Here are several points related to elevation i'd like clarified if possible:

1.Two non-flyers. One on the elevated end of the ladder/stairs, the other below. They can close combat attack each other, but can they range combat each other?

2.Do they have to break away from one another?

3.What about the same scenario, but no ladder and the guy below has leap/climb. So he can attack the guy above in CCombat, but does the guy above have to breakaway? (i'm assuming that he does not).

4.Ok next. Characters w/ leap/climb can attack soarers right?
But they are not basing them, is this correct? Only another soaring character or a giant can base a soarer right?

5.How about my initial scenario (w/ the ladder), but the guy above is soaring and they guy below has leap/climb. Can the l/c guy attack the soaring guy? (i'm wodering if the ladder makes a difference...i'm assuming that w/o the ladder he wouldn't be able to reach the soaring/elevated guy even if he had leap climb.
------------one thing that would make this clearer I guess, is if soaring on elevated is different from "just soaring". From what I remember I think they are considered the same.

6. Ok about Giants. they can CC attack and RC attack elevated characters that are on the edge of the elevated terrain, but what else?
Can they RC a guy that is in the middle of elevatd terrain (and vice versa)
?

7.Can the Giants attack a soring character that is on elevated?

Thanks a bunch!

Umm... depending on if it is a ladder or stairs, they may not even be able to do close combat. You may wish to re-read the rule book on this section.

Bascially, all parts of stairs are adajcent to each other. First step adajacent to second step, second step adjacent to third, and so on. So characters on stairs can make close combat attacks on each other. Since the squares are adjacent, normal rules for adjacent ranged combat apply (flyers can shoot just fine, non-fliers may only shoot flying characters and only if they are not adjacent to other non-fliers, etc).

Ladders, meanwhile, a just a trasition from grounded terrain to elevated terrain. There is no adjacency here: your character is either grounded or elevated. Since there is no adjacency, there is no close combat (barring Giant rules, L/C, etc). Also, since there is no adajcency, ranged combat will work just fine, assuming you can draw LOF.

If adjacent, yes. If not, no. See above.

Again, barring special circumstances like Giants, the characters are not adjacent. See number 2.

Or a Colossal character. Otherwise correct.

Why would it? Ladders have nothing at all to do with soaring.

See number 4 for your answer.

What? I am not sure what you mean. If the non-soaring character has L/C, it may make close combat attacks on the soaring character. If it doesn't have L/C (and isn't Giant or Colossal) then it can't. The ladder has nothing to do with it.

There is no an elevated soaring, if that is what you are getting at. There is no terrain at soaring height. No clear, no hindering, and no (you guessed it) elevated. Elevated terrain has absolutely no effect on soaring characters and how other characters interact with them.


If they can draw LOF, yes.

Again, elevated does not matter with soaring characters. Giants may attack a soaring character if they can draw LOF. About the only way they couldn't draw LOF is if another soaring character got in the way.

You may wish to reread the soaring and terrain rules. It sounds like most of your confusion is stemming from those.

What about a stair square and an elevated terrain square, the two squares that usually have the elevated terrian line between them, would two characters be adjacent if they were on those two squares?

Yes. After all, a character can simply walk up onto that square.


And if that little bit of logic doesn't quite do it for you, here's this (DR rule book page 31):

Stairs and ladders allow characters to change their elevations. A character must pass through each square of the stairs, starting at the “bottom,” in order to get to the “top” of the stairs; squares of a stairway are always adjacent to one another even when the boundary of elevated terrain falls between squares. When using a ladder, a character must pass through the two squares (one grounded and one elevated) that contain the ladder terrain feature. Stairs and ladders are not hindering terrain.

And (Map FAQ):

The top square of a staircase is the last square in which the staircase exists, and is therefore elevated terrain. This square of stairs is considered adjacent to the second-to-last square, even though the terrain exists on two different elevations.