Types of Movement

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Standard Ground-Based Movement

Move

Type of Action: Move

A character can move its speed with a move action. For most size-medium creatures, this is 30 feet. Moving like this is a cautious walk, and is primarily used during combat. Characters can only move through unoccupied spaces or spaces occupied by allies, though any move must end in an unoccupied space.

Double Move

Type of Action: Full attack action (standard and a move)

A character can move twice its listed speed by performing a double-move. This is usually done by converting the character's standard action for the round down to a move action, and then using the character's move action to move again. Note that a double-move is treated as a single action, so there is no need for the space between the two move actions to be unoccupied, though the character must (obviously) still be able to move through the space legally.

Run

Type of Action: Full round action

A character may declare a 'run' action as a full-round action. Running allows the character to move up to four times its listed speed in a straight line (or three times its listed speed if it is wearing heavy armor). The character loses any Dexterity bonus to AC unless it has the Run feat. If a character declares a 'run' action, it may not make a 5-foot step during the same round (except with an action point, or a class ability like the prowler's "Shifty").

A character can run for a number of rounds equal to its Constitution score, but after that it must make a DC 10 Constitution check to continue running. The character must check again each round in which it continues to run, and the DC of this check increases by 1 for each check it has made previously. When it fails this check, it must stop running. A character that has run to its limit must rest for 1 minute (10 rounds) before running again. During a rest period, a character can move no faster than a normal move action.

Characters using the 'run' action can't cross difficult terrain. Characters may not use the 'run' action if they cannot see.

5-Foot Step

Type of Action: Free action

A creature can move 5 feet in any round in which it doesn't perform any other kind of movement. Taking this 5-foot step never provokes an attack of opportunity. Creatures cannot take more than one 5-foot step in a round, and cannot take a 5-foot step in the same round in which it moved any distance through its own actions (e.g. moving, charging, casting a spell that moves the creature from its starting location, etc.).

A creature can take a 5-foot step before, during, or after its other actions in the round. A 5-foot step can even be used between attacks during a full attack action.

A creature can only take a 5-foot-step if its movement isn't hampered by difficult terrain or darkness. Any creature with a speed of 5 feet or less can't take a 5-foot step, since moving even 5 feet requires a move action for such a slow creature.

No creature may take a 5-foot step using a form of movement for which it does not have a listed speed.

If a creature has an action point which can be used to grant a move action, it may spend the action point to take a 5-foot step, even if it has previously moved this round, or has already taken a 5-foot step. Using action points in this manner deliberately breaks the normal rules for 5-foot steps, since action points are meant to simulate creatures performing truly heroic deeds.

Some classes (e.g. Prowlers) and races (e.g. Arrakanza) have special abilities which allow them to make more than one 5-foot step in a single round, or in rounds in which they have already moved. In those cases, follow the rules listed for the race or class to determine how they break the limitations for normal creatures using a 5-foot step. In some cases, the listed rules may also include limitations specific to that class or race using the ability (e.g. the additional 5-foot step may cost a swift or move action to perform).

Crawling

You can crawl 5 feet as a move action. Crawling incurs attacks of opportunity from any attackers who threaten you at any point of your crawl. A crawling character is considered prone and must take a move action to stand up, provoking an attack of opportunity.

Overland Movement

Characters covering long distances cross-country use overland movement. Overland movement is measured in miles per hour or miles per day. A day represents 8 hours of actual travel time. For rowed watercraft, a day represents 10 hours of rowing. For a sailing ship, it represents 24 hours.

• Walk: A character can walk 8 hours in a day of travel without a problem. Walking for longer than that can wear him out (see Forced March, below).

• Hustle: A character can hustle for 1 hour without a problem. Hustling for a second hour in between sleep cycles deals 1 point of nonlethal damage, and each additional hour deals twice the damage taken during the previous hour of hustling. A character who takes any nonlethal damage from hustling becomes fatigued. A fatigued character can't run or charge and takes a penalty of –2 to Strength and Dexterity. Eliminating the nonlethal damage also eliminates the fatigue.

• Run: A character can't run for an extended period of time. Attempts to run and rest in cycles effectively work out to a hustle.

