Slowing Down Movement

If you've played many grid-based RPGs, you'll have a feel for about how far you should be able to normally move in a given turn. The default is probably somewhere between 4-6 squares. But, if a certain popular and extremely influential video games series of the last decade plus has anything to say, sometimes it's better to slow things down.

Interestingly enough though, slowing things down to a mere 1 square (2 meters) per turn for base movement is especially impactful in Space Dogs due to the setting being the near opposite to a certain Soul based series.

Quicker movement makes it relatively easy to close to melee, especially in the relatively close confines of most RPG combat. While there are few dungeons in Space Dogs per se, the tight corridors of most starships aren't much more spacious than the average tomb. The fast movement is great in a more melee focused system where you don't want your knight characters twiddling their thumbs for the first few turns of a combat.

Being science fiction, Space Dogs isn't a melee focused game. While melee is a viable tactic, it's meant as a high risk/return choice as opposed to a default one. Even the most melee focused PC should at least have a pistol in one hand, or even carry around an assault rifle or shotgun by default, drawing their melee weaponry only once the bug-eyed aliens have closed the distance, or just using a bayonet.

Movement in Space Dogs is deliberate. Movement is one square, and being caught outside of cover can be deadly. But while base movement is only one square, you can give up your action to go faster. But giving up the opportunity to shoot or toss out a grenade to add an extra three squares of movement is giving up something significant.

So, if you're a veteran of other tactical RPGs, please keep in mind that Space Dogs is designed as a very different experience on a base level. And sometimes it's definitely worth giving up your action to get up and go.