluntary movement; being shoved isn't moving under your own power
• Ignores difficult terrain; you're being shoved, not walking
• Stops if you hit an impassable surface; and take 1 Hit per 2 hexes of remaining forced movement (you hit a wall)
• Can move you through hazardous terrain; you take the listed damage for each hex

Pushed into a wall

Movement Skills

For advanced movement techniques, parkour, zero-G acrobatics, vehicle piloting, see the Movement skill category:

• Movement - Acrobatics & Jumping
• Movement - Athletics & Climbing
• Movement - Flying / 0-G

Related Systems

• Action Economy; Run vs Move-and-Act on every Action
• Areas & Distance; AoE templates that occupy the grid
• Cover & Positioning; range bands, cover, flanking & crossfire
• Grappling; when movement is contested by another creature
• Travel; movement during Sweeps (between encounters)