+ Table: Movement and Distance

Speed	15 Feet	20 Feet	30 Feet	40 Feet
One Hour
Walk	1-1/2 miles	2 miles	3 miles	4 miles
Hustle	3 miles	4 miles	6 miles	8 miles
Run	-	-	-	-
One Day
Walk	12 miles	16 miles	24 miles	32 miles
Hustle	-	-	-	-
Run	-	-	-	-

• Terrain: The terrain through which a character travels affects the distance he can cover in an hour or a day (see Table: Terrain and Overland Movement). A highway is a straight, major, paved road. A road is typically a dirt track. A trail is like a road, except that it allows only single-file travel and does not benefit a party traveling with vehicles. Trackless terrain is a wild area with no paths.

+ Table: Terrain and Overland Movement

Terrain	Highway	Road or Trail	Trackless
Desert, Sandy	x1	x1/2	x1/2
Forest	x1	x1	x1/2
Hills	x1	x3/4	x1/2
Jungle	x1	x3/4	x1/4
Moor	x1	x1	x3/4
Mountains	x3/4	x3/4	x1/2
Plains	x1	x1	x3/4
Swamp	x1	x3/4	x1/2
Tundra, frozen	x1	x3/4	x3/4

• Forced March: In a day of normal walking, a character walks for 8 hours. The rest of the daylight time is spent making and breaking camp, resting, and eating. A character can walk for more than 8 hours in a day by making a forced march. For each hour of marching beyond 8 hours, a Constitution check (DC 10, +2 per extra hour) is required. If the check fails, the character takes 1d6 points of nonlethal damage. A character who takes any nonlethal damage from a forced march becomes fatigued. Eliminating the nonlethal damage also eliminates the fatigue. It's possible for a character to march into unconsciousness by pushing himself too hard.

• Mounted Movement: A mount bearing a rider can move at a hustle. The damage it takes when doing so, however, is lethal damage, not nonlethal damage. The creature can also be ridden in a forced march, but its Constitution checks automatically fail, and the damage it takes is lethal damage. Mounts also become fatigued when they take any damage from hustling or forced marches.

+ Table: Mounts and Vehicles

Mount/Vehicle	Per Hour	Per Day
Mount (Carrying Load)
Light horse	5 miles	40 miles
Light horse (175–525 lbs.)1	3-1/2 miles	28 miles
Heavy horse	5 miles	40 miles
Heavy horse (229–690 lbs.)1	3-1/2 miles	28 miles
Pony	4 miles	32 miles
Pony (151–450 lbs.)1	3 miles	24 miles
Dog, riding	4 miles	32 miles
Dog, riding (101–300 lbs.)1	3 miles	24 miles
Cart or wagon	2 miles	16 miles
Ship
Raft or barge (poled or towed)2	1/2 mile	5 miles
Keelboat (rowed)2	1 mile	10 miles
Rowboat (rowed)2	1-1/2 miles	15 miles
Sailing ship (sailed)	2 miles	48 miles
Warship (sailed and rowed)	2-1/2 miles	60 miles
Longship (sailed and rowed)	3 miles	72 miles
Galley (rowed and sailed)	4 miles	96 miles

Alternative Movement Types

Burrow

Lesser Burrowing

A creature with a lesser burrowing speed can tunnel through sand, loose soil, or gravel, but not through stone. Using burrow requires only as much concentration as walking, so the creature can attack or cast spells normally. The burrowing creature cannot charge or run. Loose material collapses behind the creature 1 round after it leaves the area. Lesser Burrowing does not give the creature the ability to breathe underground, so when passing through loose material, the creature must hold its breath and take only short trips, or else it may suffocate.

Greater Burrowing

A creature with greater burrowing can tunnel through dirt, rock and other non-magical ground materials. A creature with greater burrowing can make charges while burrowing, but cannot use the 'run' action while burrowing. Creatures with greater burrowing frequently leave behind tunnels that other creatures can use (either because the material they tunnel through is sturdy or because they are dislocating the materials somehow when burrowing); see the individual creature descriptions for details.

