MOVEMENT & POSITION

Movement And Position

Few characters in a fight are likely to stand still for long. Enemies appear and charge the party. The heroes reply, advancing to take on new foes after they down their first opponents. Wizards remain outside the fight, looking for the best place to use their magic. Rogues quietly skirt the fracas seeking a straggler or an unwary opponent to strike with a sneak attack. Finally, if the fight is lost, most characters find it to their advantage to remove themselves from the vicinity. Movement is just as important as attack skill and armor in gaining the upper hand on the battlefield.

Movement and position are most easily handled by using miniature figures to represent the characters and their opponents. The standard scale equates 1 inch on the tabletop to 5 feet in the game world. Whenever possible, use units of 5 feet for movement and position. Calculating distance more precisely than that is more trouble than it’s worth. The DUNGEON MASTER’s Guide has guidelines for using a tabletop grid to regulate movement, position, and related issues.

Table: Standard Scale

One inch = 5 feet
"Next to" or "adjacent" = 1 inch (5 feet) away
30 mm figure = A human-size creature
A human-size creature occupies an area 1 inch (5 feet) across
One round = 6 seconds

Tactical Movement

Where you can move, how long it takes you to get there, and whether you’re vulnerable to attacks of opportunity while you’re moving are key questions in combat.

How Far Can Your Character Move?

Your speed is determined by your Strength, and the amount of gear you're carrying.

Encumbrance: A character encumbered by carrying a large amount of gear, treasure (you wish), or fallen comrades (more likely) may move slower than normal.

Movement in Combat: Generally, you can move your speed in a round and still do something, such as swing an axe or cast a spell. If you do nothing but move, you can move double your rate. If you flat-out run, you can move quadruple your rate. If you do something that requires a full round, such as attacking more than once, you can only take a 5-foot step. Some specific actions don’t allow you to move at all. See Action Types; Table: Fundamental Actions in Combat; and Table: Miscellaneous Actions to see how far you can move with each action.

Feats and Movement: the Barbarian feat FastMovement grants a character a +10 foot bonus to his speed (unless he’s wearing heavy armor).

Table: Carrying Capacity

Strength	Light Load	Medium Load	Heavy Load
1 Str	up to 3 lb.	4-6 lb.	7-10 lb.
2 Str	up to 6 lb.	7-13 lb.	14-20 lb.
3 Str	up to 10 lb.	11-20 lb.	21-30 lb.
4 Str	up to 13 lb.	14-26 lb.	27-40 lb.
5 Str	up to 16 lb.	17-33 lb.	34-50 lb.
6 Str	up to 20 lb.	21-40 lb.	41-60 lb.
7 Str	up to 23 lb.	24-46 lb.	47-70 lb.
8 Str	up to 26 lb.	27-53 lb.	54-80 lb.
9 Str	up to 30 lb.	31-60 lb.	61-90 lb.
10 Str	up to 33 lb.	34-66 lb.	67-100 lb.
11 Str	up to 38 lb.	39-76 lb.	77-115 lb.
12 Str	up to 43 lb.	44-86 lb.	87-130 lb.
13 Str	up to 50 lb.	51-100 lb.	101-150 lb.
14 Str	up to 58 lb.	59-116 lb.	117-175 lb.
15 Str	up to 66 lb.	67-133 lb.	134-200 lb.
16 Str	up to 76 lb.	77-153 lb.	154-230 lb.
17 Str	up to 86 lb.	87-173 lb.	174-260 lb.
18 Str	up to 100 lb.	101-200 lb.	201-300 lb.
19 Str	up to 116 lb.	117-233 lb.	234-350 lb.
20 Str	up to 133 lb.	134-266 lb.	267-400 lb.
21 Str	up to 153 lb.	154-306 lb.	307-460 lb.
22 Str	up to 173 lb.	174-346 lb.	347-520 lb.
23 Str	up to 200 lb.	201-400 lb.	401-600 lb.
24 Str	up to 233 lb.	234-466 lb.	467-700 lb.
25 Str	up to 266 lb.	267-533 lb.	534-800 lb.
26 Str	up to 306 lb.	307-613 lb.	614-920 lb.
27 Str	up to 346 lb.	347-693 lb.	694-1040 lb.
28 Str	up to 400 lb.	401-800 lb.	801-1200 lb.
29 Str	up to 466 lb.	467-933 lb.	934-1400 lb.
+10 Str	x4	x4	x4

Load	Max Dex	Check Penalty	(40 ft.)	(30 ft.)	(20 ft.)	Run
Medium	+3	-3	30 ft.	20 ft.	15 ft.	x4
Heavy	+1	-6	30 ft.	20 ft.	15 ft.	x3

Passing Through

Sometimes you can pass through an area occupied by another character or creature.

Friendly Creature: You can move through an area occupied by a friendly character.

Unfriendly Creature Not an Obstacle: You can also move through an area occupied by an unfriendly character who doesn’t present an obstacle, such as one who is dead, unconscious, bound, held, stunned, or just cowering.

Charging: As part of a charge, you can attempt to move through an area occupied by a resisting enemy (see Overrun).

Tumbling: A trained character can attempt to tumble through an area occupied by an enemy. (See the Tumble skill.)

Very Small Creature: A Fine, Diminutive, or Tiny creature can move into or through an occupied area. The creature provokes an attack of opportunity when doing so (as normal).

Area Occupied by Creature Three Sizes Larger or Smaller: Any creature can move through an area occupied by a creature three size categories larger than it is. A gnome (Small), for example, can run between the legs of a hill giant (Huge).

