In order to avoid damage, a character may take the disengage action and then move.
I have been thinking about this because of another question raised last week.
If the creature is slower that you, do you still have to take the disengage action to avoid opportunity attacks? What about something very slow like a gelatinous cube?
It seems there should be some rule about suffering opportunity attacks against slower opponents. Why can you not simply back up to avoid being attacked?
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Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Moving an arm or appendage is faster than moving your whole body so even if a creature moves slower across ground, they can still make an opportunity attack.
An opportunity attack isn't entirely based on speed - as you go to move you drop your guard thus granting an opportunity for the opponent to attack. Disengaging is taking a moment to prepare and keep your guard up when you do so.
The rule is fine, I see no reason to mess with it.
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If you've played any kind of action or hack-and-slash game, think of the difference between blindly turning around and moving away vs waiting for the enemy to make a move (or baiting them to make one), avoiding it and then escaping.
It takes time to turn around and sprint, and even if you run faster than your foe you can only create distance as quickly as the difference between your speeds. And when fighting very large opponents (or opponents with reach weapons) you might need to put quite a bit of distance between you before you clear their attack range.
You are confusing movement speed with attack speed. A turret would have a movement speed of 0, does that mean you can move fast enough to avoid bullets? No, probably not.
How dodgeable their attacks are is already calculated into their attack bonus.
In order to avoid damage, a character may take the disengage action and then move.
I have been thinking about this because of another question raised last week.
If the creature is slower that you, do you still have to take the disengage action to avoid opportunity attacks? What about something very slow like a gelatinous cube?
It seems there should be some rule about suffering opportunity attacks against slower opponents. Why can you not simply back up to avoid being attacked?
Bolded is the disengage action and it takes an action (or bonus action with the right class ability). You are backing up, keeping your guard up to fend off potential attacks. If you want to turn your back and run you’re more than welcome to but expect an AoO no matter your or their speed
Well I guess I'll have to read monster descriptions carefully to see when I might disengage from them without taking the action. Thanks.
That's metagaming, which is generally frowned upon by everyone. We can't stop you, and I won't even say you shouldn't do it, just be aware that it is against the spirit of the game.
I just read about a house rule another DM uses you might like:
Disengage as an action is removed from the game.
Absolutely anyone can back out of combat at half speed - spending the other half focusing on avoiding attacks - and mechanically they act as if they had Disengaged.
This means anyone can functionally do a full Disengage by combining item 2 with the Dash action.
I've never played with it, but I was intrigued by it when I read about it.
I just read about a house rule another DM uses you might like:
Disengage as an action is removed from the game.
Absolutely anyone can back out of combat at half speed - spending the other half focusing on avoiding attacks - and mechanically they act as if they had Disengaged.
This means anyone can functionally do a full Disengage by combining item 2 with the Dash action.
I've never played with it, but I was intrigued by it when I read about it.
Sounds a lot like how PF2 does this.
Not sure I like it, doesn't this give quite a boost to PAM???
That's metagaming, which is generally frowned upon by everyone. We can't stop you, and I won't even say you shouldn't do it, just be aware that it is against the spirit of the game.
This, plus there's so few enemies that are unable to make opportunity attacks that it's not even worth the trouble. If they can attack you with their action, there's a 99.9% chance they can also take opportunity attacks.
Well I guess I'll have to read monster descriptions carefully to see when I might disengage from them without taking the action. Thanks.
Technically you always have to take the disengage action to "disengage". There are some monsters that you can just *move away from* without them being able to attack you with an AoO but that's different. But as been mentioned, reading up on the monsters is metagaming which is often frowned upon. But do you feel that this is a problem with you having to disengage a lot or why do you feel the need for a rulechange or metagaming?
I just read about a house rule another DM uses you might like:
Disengage as an action is removed from the game.
Absolutely anyone can back out of combat at half speed - spending the other half focusing on avoiding attacks - and mechanically they act as if they had Disengaged.
This means anyone can functionally do a full Disengage by combining item 2 with the Dash action.
I've never played with it, but I was intrigued by it when I read about it.
Just realised why this felt so familiar (not just from PF2). It is pretty much what the Scout Rouge gets as a class feature.
Skirmisher
Starting at 3rd level, you are difficult to pin down during a fight. You can move up to half your speed as a reaction when an enemy ends its turn within 5 feet of you. This movement doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks.
A feature that costs them their reaction can now be done by anyone for free, have to hope the Rogue gets something extra in those games to make up for that tbh.
I just read about a house rule another DM uses you might like:
Disengage as an action is removed from the game.
Absolutely anyone can back out of combat at half speed - spending the other half focusing on avoiding attacks - and mechanically they act as if they had Disengaged.
This means anyone can functionally do a full Disengage by combining item 2 with the Dash action.