Climb

Lesser Climb

A creature with lesser climb has a +8 racial bonus on all Climb checks. The creature must make a Climb check to climb any wall or slope with a DC higher than 0, but it can always choose to take 10, even if rushed or threatened while climbing. The creature retains its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (if any) while climbing, and opponents get no special bonus to their attacks against it. If a creature with a lesser climb speed chooses to make an accelerated climb as a move action, it moves at double its climb speed (or at its land speed, whichever is slower) and makes a single Climb check at a –5 penalty. If it fails this check, it falls back to its starting position, wasting the move action. A creature with lesser climb cannot use the run action while climbing.

Greater Climb

A creature with greater climb can climb and travel on vertical surfaces or even traverse ceilings with ease. The creature must at least one hand free to climb in this manner. The creature gains a +8 bonus on Climb skill checks; furthermore, it need not make Climb checks to traverse a vertical or horizontal surface (even upside down). A creature with greater climb retains its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class (if any) while climbing, and opponents get no special bonus to their attacks against it. A creature with greater climb cannot use the run action while climbing.

Fly

Lesser Flight

A creature with lesser flight can fly as a move action. It can ascend at half speed and descend at double speed, and its maneuverability is good.

Lesser flight requires only as much concentration as walking, so the subject can attack or cast spells normally. The creature can charge but not run, and it cannot carry aloft more weight than its maximum load, plus any armor it wears. The creature gains no bonus on Fly skill checks. To perform any maneuvers in the air, such as hover, the creature must make Fly skill checks. Any skill checks which are failed result in the creature losing altitude equal to its speed and losing the move action. If the lost altitude results in the creature landing on the ground, the creature lands on the ground, taking no damage.

If a creature with lesser flight is knocked prone, immobilized or denied enough of its actions that it cannot voluntarily move from its starting space, it falls out of the sky. (Note: it doesn't have to move, it just has to be able to move if it wanted to.) The creature immediately loses a number of feet of altitude equal to its fly speed. If this results in the creature landing on the ground, it lands and takes no damage. If the creature is still above the ground, the loss in altitude is subtracted, and then the creature falls the remaining distance to the ground, taking falling damage.

• Falling Damage: Creatures that fall take 1d6 points of damage per 10 feet fallen, to a maximum of 20d6. Creatures that take lethal damage from a fall land in a prone position.

As a general rule of thumb, creatures with lesser flight cannot take falling damage from failing actions they initiated. Instead, they lose altitude until they land. However, if they are acted upon in such a way as their flight is disrupted, they can take falling damage, but always reduce the height of the falling damage by their fly speed.

Greater Flight

A creature with greater flight can fly as a move action. It can ascend and descend at normal speed and its maneuverability is perfect.

Greater flight requires only as much concentration as walking, so the subject can attack or cast spells normally. The creature can charge but not run, and it cannot carry aloft more weight than its maximum load, plus any armor it wears. The creature gains a +8 bonus on Fly skill checks and is not required to make Fly skill checks to perform any maneuvers in the air, such as hover.

If a creature with greater flight is knocked prone, immobilized or denied enough of its actions that it cannot voluntarily move from its starting space, it falls out of the sky. (Note: it doesn't have to move, it just has to be able to move if it wanted to.) Regardless of altitude, it floats to the ground, taking no falling damage.

A creature with greater flight never takes falling damage, even if knocked unconscious or denied all actions. Instead, it floats quickly to the ground. Of course, if it is transformed into something which no longer has greater flight (such as stone, or a bunny) all bets are off.

Swim

A creature with a swim speed can move through water at its indicated speed without making Swim checks. It gains a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform a special action or avoid a hazard. The creature can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered when swimming. Such a creature can use the run action while swimming, provided that it swims in a straight line.

Teleport

Some creatures can teleport natively as a move action. This is not the same as casting a spell such as Dimension Door, since it does not require the creature to cast, concentrate or otherwise engage in prestidigitation. Teleportation is the act of moving instantly between two spaces without crossing the intervening space. A creature with teleport must be able to see his destination in order to teleport. Note that line of effect is not required, so a creature can teleport through a portcullis, or over a bottomless chasm. The distance of a teleport is measured using the straightest line between the starting point and the desired destination point.

