Quick and Easy Hex Question [Archive] - Wizards Community

Quick and Easy Hex Question [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Neratos
06-05-06, 12:40 AM I am looking at converting over to hex bases (with out facing). The unearthed arcana has discriptions for radiuses and bases, but nothing about Lines. So how do you resolve something like a lightning bolt using hex?
X-Codes
06-05-06, 01:17 AM Pick a direction and fire, only instead of 8 easy options you get 6.
Neratos
06-05-06, 01:19 AM I thought for a line, for normal squares, you choose an intersection on your square and one on your enemy and draw a line between them.
Rekuji
06-05-06, 02:02 AM Exactly. You "draw" a line between any one point on your hex to any one point on any hex within range, and any hex that comes into contact with this line is affected by the spell. Gets a little trickier for any lines wider than five feet, however. That's gonna have to be a judgement call, but I'd say any hex adjacent (to the left or the right only, not both sides) to an effected hex is also effected.
Millennium
06-05-06, 08:22 AM I thought that for hexes you drew the line between the centers of both hexes, rather than picking a pair of corners.
theblindman
06-05-06, 07:42 PM Right, it's the same as charging. Charging has to technically be in a "straight" line, but if you have to zig or zag a little to make the movement work on hexes it's fine, as long as there is a straight line between point A and point B.

Using intersections sounds a bit silly to me, but maybe I'm not visualizing it correctly.
Mind Rogue
06-06-06, 09:52 PM You can just trace a line from the centers of the originating/target hexes. Any hex passed through is hit. If you aim it right and it passes along the border of two hexes, both get hit. Note that each hex that is passed through counts as 5 ft of range.
Millennium
06-07-06, 11:52 AM If you're more concerned with finding out if a target is in range and the range is relatively short, use a Radius template of the appropriate width. If the target is inside the radius and you have line of effect (the enemy doesn't have cover or anything), then you can hit him. You can also use a Cone template, starting from the origin hex: if you can get the target into a cone and you have line of effect, then you can hit him.

If you need to find this out for long ranges (like the lightning bolt spell), use a piece of string. Fix one end in the center of the origin hex, and start the other end of the string in a hex that's as far away as you can get in a straight line. Then sweep that end of the string toward the actual target; if you can get the string to pass through the target hex, then it's in range.

These techniques are good for finding range; even the string method is often faster than counting hexes along uncertain routes. However, it doesn't work so well if you need to figure out exactly what hexes are affected. If you need to do that, then use a straight line from the center of the origin hex to the center of the destination hex. Technically, each hex is five feet of range, but I'm not aware of any line spells where distance to the target is important as long as you hit.
The Hive Custodian
06-07-06, 01:00 PM For what it's worth:

_ _
/A\_/C\
\_/B\_/
\_/

Center of A to center of B is 1 hex.
Center of A to center of C is sqrt(3) hexes, or about 1.73, or about 7/4. Count the first hex moved in this way as 1 hex, the next three as 2 hexes, and repeat the cycle after that.
Mind Rogue
06-07-06, 05:42 PM Strictly speaking, that is not how you would do it. Moving to hex 'C' would take two moves. Generally speaking, every time that you pass through a hex, it counts as 1 space of movement. Trying to fractionalize hexes also eliminates the beauty of using hexes in the first place: every sqace counts the same, no matter which direction you go in or how many times you have traveled in this direction. If it helps, here is both an arc and a cone of radius 5.

cone
_
/0\_
\_/1\_
/1\_/2\_
\_/2\_/3\_
/2\_/3\_/4\_
\_/3\_/4\_/5\
/3\_/4\_/5\_/
\_/4\_/5\_/
/4\_/5\_/
\_/5\_/
/5\_/
\_/

Lines
_ _ _
/0\_/2\_/4\_
\_/1\_/3\_/5\
\_/ \_/ \_/
_
/0\_
\_/1\_
\_/2\_
\_/3\_
\_/4\_
\_/5\
_ \_/
/0\_
\_/1\_
\_/2\
\_/
/3\_
\_/4\_
\_/5\
\_/

In each of the above, the starting point is marked with a '0' and every point is marked with the distance away from that point.

