Most terrain features in Pig Tickler are simple obstructions, requiring manoeuvre rolls to go around. These rules add three new types of terrain: hills, bogs, and linear obstacles.

Hills

In most cases hills act as clear terrain. Special rules are needed for going up a hill and going down a hill.

Going Up A Hill

A lancer may move onto a hill as though it was clear terrain. A lancer must make a manoeuvre roll when he comes to a new "hill level". If you are using flat-topped hill terrain pieces, this "level" is easy to determine, as it is the flat top portion of the hill piece. If you are using rounded hills, you will have to draw a line on the hill to indicate levels or you will have to use (*gasp*) a ruler, with hill levels occurring every two inches or so.

As soon as the lancer arrives on a new hill level, the player must make a manoeuvre roll. This roll is made even if the lancer wishes to continue moving in a straight line. If a lancer wishes to turn as soon as he gets to the new hill level, he must make two manoeuvre rolls: one to continue up the hill and one to turn.

Going Down A Hill

A lancer does not make a manoeuvre roll when he goes down a hill. The lancer only makes a manoeuvre roll while going down a hill if he wants to turn, as per the regular Pig Tickler rules.

Lancers traveling down a hill apply a modifier to their manoeuvre rolls. They subtract 1 from the number they rolled for every hill level they descended that turn.

Example: A lancer goes straight down a level 2 hill and then wants to make a turn at the bottom. He rolls the dice and subtracts 2 from the roll. This means that the lancer needs to roll an 8 or more in order to make the turn. (This assumes that the regular Pig Tickler rules were used. If the players were using the altered odds rules, the lancer would need to roll a 7 or more).

If this manoeuvre roll is missed, something nasty will happen:

• If the failed manoeuvre roll was attempted in order to avoid an obstacle, the lancer has hit the obstacle. Roll on the Collision Table, below.
• If the failed manoeuvre roll was attempted in order to avoid another lancer, both must roll on the collision table. The non-moving lancer treats a "Screech to a Halt" and "Whee!" result as no effect.
  
  Note that it's possible for one lancer to be hurt in the collision and another lancer to be okay. This represents the hurt lancer falling off his unicycle in an attempt to miss the other lancer.
• If the failed manoeuvre roll was attempted in order for the lancer to make a turn, the person to the left of the lancer takes control of the figure. (If using the Team Pig Tickler rules, a player from the opposite team takes control of the lancer). That player may move the lancer in a straight line as far as the player wants. The lancer stops when he comes to the edge of the table, comes into contact with an obstacle, or comes into contact with the pig. A collision roll is made if the lancer contacts an obstacle or another lancer.

If the lancer contacts the pig after going downhill, he does not roll on the Collision Table. He may roll on the Hit Adjudication Table (and, really, why wouldn't he?) with a +1 to the die roll. That is a straight +1 to the die roll, not +1 per hill level.

Note that the downhill modifier applies only to the manoeuvre roll, not to the Collision Table roll.

Stopping

A lancer can stop moving at any time, except if they went down a hill. In order to stop after traveling down a hill, the lancer must make a successful manoeuvre roll.

Bogs

Boggy terrain is any terrain that is hard for the unicycle to travel through. This can be swamp, tall grass, streams, sand dunes, snow, or even rock fields.

A lancer must make a manoeuvre roll whenever he enters boggy terrain and when he leaves boggy terrain. Therefore, if a lancer enters a patch of tall grass he must make the roll as soon as he enters the grass area and as soon as he exits the grass area on the other side.

All manoeuvre rolls — the roll for entering or exiting a bog, and any rolls for turning while in the boggy terrain — are modified based on the type of terrain. A ford through a stream would have no modifier, but a shallow stream has a -1 modifier. Deep sand or snow would have a -2 modifier, and swamps have a -3 modifier. Players should decide terrain modifier values, with these guidelines in mind, before play begins.

If the manoeuvre roll is missed, the lancer ends its movement.

Going Downhill Into A Bog

If you are truly nasty, you'll set up the table top so that there is a hill right next to a bog. For instance, you may have a tall sand dune beside a deep sandy area.

If a lancer goes downhill into a boggy area, the lancer must make a manoeuvre roll to keep moving per the bog rules. The boggy terrain's modifier applies. The modifier for the number of hill levels the lancer descended also applies, but with a big difference. This downhill modifier is added to, not subtracted from, the manoeuvre roll. If the manoeuvre roll is failed, the lancer stops moving.