Creatures with a teleport speed will never teleport into a solid object. If their destination somehow becomes filled with solidity (or they are seeing an illusion which makes them think their destination is safe), they are instead shunted to the first unoccupied space along the path they teleported. If all spaces between their starting space and their destination space are solid, the teleport fails and the move action is wasted.

Teleportation does not provoke attacks of opportunity from nearby enemies, either from leaving the starting square or from appearing in the destination square.

A creature with a teleport speed that attempts to teleport into open air will fall to the ground immediately at the end of their turn. Because the falling only occurs when its turn ends, a creature with a teleport speed could choose a mid-way point in mid-air for one teleport, then take a second move action to make another teleport to a spot on safe ground. Similarly, a teleporting creature could teleport up to a flying creature and attack it, assuming it was willing to suffer the falling damage afterwards.

A creature with a teleport speed cannot charge or run with the teleport movement action. However, creatures with a teleport speed may take feats as though they were able to cast Dimension Door, some of which allow them to perform charge actions and other fun things.

Special Movement Rules

Squeezing

If you end your turn in the same space as another creature, and each of you normally takes up the full space, you are both considered to be squeezing. Squeezing can only occur if the two creatures sharing a space both agree to allow that to happen, or one creature is unable to prevent it (such as being unconscious or stunned). Even if one of the two creatures sharing a space is prone, both creatures are treated as squeezing. However, if one of the creatures is dead, the squeezing rules do not apply. Instead, the dead creature is treated as rough terrain (GM's may elect to ignore the 'dead creatures are rough terrain' rule, since it's kind of annoying to keep track of).

Squeezing can also occur when a character tries to fit through a space that is designed for creatures one size category smaller than he is, but wider than his head. No creature can pass through a space narrower than its head (unless it has some special ability allowing it to break this rule). An example of a narrow space might be a door designed for size-small creatures. A medium-sized creature could fit through there, but their ability to attack or defend themselves while doing so would be greatly impaired. A large-sized creature couldn't fit through the size-small door at all.

While squeezing, a creature suffers a -4 penalty to attack rolls and a -4 penalty to AC.

Difficult Terrain

Some terrain is too tricky to move through at normal speed. Such terrain is called "difficult" though this can encompass many scenarios: obstacles, slippery or unstable footing, steep slopes, etc. When moving through difficult terrain, each square moved into counts as two squares (10 feet), effectively reducing the distance that a character can cover in a move. Characters cannot run or charge through difficult terrain, nor can they take 5-foot steps.

Nearly Impassable Terrain

Sometimes the terrain is so difficult that you must clamber over it on hands and knees, rather than just carefully navigating it. Examples include junk-strewn rooms, vine-choked jungles, or waist-deep bogs. A creature wishing to move through such terrain must use a full-round action to move 5 feet. This is not treated as a 5-foot step and does provoke attacks of opportunity. Creatures attempting to move through nearly impassable terrain cannot run or charge through such terrain, nor can they maintain any stances, including stealth.

Note that nearly impassable terrain is not the same as impassable terrain, such as walls, locked doors or closed portcullises.

Some nearly impassable terrain may allow an acrobatics or climb check to move more than 5 feet per full-round action, at the GM's discretion. As a general rule, however, spending a full round to move 5 feet does not require any sort of skill check.

Forced Movement

Most forced movement is handled via the Combat Maneuver system, but there is an added class of "automatic" forced movement which is occasionally available via spells, class abilities, monster powers, etc. All forced movement allows the attacking creature to move an enemy one or more squares from its current location.

It is not normally possible to resist forced movement at all, unless you have a special power or ability which specifically opposes such movement.

No matter how the forced movement is inflicted, either by Combat Manuevers, spells, class abilities, etc, all forced movement is resisted by any special powers or abilities that resist forced movement. Such resistance applies after CMB vs CMD rolls are resolved.

Forced movement ignores the penalties to movement for rough terrain, but must be into unoccupied squares of a size and shape equal to the creature being forcibly moved. If there are no unoccupied squares available for the creature to be legally forced into, the forced movement does not take place.