I've never played with it, but I was intrigued by it when I read about it.
Just realised why this felt so familiar (not just from PF2). It is pretty much what the Scout Rouge gets as a class feature.
Skirmisher
Starting at 3rd level, you are difficult to pin down during a fight. You can move up to half your speed as a reaction when an enemy ends its turn within 5 feet of you. This movement doesn’t provoke opportunity attacks.
A feature that costs them their reaction can now be done by anyone for free, have to hope the Rogue gets something extra in those games to make up for that tbh.
Those are completely different - the Scout bounces away when you approach them, on your turn. The house rule only applies to the Scout on the Scout's turn, during which the Scout can't uses its reaction, as no one else's turn can end during the Scout's turn.
Those are completely different - the Scout bounces away when you approach them, on your turn. The house rule only applies to the Scout on the Scout's turn, during which the Scout can't uses its reaction, as no one else's turn can end during the Scout's turn.
It's not completely different, both are about moving half speed to avoid OA's. On does it at the end of someone else's turn for the cost of you reaction, the other does it during your own turn for the cost of some movement. The Rouge is getting short-changed.
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In order to avoid damage, a character may take the disengage action and then move.
I have been thinking about this because of another question raised last week.
If the creature is slower that you, do you still have to take the disengage action to avoid opportunity attacks? What about something very slow like a gelatinous cube?
It seems there should be some rule about suffering opportunity attacks against slower opponents. Why can you not simply back up to avoid being attacked?
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Moving an arm or appendage is faster than moving your whole body so even if a creature moves slower across ground, they can still make an opportunity attack.
An opportunity attack isn't entirely based on speed - as you go to move you drop your guard thus granting an opportunity for the opponent to attack. Disengaging is taking a moment to prepare and keep your guard up when you do so.
The rule is fine, I see no reason to mess with it.
Click ✨ HERE ✨ For My Youtube Videos featuring Guides, Tips & Tricks for using D&D Beyond.
Need help with Homebrew? Check out ✨ this FAQ/Guide thread ✨ by IamSposta.
If you've played any kind of action or hack-and-slash game, think of the difference between blindly turning around and moving away vs waiting for the enemy to make a move (or baiting them to make one), avoiding it and then escaping.
It takes time to turn around and sprint, and even if you run faster than your foe you can only create distance as quickly as the difference between your speeds. And when fighting very large opponents (or opponents with reach weapons) you might need to put quite a bit of distance between you before you clear their attack range.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
You are confusing movement speed with attack speed. A turret would have a movement speed of 0, does that mean you can move fast enough to avoid bullets? No, probably not.
How dodgeable their attacks are is already calculated into their attack bonus.
Certain creatures cannot take AoOs. They say so in their description. Otherwise your speed, initiative, and even to hit do not affect AoOs.
That said, mages often do not have a weapon in hand, so while they can take an AoO, it has to be an unarmed strike, doing little if any damage.
Yes, why wouldn't you? Why would, for example, being hit by someone with the sentinel feat prevent you from hitting other people?
Bolded is the disengage action and it takes an action (or bonus action with the right class ability). You are backing up, keeping your guard up to fend off potential attacks. If you want to turn your back and run you’re more than welcome to but expect an AoO no matter your or their speed
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Well I guess I'll have to read monster descriptions carefully to see when I might disengage from them without taking the action. Thanks.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
That's metagaming, which is generally frowned upon by everyone. We can't stop you, and I won't even say you shouldn't do it, just be aware that it is against the spirit of the game.
I just read about a house rule another DM uses you might like:
I've never played with it, but I was intrigued by it when I read about it.
Sounds a lot like how PF2 does this.
Not sure I like it, doesn't this give quite a boost to PAM???
This, plus there's so few enemies that are unable to make opportunity attacks that it's not even worth the trouble. If they can attack you with their action, there's a 99.9% chance they can also take opportunity attacks.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
Technically you always have to take the disengage action to "disengage". There are some monsters that you can just *move away from* without them being able to attack you with an AoO but that's different. But as been mentioned, reading up on the monsters is metagaming which is often frowned upon. But do you feel that this is a problem with you having to disengage a lot or why do you feel the need for a rulechange or metagaming?
Just realised why this felt so familiar (not just from PF2). It is pretty much what the Scout Rouge gets as a class feature.
A feature that costs them their reaction can now be done by anyone for free, have to hope the Rogue gets something extra in those games to make up for that tbh.
Those are completely different - the Scout bounces away when you approach them, on your turn. The house rule only applies to the Scout on the Scout's turn, during which the Scout can't uses its reaction, as no one else's turn can end during the Scout's turn.
It's not completely different, both are about moving half speed to avoid OA's. On does it at the end of someone else's turn for the cost of you reaction, the other does it during your own turn for the cost of some movement. The Rouge is getting short-changed.