5.6 Movement and Positioning

This section describes how creatures move and position themselves when time and location are important to measure precisely.

5.6.1 Movements

During each movement phase, you can make one movement. You can spend your standard action during the action phase to make another movement. Typically, if you move during the action phase, you would sprint to move at double speed (see Sprint).

When a creature makes a movement, it travels a distance in feet equal to its speed with one movement mode. Almost all creatures have a land speed, which represents their ability to move across mostly flat terrain. For details about other forms of movement, such as flying and swimming, see Movement Modes.

You can take free actions and minor actions in the middle of movement. For example, you can walk up to a door, open it, and continue through the door (see Manipulating Objects).

5.6.2 Movement Modes

A movement mode is a method of moving from one location to another. The most common movement mode is a land speed, which allows creatures to move across the ground. In addition, some abilities grant creatures the ability to move in unusual ways. These forms of movement are described here.

Unless otherwise noted, all creatures have a land speed equal to the base speed for their size (see Size Categories). Creatures that are multipedal gain a +10 foot bonus to their land speed.

Some creatures have movement modes that are slower than their base speed for various reasons. A creature’s speed with any given movement mode can never be slower than 5 feet. Some effects can still prevent a creature from using their movement modes at all, such as being immobilized (-4 Armor and Ref, cannot use movement speeds).

Burrowing: A creature with a burrow speed can move through the ground at the indicated speed in any direction, even vertically. Unless otherwise noted, the creature can only burrow through dirt and loose earth, not rock or harder substances. It does not leave behind a usable tunnel for other creatures.

Climbing: A creature with a climb speed can move a distance equal to its climb speed while climbing. It must still make a Climb check to move in challenging conditions, such as slippery walls (see Climb). Climbing without a climb speed imposes a -2 penalty to your accuracy, Armor defense, and Reflex defense.

Flying: A creature with a fly speed can fly through the air at the indicated speed. Flying is more complicated than some other movement modes. For details, see Aerial Movement.

Gliding: A creature with a glide speed can glide through the air at the indicated speed. Gliding is more complicated than some other movement modes. For details, see Aerial Movement.

Land: A creature with a land speed can move across the ground at the indicated speed.

Swimming: A creature with a swim speed can move a distance equal to its swim speed while swimming. It must still make a Swim check to move in challenging conditions, such as stormy seas (see Swim). Swimming without a swim speed imposes a -2 penalty to your accuracy, Armor defense, and Reflex defense.

5.6.3 Combining Movement Modes

You can move using multiple different movement modes in the same phase in any order. For every 5 feet of speed that you use, you reduce your remaining speed with that movement mode and all movement modes that have an equal or greater remaining speed.

For example, assume you have a 10 foot climb speed, a 20 foot swim speed, and a 40 foot land speed. If you swim 10 feet, you could still climb 10 feet, swim 10 feet, or walk 30 feet as part of the same movement. Swimming an additional 10 feet would prevent you from climbing, but you could still walk 20 feet.

5.6.4 Jumping

Creatures with legs can jump as part of movement. When you jump, choose a destination square where your jump ends. Landing at a precise location within a square may require a check with the Jump skill (see Jump).

A jump’s maximum horizontal distance is normally equal to 5 feet per 2 Strength. If you are trained with the Jump skill, the distance is instead equal to 5 feet per Strength, to a minimum of 5 feet. If you have a running start of at least 15 feet, you also add a quarter of your base speed to that distance. A jump’s maximum vertical height is equal to half your maximum horizontal distance.

You must be touching a solid surface to jump. Jumping off of terrain that is not solid ground, such as a wall, halves your jump distance and may require a Jump check (see Jump). If your jump distance would be less than 5 feet, you normally cannot jump meaningfully at all. The GM can decide whether that makes sense in a particular situation.

If your destination square is in midair, you do not start falling until the next phase (see Falling Damage). This allows you to jump during the movement phase and act in midair during the action phase. Narratively, this represents you timing your jump so you can take a useful action while jumping. You don’t just hover in midair.

5.6.5 Jumping Speed Limits

The maximum distance that you can travel by jumping is equal to your remaining land speed during the current phase. This distance is measured only for the farthest extent that you travel from your starting location, not for a round trip or for the entire distance travelled along the arc of your jump. For example, if your land speed is thirty feet and you get a ten-foot running start, you can jump no more than twenty feet forward, or fifteen feet forward and five feet vertically, and so on. If your jump distance is extremely high and your land speed is low, you may need to use the sprint ability to make use of your full jumping potential (see Sprint).