A creature subjected to forced movement may, at any time during the forced movement, elect to fall prone, immediately ending the forced movement. This tactic is especially useful to avoid being forced into a hazardous square, such as a pit or a trap. Creatures which are immune to prone can still use this option and are not prone afterwards, making them very nearly immune to forced movement.

Forced movement never provokes attacks of opportunity, unless there is a feat or ability in play which pierces this.

Push

A Push is forced movement in which a creature is moved by an attacker in a path away from the attacker. Each square of this forced movement must be further away from the attacker's square(s) than the square being exited. If any squares in the desired path are blocked or occupied by any creatures (friend or foe) the push ends in the square prior to this obstruction.

Pull

A Pull is forced movement in which a creature is moved by an attacker in a path toward the attacker. Each square of this forced movement must be closer to the attacker's square(s) than the square being exited. If any squares in the desired path are blocked or occupied by any creatures (friend or foe) the pull ends in the square prior to this obstruction.

Slide

A Slide is forced movement in which a creature is moved by an attacker in any path the attacker wishes. If any squares in the desired path are blocked or occupied by any creatures (friend or foe) the slide ends in the square prior to this obstruction.

Distance, Movement, and Area of Effect

Accounting for distance and movement is a complex topic, and large amounts of thought went into this. For these variant rules, Pathfinder's Distance, Movement, and Area of Effect rules are the 'standard'. Namely, measure all movement in squares, face-to-face moves are 1 for 1, and diagonal moves are 1, then 2, then 1 for 1. Area of effects are represented by templates and precisely defined.

This approach is simple, but is not very flexible and introduces several issues. For example, there is no template for a 25 foot cone, so how do you determine the area of such a custom area of effect? Why is the template for a sixty foot cone actually eighty feet wide? How do you determine the exact size of a sixty foot cone that has been doubled in size by a meta-magic feat? What about a sixty foot radius circle? Why is the area of a sixty foot line cut in half if it is laid down in a diagonal?

Moreover, these variant rules introduce several high-maneuverability classes, namely, the prowler, the monk, and the brawler. In addition to the maneuver classes, several classes may gain area of effect attacks, such as epic bards and fighters, and of course the spell-casters. In order to make play smoother and more enjoyable in such a fluid environment, it is strongly recommended that the following variant rules be used for measuring distance, movement, and area of effects.

ALL distances and movement are counted as "1 for 1." There is no penalty for moving in diagonal lines. This has the effect of greatly simplifying the work of determining ranges and allows high-maneuverability classes to play much faster.

ALL areas of effect are simplified.

Line areas of effect are counted as 1 for 1 in all directions. For simplicity, it is recommended that a primary target square within the attack's range be chosen, and then the squares of the line are counted out 'through' that primary target square. Any creatures beyond the primary target in cases where the line is moving in any diagonal are adjudicated by placing a string or ruler along the path between the center of the attacker and the center of the primary target square. Squares whose center are nearest the line are part of the line attack. The GM is the final arbiter of close calls on diagonal line attacks.

Templates are no longer used for circles or cones. The area of effect for all common cones and circles are reduced to squares, based upon the conversions below. This simplifies placing AOE's considerably, and allows custom sizes or widened spells to be used easily.

Placement Rules

No-range attacks (usually cones) are placed by ensuring that any square of the AOE must have one point of adjacency, either a side or a corner, with one of the attacker's squares. For example, a size Medium wizard uses Burning Hands. This spell has a fifteen-foot-cone area of effect. In these rules, the cone template is not used, and instead the Area of Effect is converted to a three by three square. The location of the effect of the spell must be adjacent to either a side or a corner of one of the caster's squares. Since the wizard is size Medium and thus has only one square, the Burning Hands AOE must be adjacent to either a side or a corner of that square.

A size Huge dragon breathing a sixty foot cone of fire is resolved as follows: A size Huge creature occupies a three by three square. A sixty foot cone is defined as an 8x8 square. The 8x8 square of the area of effect must be placed so that it is 'touching' any edge or corner of the 3x3 square of the dragon's space.