A big creature can move through an area occupied by a creature three size categories smaller than it is. A hill giant, for example, can step over a gnome.

Designated Exceptions: Some creatures break the above rules. For example, a gelatinous cube fills the area it occupies to a height of 10 feet. A creature can’t move through an area occupied by a cube, even with the Tumble skill or similar special abilities.

Flanking

If you are making a melee attack against a creature, and an ally directly opposite you is threatening the creature, you and your ally flank the creature. You gain a +2 flanking bonus on your attack roll. A rogue in this position can also sneak attack the target. The ally must be on the other side of the defender, so that the defender is directly between you.

Ganging Up

Typically, up to eight opponents can gang up on a single target, provided they have room to maneuver freely. If the defender can fight side by side with allies, back into a corner, fight through a doorway, or otherwise protect himself, attackers can’t gang up in this way.

Picture the eight attackers as evenly spaced out surrounding the defender. The defender can reduce the opportunity for attackers to gang up based on how much of the area around himself he can block off. Backed against a wall, a creature only allows five attackers to get at him. If he’s backed into a corner, only three attackers can get at him at a time. If the defender is standing in a doorway, the creature in front of him can attack normally, and one attacker on either side can attack as well, but the defender benefits from one-half cover (see Cover). If the defender is fighting in a 5-foot-wide corridor, only one attacker can get at him (unless attackers are coming at him from both directions).

The above rules are for Medium-size and Small creatures fighting with nonreach weapons. Larger creatures present room for more attackers to get at them (see below), and combatants with reach weapons can get at defenders more easily, though they cannot attack adjacent defenders.

Big And Little Creatures In Combat

Creatures smaller than Small or bigger than Medium-size have special rules relating to position. (The DUNGEON MASTER’s Guide also has rules for using a grid to regulate combatants’ sizes and faces.) These rules concern the creatures’ “faces,” or sides, and their reach.

Face: “Face” is how wide a face a creature presents in combat. This width determines how many creatures can fight side by side in a 10-foot-wide corridor, and how many opponents can attack a creature at the same time. A face is essentially the border between the square or rectangular space that a creature occupies and the space next to it. These faces are abstract, not “front, back, left, and right,” because combatants are constantly moving and turning in battle.

Unless a creature is immobile, it practically doesn’t have a front or a left side—at least not one you can locate on the tabletop.

Natural Reach: Natural reach is how far the creature can reach when it fights. It threatens the area within that distance from itself.

Big Creatures: Big creatures (long, Large creatures plus Huge, Gargantuan, and Colossal creatures) take up more space on the battlefield than a Medium-size human does. More combatants can attack them because more combatants can crowd around them. As a rule of thumb, assume that one Small or Medium-size combatant can get to each 5-foot length of the creature and four more combatants can fit into the “corners” where one side meets another. (This rule is why you can get eight people around a Medium-size creature at once: One fits on each 5-foot face, and one fits on each corner.)

For example, a bulette has a 10-foot face instead of the 5-foot face typical of Medium-size creatures. If you had enough characters, they could surround the bulette with twelve combatants: two along each face and four more in the corners.

Unlike a reach weapon, a creature with greater than normal natural reach (more than 5 feet) can still strike at creatures next to it. A creature with greater natural reach usually gets an attack of opportunity against you if you approach it, because you enter and move within its threatened area before you can attack it. (This does not apply if you take a 5-foot step.)

Large or Bigger Creatures with Reach Weapons: Large or bigger creatures with reach weapons can strike out to double their natural reach but can’t strike at their natural reach or less. For example, an ogre with an ogre-sized longspear could strike at 15 or 20 feet but not at 5 or 10 feet.

Very Small Creatures: Very small creatures (Fine, Diminutive, and Tiny) have no effective natural reach. They have to enter or be in your area to attack you. Since they have to pass through your threatened area to get to you, you get attacks of opportunity against them. You can attack into your own area if you need to, so you can attack them normally. Since they have no natural reach, they do not threaten the area around them. You can move past them without provoking attacks of opportunity.

Bigger Creatures Attacking Smaller Creatures: Big and small creatures can attack a defender in different numbers. Hill giants occupy a space 10 feet wide. Only four of them could surround a Medium-size creature because each giant would take up a side or face as well as a corner.

Creature Size	Example Creature	Natural Reach	Face*
Fine	Fly	0	½ ft. x ½ ft.
Diminuative	Toad	0	1 ft. x 1 ft.
Tiny	Cat	0	2½ ft. x 2½ ft.
Small	Halfling	5 ft.	5 ft. x 5 ft.
Medium-size	Human	5 ft.	5 ft. x 5 ft.
Large (tall)**	Hill giant	10 ft.	5 ft. x 5 ft.
Large (long)**	Horse	5 ft.	5 ft. x 10 ft.
Huge (tall)**	Cloud giant	15 ft.	10 ft. x 10 ft.
Huge (long)**	Bulette	10 ft.	10 ft. x 20 ft.
	Retriever	10 ft.	15 ft. x 15 ft.
Gargantuan (tall)**	50-ft. animated statue	20 ft.	20 ft. x 20 ft.
Gargantuan (long)**	Kraken	10 ft.†	20 ft. x 40 ft.
	Purple worm (coiled)	15 ft.	30 ft. x 30 ft.
Colossal (tall)*	The tarrasque	25 ft.	40 ft. x 40 ft.
Colossal (long)*	Great red wyrm	15 ft.	40 ft. x 80 ft.

* Listed width by length.
** Tall creatures are upright. Long creatures are primarily horizontal. Big, long creatures may be in any of several shapes. See the Monster Manual for details.
† Bite attack.

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