When in doubt, you can pass a string from the origin to the destination, and every hex that is passed through is hit. If the string runs along the border between two hexes, as can happen with lines at certain distances, you will need to decide whether to count the hexes on both sides or whether to arbitrarily include all of those on one side but not those on the other (hexes always give either many instances of this or none, so don't let them pick and choose which side to use.) Finally, if the string touches the corner of a hex, but does not pass along the edge, that hex is never hit. You can verify that against the third line example above.
Neratos
06-08-06, 01:16 AM Thanks for all the replies, have really cleared up a lot.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Neratos 06-05-06, 12:40 AM	I am looking at converting over to hex bases (with out facing). The unearthed arcana has discriptions for radiuses and bases, but nothing about Lines. So how do you resolve something like a lightning bolt using hex?
X-Codes 06-05-06, 01:17 AM	Pick a direction and fire, only instead of 8 easy options you get 6.
Neratos 06-05-06, 01:19 AM	I thought for a line, for normal squares, you choose an intersection on your square and one on your enemy and draw a line between them.
Rekuji 06-05-06, 02:02 AM	Exactly. You "draw" a line between any one point on your hex to any one point on any hex within range, and any hex that comes into contact with this line is affected by the spell. Gets a little trickier for any lines wider than five feet, however. That's gonna have to be a judgement call, but I'd say any hex adjacent (to the left or the right only, not both sides) to an effected hex is also effected.
Millennium 06-05-06, 08:22 AM	I thought that for hexes you drew the line between the centers of both hexes, rather than picking a pair of corners.
theblindman 06-05-06, 07:42 PM	Right, it's the same as charging. Charging has to technically be in a "straight" line, but if you have to zig or zag a little to make the movement work on hexes it's fine, as long as there is a straight line between point A and point B. Using intersections sounds a bit silly to me, but maybe I'm not visualizing it correctly.
Mind Rogue 06-06-06, 09:52 PM	You can just trace a line from the centers of the originating/target hexes. Any hex passed through is hit. If you aim it right and it passes along the border of two hexes, both get hit. Note that each hex that is passed through counts as 5 ft of range.
Millennium 06-07-06, 11:52 AM	If you're more concerned with finding out if a target is in range and the range is relatively short, use a Radius template of the appropriate width. If the target is inside the radius and you have line of effect (the enemy doesn't have cover or anything), then you can hit him. You can also use a Cone template, starting from the origin hex: if you can get the target into a cone and you have line of effect, then you can hit him. If you need to find this out for long ranges (like the lightning bolt spell), use a piece of string. Fix one end in the center of the origin hex, and start the other end of the string in a hex that's as far away as you can get in a straight line. Then sweep that end of the string toward the actual target; if you can get the string to pass through the target hex, then it's in range. These techniques are good for finding range; even the string method is often faster than counting hexes along uncertain routes. However, it doesn't work so well if you need to figure out exactly what hexes are affected. If you need to do that, then use a straight line from the center of the origin hex to the center of the destination hex. Technically, each hex is five feet of range, but I'm not aware of any line spells where distance to the target is important as long as you hit.
The Hive Custodian 06-07-06, 01:00 PM	For what it's worth: _ _ /A\_/C\ \_/B\_/ \_/ Center of A to center of B is 1 hex. Center of A to center of C is sqrt(3) hexes, or about 1.73, or about 7/4. Count the first hex moved in this way as 1 hex, the next three as 2 hexes, and repeat the cycle after that.
Mind Rogue 06-07-06, 05:42 PM	Strictly speaking, that is not how you would do it. Moving to hex 'C' would take two moves. Generally speaking, every time that you pass through a hex, it counts as 1 space of movement. Trying to fractionalize hexes also eliminates the beauty of using hexes in the first place: every sqace counts the same, no matter which direction you go in or how many times you have traveled in this direction. If it helps, here is both an arc and a cone of radius 5. cone _ /0\_ \_/1\_ /1\_/2\_ \_/2\_/3\_ /2\_/3\_/4\_ \_/3\_/4\_/5\ /3\_/4\_/5\_/ \_/4\_/5\_/ /4\_/5\_/ \_/5\_/ /5\_/ \_/ Lines _ _ _ /0\_/2\_/4\_ \_/1\_/3\_/5\ \_/ \_/ \_/ _ /0\_ \_/1\_ \_/2\_ \_/3\_ \_/4\_ \_/5\ _ \_/ /0\_ \_/1\_ \_/2\ \_/ /3\_ \_/4\_ \_/5\ \_/ In each of the above, the starting point is marked with a '0' and every point is marked with the distance away from that point. When in doubt, you can pass a string from the origin to the destination, and every hex that is passed through is hit. If the string runs along the border between two hexes, as can happen with lines at certain distances, you will need to decide whether to count the hexes on both sides or whether to arbitrarily include all of those on one side but not those on the other (hexes always give either many instances of this or none, so don't let them pick and choose which side to use.) Finally, if the string touches the corner of a hex, but does not pass along the edge, that hex is never hit. You can verify that against the third line example above.
Neratos 06-08-06, 01:16 AM	Thanks for all the replies, have really cleared up a lot.