Ranged area of effect attacks are not determined by adjacency to the attacker's square. Instead, they are counted out from a central target point. All 'odd number' areas of effect are centered upon a target square. All 'even number' areas of effect are centered upon an intersection 'targeting cross-hair' formed by four squares.

Conversion of Areas of Effect

Many of the larger areas of effect have been reduced in size to balance the fact that corners are no longer being cut out by the old 3:2 diagonal rules. The total affected area is still usually greater under these variant rules. This reduction also allows for simplification of the Widen Spell metamagic feat, which simply doubles the listed axis values. For example, a 30-foot cone with Widen Spell applied grows from a 5x5 square to a 10x10 square.

• Cones
  • 15 foot cone becomes a 3x3 square around a target square
  • 30 foot cone becomes a 5x5 square around a target square
  • 60 foot cone becomes an 8x8 square around a target intersection point
• Circles
  • 5 foot radius becomes a 2x2 square around a target intersection point
  • 10 foot radius becomes a 4x4 square around a target intersection point
  • 15 foot radius becomes a 5x5 square around a target square
  • 20 foot radius becomes a 6x6 square around a target intersection point
  • 30 foot radius becomes a 9x9 square around a target square
  • 40 foot radius becomes a 12x12 square around a target intersection point

Three Dimensional Movement

For three dimensional movement, it is strongly recommended to use the above variant rules for counting movement, distance, and areas of effect. The reason is simple: when calculating the range between two objects at different altitudes, using the old rules required trigonometry or guesswork. In the 1 for 1 counting rules, the different altitudes can be ignored, as long as the difference in altitude is equal to or less than the difference between the figures.

For example, a ranger wants to shoot an orc who is hiding thirty feet high in a tree. In these rules, as long as the ranger is thirty feet or more away from the base of the tree, the range is simply defined as the range to the tree's square. If the ranger is closer than thirty feet to the base of the tree, the range is simply thirty feet, no matter where he moves around the base of the tree. This is a tremendous simplification and makes gameplay much faster and smoother.

For this reason, it is strongly recommended that referees enforce 'altitude ceilings' in three dimensional encounters. This is readily accomplished inside large buildings and caves, etc. Outdoors, it is usually simplest to abstract 'up' and 'down', so that the maximum distance between two combatants is always defined as the distance between their figures on the map. Alternatively, the referee may rule by fiat that cloud cover, or a tree canopy, or hazardous smoke/vapor, etc, limits the maximum altitude at which combat is possible.

If these rules are followed, then range and area of effect in three-dimensional movement is no different than in 2-dimensional movement. All squares are visualized as cubes. Moving from cube to cube may be done from face-to-face, or edge to edge, or corner to corner. All moves and ranges are counted as 1 for 1.

As a corollary to this, when three dimensional movement is being used, all characters are considered to be represented as cubes in space, not squares on the map. The cube is a number of squares high equal to the number of squares per side of the figure's size.

Thus, a small or medium creature occupies a cube five feet on a side. A large creature occupies a cube ten feet on a side. A huge creature occupies a cube fifteen feet on a side. Larger creatures continue using this same progression. For game balance reasons, the same number of smaller creatures will fill a cube as fill a same size square. Two Small creatures may occupy a five foot cube without squeezing. Four tiny creatures fill a cube, etc. This rule is to prevent dozens and dozens of enemies from filling a single space.

This system makes it much easier to accommodate feats of derring-do. For example, how high up is a Huge Elephant's back? Fifteen feet! So if a player character jumps to the back of an elephant, that is how far away they are from the ground. The bottom of the character's cube rests upon the top of the elephants cube, and reach and range are determined accordingly.

All cubes that border either a side, edge, or corner are considered adjacent in three dimensional movement.

Reach now affects all adjacent cubes, including the one above your head (and beneath your feet) as well as the ones above and below your adjacent squares.

Areas of effect, defined above as squares, are simply counted as cubes in three dimensional movement. Odd-sized cubes are centered upon a target cube, even-sized cubes are targeted upon the three-axis intersection of eight cubes.