That is a great idea. I love the idea of just willy-nilly adding immunities to creatures that don’t have them. It is blatantly obvious that my plate clad PC is immune to slashing damage.
It is blatantly obvious that dwarves are so blocky they cannot be prone either. Their legs are short enough that even when they are on their belly, they can be standing.
On the other hand, when it is actually blatantly obvious that a monster cannot be made to suffer the effects of prone, they actually tell you that. See gelatinous cube as an example.
I am rather certain that you can tell the differences in body type between a dwarf and a snake. The condition is written with the assumption of a bipedal target. Do you also believe that a horse that is knocked prone can crawl at half speed without standing? Rules say it can... According to the interpretation being presented, a snake on its back can similarly move at half speed. Oh and a shark for some reason swimming upside down swims at half speed....
Can someone reduce their falling damage by going prone mid fall? When prone, your speed is halved until you stand....
I'm rather certain that you are not talking about the rules, you are trying to simulate reality based around words that you think you know the meaning of that also happen to appear in the rules.
Anyway, back to the real question, when a creature without immunity to the prone such as a giant octopus is knocked prone, does it get to choose which speed it removes the condition with? Does it matter if it is swimming or not at the time? How do you rule on this question? I'm only interested in actual rules answers on this and how it might inform your answer to the OPs question, so keep that in mind.
Anyway, back to the real question, when a creature without immunity to the prone such as a giant octopus is knocked prone, does it get to choose which speed it removes the condition with? Does it matter if it is swimming or not at the time? How do you rule on this question? I'm only interested in actual rules answers on this and how it might inform your answer to the OPs question, so keep that in mind.
It uses the total for that creature’s movement, not either specific speed.
In combat, characters and monsters are in constant motion, often using movement and position to gain the upper hand.
On your turn, you can move a distance up to your speed. You can use as much or as little of your speed as you like on your turn, following the rules here.
Your movement can include jumping, climbing, and swimming. These different modes of movement can be combined with walking, or they can constitute your entire move. However you're moving, you deduct the distance of each part of your move from your speed until it is used up or until you are done moving.
Breaking Up Your Move
You can break up your movement on your turn, using some of your speed before and after your action. For example, if you have a speed of 30 feet, you can move 10 feet, take your action, and then move 20 feet.
Moving Between Attacks
If you take an action that includes more than one weapon attack, you can break up your movement even further by moving between those attacks. For example, a fighter who can make two attacks with the Extra Attack feature and who has a speed of 25 feet could move 10 feet, make an attack, move 15 feet, and then attack again.
Using Different Speeds
If you have more than one speed, such as your walking speed and a flying speed, you can switch back and forth between your speeds during your move. Whenever you switch, subtract the distance you've already moved from the new speed. The result determines how much farther you can move. If the result is 0 or less, you can't use the new speed during the current move.
For example, if you have a speed of 30 and a flying speed of 60 because a wizard cast the fly spell on you, you could fly 20 feet, then walk 10 feet, and then leap into the air to fly 30 feet more.
I am not sure that's right. It says that "Whenever you switch, subtract the distance you've already moved from the new speed." That doesn't imply that your speed is the sum of all of your movement modes added together, rather the largest distance you could move in a turn is the largest speed that you have.
I am not sure that's right. It says that "Whenever you switch, subtract the distance you've already moved from the new speed." That doesn't imply that your speed is the sum of all of your movement modes added together, rather the largest distance you could move in a turn is the largest speed that you have.
I didn’t say to add them together and use the “sum” did I? I said that it uses the creature’s total movement as the number. Whatever that total movement for the turn is calculated at, standing up from prone uses 1/2 of it.
Effectively I would just temporarily treat the Giant Octopus’s movement for the turn as: Speed 5 ft., swim 30 ft. after it “stood up.”
... well, you could have been clear. Total certainly could mean sum, especially in the context of having multiple things and a "total" for them. And certainly if the largest distance a creature could move is one of its speeds then it is in fact one of "either [of those] specific speed[s]."
... well, you could have been clear. Total certainly could mean sum, especially in the context of having multiple things and a "total" for them. And certainly if the largest distance a creature could move is one of its speeds then it is in fact one of "either [of those] specific speed[s]."
Okay, I could have been clearer I suppose. But I think you missed my edit. I’ll repeat it:
Effectively I would just temporarily treat the Giant Octopus’s movement for the turn as: Speed 5 ft., swim 30 ft. after it “stood up.”
I think that is consistent with your reading to the OP's question. I'm not necessarily sure that is the only way that fits with RAW to handle it though.
I think that is consistent with your reading to the OP's question. I'm not necessarily sure that is the only way that fits with RAW to handle it though.
Perhaps not, but it is an interpretation that is generally consistent with RAW.
I think that is consistent with your reading to the OP's question. I'm not necessarily sure that is the only way that fits with RAW to handle it though.
Perhaps not, but it is an interpretation that is generally consistent with RAW.
To be sure then, you would say that longstrider then adds 10’ to every movement speed listed for the creature?
I think that is consistent with your reading to the OP's question. I'm not necessarily sure that is the only way that fits with RAW to handle it though.
Perhaps not, but it is an interpretation that is generally consistent with RAW.
To be sure then, you would say that longstrider then adds 10’ to every movement speed listed for the creature?
I already said that. Even to the "walking speed" of a creature with a walking speed of "0"
I'm rather certain that you are not talking about the rules, you are trying to simulate reality based around words that you think you know the meaning of that also happen to appear in the rules.
There are actually rules about being prone and falling introduced in XGtE.
Anyway, back to the real question, when a creature without immunity to the prone such as a giant octopus is knocked prone, does it get to choose which speed it removes the condition with? Does it matter if it is swimming or not at the time? How do you rule on this question? I'm only interested in actual rules answers on this and how it might inform your answer to the OPs question, so keep that in mind.
It uses the total for that creature’s movement, not either specific speed.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules/combat#MovementandPosition
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I am not sure that's right. It says that "Whenever you switch, subtract the distance you've already moved from the new speed." That doesn't imply that your speed is the sum of all of your movement modes added together, rather the largest distance you could move in a turn is the largest speed that you have.
I didn’t say to add them together and use the “sum” did I? I said that it uses the creature’s total movement as the number. Whatever that total movement for the turn is calculated at, standing up from prone uses 1/2 of it.
Effectively I would just temporarily treat the Giant Octopus’s movement for the turn as: Speed 5 ft., swim 30 ft. after it “stood up.”
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... well, you could have been clear. Total certainly could mean sum, especially in the context of having multiple things and a "total" for them. And certainly if the largest distance a creature could move is one of its speeds then it is in fact one of "either [of those] specific speed[s]."
Okay, I could have been clearer I suppose. But I think you missed my edit. I’ll repeat it:
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I think that is consistent with your reading to the OP's question. I'm not necessarily sure that is the only way that fits with RAW to handle it though.
Perhaps not, but it is an interpretation that is generally consistent with RAW.
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To be sure then, you would say that longstrider then adds 10’ to every movement speed listed for the creature?
I already said that. Even to the "walking speed" of a creature with a walking speed of "0"
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