This positive downhill modifier only applies if the lancer goes in a straight line down the hill and into the bog.

Example 1: A lancer goes straight down a two-level hill into a swamp. As soon as the lancer hits the swamp he must make a manoeuvre roll. This roll has a -3 modifier due to it being a swamp, but +2 due to the two levels of the hill the lancer descended. This is a total of a -1 modifier. If the roll fails, the lancer stops moving. If the roll succeeds, the lancer keeps moving through the swamp.

Example 2: A lancer goes straight down a a two-level hill towards a swamp. The player wants the lancer to turn before coming to the swamp. The player makes a manoeuvre roll, with a -2 modifier for the two levels the lancer descended. The player rolls a 5, which becomes a 3. The lancer can not turn. The player to the left of the lancer's player takes control of the lancer. He decides to run the lancer straight at the swamp. As soon as the lancer hits the swamp he must make a manoeuvre roll. This roll has a -3 modifier due to it being a swamp. The +2 modifier for the two hill levels also applies, because the lancer is moving in a straight line into the swamp from the hill. The total is a -1 modifier. If the roll fails, the lancer stops moving. If the roll succeeds, the lancer keeps moving through the swamp.

The downhill modifier is only good for one manoeuvre roll in a bog. Any further bog manoeuvre rolls that turn ignore the downhill modifier.

Linear Obstacles

Linear obstacles are obstacles that a lancer can't easily move around. Examples of linear obstacles are walls, fences, and hedges.

Linear obstacles are defined as passable or impassable. A passable linear obstacle is one that a lancer can cross, climb over or jump. An impassable linear obstacle is an obstacle that a lancer can't cross, climb over, or jump. A waist high rail fence would be a passable obstacle, but a 7 foot high stone wall may be an impassable obstacle.

A lancer can turn when he gets to a linear obstacle just like any other obstacle. The lancer attempts a manoeuvre roll. If the roll succeeds the lancer turns, and if the roll fails the lancer stops moving. (If the lancer was going down hill, a roll on the collision table would be necessary. See "Going Down a Hill", above.)

If a lancer wishes to cross a passable linear obstacle, he must make a manoeuvre rolls.

• If the roll succeed, the lancer has crossed the obstacle. The lancer continues to move in a straight line on the other side of the obstacle.
• If the roll failed, roll 1d6. If the roll is odd, the lancer has stopped on his side of the obstacle, facing it. If the roll is even, the lancer has stopped on the opposite side of the obstacle, facing away from it.

Lancers can not cross an impassable linear obstacle.

As per the downhill rules, if a lancer contacts a linear obstacle after moving downhill, a roll is made on the collision table.

Special Rules

Some special terrain rules may be needed. For instance, the playing area may have a deep chasm that acts as an impassable linear obstacle. If a lancer travels downhill and can't stop before hitting the chasm, instead of rolling on the collision table the lancer is automatically killed. On the other hand, a ramp may be set up to cross the chasm. If the lancer makes a manoeuvre roll when he gets to the ramp, he crosses the chasm. If the lancer fails the roll, he falls into the chasm to his death

It is up to the players to decide other special terrain rules.

Collision Table

This is the collision table:

Collision Table

The lancer rolls 2D6 in an attempt to evade the obstacle or another lancer.

2 - 3	Head Over Heels!
	The lancer is wounded and the unicycle takes one point of damage. (If not using the Unicycle Damage rules, treat as a "Crunch" result.)
4 - 6	Crunch!
	The lancer is wounded.
7	Crash!
	The unicycle suffers a point of damage! (If not using the Unicycle Damage rules, treat as a "Crunch" result.)
8 - 10	Screech to a Halt
	No effect. The lancer's turn ends.
11 - 12	Whee!
	The lancer regains control and can continue with his turn.

Design Notes

These rules were designed to allow play on something other than a flat area. They may even form the basis of a set of wargame rules for Pax Limpopo (if I can ever figure out a way to make penny farthings behave differently from unicycles without the game bogging down or without them having too great an advantage). In particular, I thought it would be interesting to see Pig Tickler played in a desert environment. I started with the bog rules, but quickly came up with the other rules when I started to think about hills and walls.