5.6.6 Measuring Movement

For simplicity, all movement in combat is measured in five-foot increments. While it is possible to be more precise than that, it’s generally not worth the complexity.

Squares: Area is commonly measured in 5-ft. by 5-ft. spaces called squares. A single square represents the area occupied by a single humanoid creature in combat. Sometimes, movement and distance are represented by the number of squares travelled. A 30-ft. movement is the same thing as moving six squares.

Diagonals: When measuring distance, the first diagonal counts as five feet of movement, and the second counds as ten feet of movement. The third costs five feet, the fourth costs ten feet, and so on. You can move diagonally past corners and enemies.

5.6.7 Movement Abilities

Almost all creatures can use these abilities to move around a battlefield. Many movement abilities are reactive, allowing you to move automatically in response to the movement of other creatures. For example, you can try to follow a creature wherever it goes that round. In all cases, if you run out of movement speed before accomplishing your intended task, you simply stop where you ran out of movement.

The most common types of reactive movements are the block, follow, and withdraw abilities, which are described below. However, you can can come up with other reactive movements. The main requirement is that a reactive movement must have a simple criteria for determining how you move based on easily observable events. Secondarily, reactive movements should be simple to resolve. If you find yourself rolling a lot of initiative checks to get through the movement phase, you’re probably trying to make overly complicated movements.

Hustle: As a movement, you can use the hustle ability to move. This is the most common movement ability.

Block: As a movement, you can use the block ability to prevent a creature from entering a particular area.

Follow: As a movement, you can use the follow ability to follow a creature as it moves.

Withdraw: As a movement, you can use the withdraw ability to keep away from creatures as they move.

5.6.8 Movement Impediments

Difficult Terrain: Some terrain is hard to move through, like thick bushes or a swamp. If a square is difficult terrain, it increases the movement cost required to move out of the square by 5 feet.

If a square is considered difficult terrain for multiple reasons, the cost increases stack. For example, a square in a swamp that also has thick bushes blocking your passage would cost 10 extra feet of movement to leave.

Obstacles: An obstacle is anything that gets in your way. Enemies and large solid objects like walls completely block your movement. If you can get past an obstacle, like a low wall, that square is treated as difficult terrain. Some obstacles require a check to bypass, such as an Balance check (see Balance).

Squeezing: In some cases, you may have to squeeze into or through an area that isn’t as wide as the space you take up. You can squeeze through or into a space that is at least half as wide as your normal space. While squeezing (-2 Armor and Ref), you move at half speed, and you take a -2 penalty to your Armor and Reflex defenses. You can squeeze into tighter spaces with the Flexibility skill.

Creatures that take up multiple squares take up half their normal number of squares while squeezing. For example, a Large creature who normally takes up four spaces takes up two spaces while squeezing.

Accidentally Squeezing: Sometimes a character ends its movement while moving through a space where it’s not normally allowed to stop. When that happens, the character is squeezing in the space until it can move. If squeezing is impossible, the creature immediately moves to the closest available space. Try not to do this.

Undergrowth: Vines, roots, bushes, and similar plants that can obstruct sight are common in forested areas. These small plants can impede movement in large quantities. There are two kinds of undergrowth: light undergrowth and heavy undergrowth.

Light Undergrowth: Light undergrowth provides concealment.

Heavy Undergrowth: Heavy undergrowth provides concealment and is difficult terrain, which increases the movement cost required to move out of each square by 5 feet.

5.6.9 Forced Movement

Some abilities can physically move you against your will. Effects that limit movement speed, such as difficult terrain, similarly limit the distance you can be moved by forced movement effects. There are two kinds of forced movement: push effects and knockback effects. Unless otherwise noted, all forced movement effects move the target in a single straight horizontal line.

Push Effects

A creature affected by a push effect is being pushed by a constant force. If it encounters another creature or a solid obstacle during the movement, the forced movement effect ends without causing additional harm to the creature or the obstacle. Similarly, if a creature being pushed stops being supported and would fall, it falls instead of being pushed further. This can allow creatures pushed off the edge of a cliff to grab the edge of the cliff.

Knockback Effects

A creature affected by a knockback effect is thrown backwards by a single point of impact. If it encounters another creature or a solid obstacle during the movement, it and the obstacle each take 1d6 damage per 10 feet of movement remaining. A creature moving as a result of a knockback effect does not have to be supported during the movement by solid ground. This can allow you to knockback creatures off of cliffs without allowing them to save themselves.