Retreat

URWOBA — discussion of interaction with the Do Nothing maneuver

Inigo: You're using Bonetti's Defense against me, huh?
The Man in Black: I thought it fitting, considering the rocky terrain.

-- The Princess Bride

Retreat is an active defense option that improves one's defense against melee attacks. To use it, one must move away from an attacker (typically, a 1 yard step).^[1]

Retreating normally gives a +3 to Dodge or +1 to Block or Parry.

Better Retreats[]

When using Boxing, Judo, Karate, or any Fencing Weapon skill, a Retreat gives a +3 to Parry!

Absurd Speed[]

As a Step is a tiny portion of Basic Move, it's possible for Speedsters to Retreat multiple yards backward! If you have more steps than your opponent, you may be able to simply retreat outside of their reach entirely, despite their best efforts.

Timing[]

Your step takes place immediately. It is assumed to occur as your foe is striking. If it would take you out of your attacker's reach, they still get their attack. If they have multiple attacks (e.g., from an Extra Attack, All-Out Attack, or Rapid Strike), your retreat does not put you beyond the reach of his remaining attacks. However, you get your retreating bonus on all active defense rolls against all of his attacks until your next turn.

If your opponent attacked you with a maneuver that allows a step, but has not yet taken a step, they may choose to follow you!

You can retreat only once during your turn. You cannot retreat while sitting, kneeling, or while stunned, but you may "retreat" while prone by simply rolling very quickly. As one might expect, you also may not Retreat while sprinting^[2].

Specific Situations[]

B364 Do Nothing is implied to disallow it via "Movement: None", which would explain why it's forbidden "while stunned" since it necessitates this maneuver.
- B364 also lists Movement: None for Change Posture implying retreats also can't be done during that transition, even when transitioning between two postures which normally allow it, such as Lying + Crawling
  - "Active Defense" says "Any" for both of these though, and does not explicitly exempt Retreat like Move and Attack does, so this is controversial
B365 by merit of All-Out Attacking forbidding a defence, would not allow it
B366 says retreating is not allowed during a Move and Attack (which can be done at Basic Move or less)
B371 "If you are grappled, you cannot move away until you break free"
B391 "If you start your turn in a foe’s hex and he isn’t grappling you, you can move out of the hex"
B392 "You can retreat in close combat, if you aren’t being grappled.

Simply step out of close combat

B394 "no defense at all" when completely unaware of an attacker, like AOA, would preclude retreating which requires the ability to defend, as it is combined with one

Additional exceptions were introduced in GURPS Martial Arts

Committed Attack

Extra Step[]

See Denizens 27 Great Void

FAQ[]

http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/faq/FAQ4-3.html#SS3.4.3.6

3.4.3.6 How can I defend myself against someone stepping in close-combat with me?

On a turn when someone enters close combat and tries to attack or grapple you, you can defend normally as if you were not in Close Combat, with either a block, dodge, or parry. You can even retreat if you want. But once you're in close combat, you can only dodge, or parry with a reach C weapon.

Note that if someone successfully grapples you, you end up in the same hex as him/her, even if you retreated. This represents the fact that you tried to retreat, but your enemy was quick enough to stop you.

Pyramid[]

Issue 23 in 1998 http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/sample.html?id=19 Kromm initially said you could not retreat into occupied hexes:

3. You cannot legally retreat into an occupied hex. If you try anyhow, you fail your defense roll - you bump into someone and don't move far enough to avoid the attack.

Unclear if this is still the case, as there are examples of slips being used to enter into grappling (same hex)

Martial Arts[]

MA119 introduced Sprawling
MA123 introduced Dive
MA124 introduced Sideslip (keeping same distance to attacker) and Slip (moving closer to attacker)

Technical Grappling nerf[]

GURPS Martial Arts: Technical Grappling is known for page 40's new Sprawling Parry option (different from Sprawling in MA)

Less known is pg 23's new restriction:

You may only retreat on a defense if, accounting for the effects of posture (see the Posture Table, p. B551) and treating your foe’s weight as encumbrance, you don’t fall below Move 1.

This was previously not a known restriction and people whose modified Move was 0 could still make retreats despite not being able to move otherwise.

It's a realistic change, since it would be strange if you could move a hex via a retreat in circumstances you otherwise could not voluntarily move.

Given that the BASE move ("none") of certain maneuvers (Do Nothing and Change Posture) is zero, the effective move after applying encumbrance most certainly ALSO is, which should make retreats impossible during DN/CP as a result of this new rule.

skirting the nerf[]

One problem with that is that Move when Lying Down is for some reason a static 1 regardless of base move, whereas the 2/3 or 1/3 fractions can reduce someone with Move 1 or Move 2 to LESS than 1 in Crouching or Crawling/Kneeling postures.

B17 encumbrance moves also use a fractional approach, though it's unclear whether that is applied to Basic Move before Move 1 overrides it, or applied to Move 1.

quotes[]

Kromm on using with sacrificial defenses[]

14 August 2012

Retreating only ever benefits the person who does it, and only if he rolls his own active defense. With Shield-Wall Training, it's actually disadvantageous, as it means you're no longer in the wall and able to block for others or have them block for you.

However, a fighter who hasn't yet retreated can use it to step to a place where his mate can block for him or he can block for his mate . . . but nobody gets a retreat bonus for this.

Kromm on moving faster[]

in 2014

The fact that retreating is represented by moving a figure on a map is a bookkeeping measure, an abstraction. The fighter does not actually "speed up"; the counter is moved simply as a way to indicate that ground was given. If that bugs you, then don't move counters when people retreat. Instead, allow everybody to take the retreat option at most once per turn if they have open space behind their figure, and come up with some other way to flag who has done this (e.g., a glass bead to "spend," or a coin under the base of the mini). That way, the rules remain basically unchanged, but nobody can exploit an accounting measure as free movement.

3e[]

This was an Advanced Combat option on B109. It used a fixed bonus "Retreating adds 3 to any attempt to Dodge, Block or Parry."

There was no reduction to +1 for blocks/parries in 4e, and it bothers to spell out "You may not retreat into an occupied hex." as 4e did not.

"cannot be used to defend against a ranged attack" is a restriction that 4e did remember to include, though it added an alternate Dodge and Drop option for that case

The sit/kneel/stun prohibition below was present, but there was no prohibition against sprinters using a retreat.

It never specifies this being "bonus" movement, however Retreating Clarified in the compendium appears to operate on that assumption, lamenting how it doesn't take movement from the NEXT turn, which wouldn't be something to fret about if it required having unused move from the first.

4e similarly doesn't seem anywhere to explicitly say it's bonus movement beyond normal allowances, which is important for Do Nothing / Change Posture which explicitly say MOVE NONE, and Wait which only specifies taking the step from a maneuver if NO MOVEMENT happened prior to triggering it.

References[]

↑ Basic Set, p.377
↑ moving above one's own Basic Move

[1] Basic Set, p.377

[2] ving above one's own Basic Move

[1]

[2]