I usually take things like visibility (day/night, fog, rain, etc.,) in mind, as well as terrain. At day, in the plains, it's possible that battle starts at 600 yards (because someone has to use that feat with a longbow). Most commonly, though, things like hilltops, forest foliage, or even uncertainty of hostile intent, makes combat start much closer.
That doesn't take ambushes into consideration, however. Most beasts/etc that are native to a territory (ergo, part of the random encounter table :p ) usually know how to move around without being visible for miles.
In general, if you want a rule of thumb, compare the party's best Passive Perception with the other group's best Passive Stealth (or roll, whichever you prefer), and vice versa. Start at 120ft, 60ft or 30ft depending on the results (rules of thumb do not include definitive measurements. :p ). For example, if neither party notices the other, they start at 30ft (at the closest point), with both parties surprised.
I usually set up encounters so that movement in the first round will be able to close the distance and still use an action for something besides dash for at least the faster moving creatures involved (so about 40 to 60 feet between party and enemies), and bring that distance in closer if visibility requires it (i.e. if the party is 10 feet from the end of the hall when a creature turns the corner, the encounter starts with them 10 feet away from that creature).
And on the other hand, if the terrain is open and visibility good, plus someone has an effective long-range means of attack, I'll let an encounter start at that range (i.e. a party traveling through rolling grassy hills in clear weather might spot warg-riding goblin marauders from quite some distance, so if the party has longbows or the like I'll start the encounter when they are 600 feet from the goblins).
I don't have mine in reach, but if I recall correctly, there is a nifty Encounter Distance table on the 5e DM screen. It was based on terrain, and you can roll to randomize or quickly figure the average starting distance.
Really depends on how likely the two parties are to believe each other to be hostile. For example, a band of orcs or robbers might not really be recognizable as hostile until 100 feet out. Maybe not until you actually spoke with them at 30 feet or closer.
What does everone do for the starting distance for battles out in the wild, and does different terrian change your distance?
I usually take things like visibility (day/night, fog, rain, etc.,) in mind, as well as terrain. At day, in the plains, it's possible that battle starts at 600 yards (because someone has to use that feat with a longbow). Most commonly, though, things like hilltops, forest foliage, or even uncertainty of hostile intent, makes combat start much closer.
That doesn't take ambushes into consideration, however. Most beasts/etc that are native to a territory (ergo, part of the random encounter table :p ) usually know how to move around without being visible for miles.
In general, if you want a rule of thumb, compare the party's best Passive Perception with the other group's best Passive Stealth (or roll, whichever you prefer), and vice versa. Start at 120ft, 60ft or 30ft depending on the results (rules of thumb do not include definitive measurements. :p ). For example, if neither party notices the other, they start at 30ft (at the closest point), with both parties surprised.
I usually set up encounters so that movement in the first round will be able to close the distance and still use an action for something besides dash for at least the faster moving creatures involved (so about 40 to 60 feet between party and enemies), and bring that distance in closer if visibility requires it (i.e. if the party is 10 feet from the end of the hall when a creature turns the corner, the encounter starts with them 10 feet away from that creature).
And on the other hand, if the terrain is open and visibility good, plus someone has an effective long-range means of attack, I'll let an encounter start at that range (i.e. a party traveling through rolling grassy hills in clear weather might spot warg-riding goblin marauders from quite some distance, so if the party has longbows or the like I'll start the encounter when they are 600 feet from the goblins).
I don't have mine in reach, but if I recall correctly, there is a nifty Encounter Distance table on the 5e DM screen. It was based on terrain, and you can roll to randomize or quickly figure the average starting distance.
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ModeratorIt all really depends on many variables.
How did the encounter start?
Did a ranged combatant trigger the encounter? Or a melee character? Or a social character?
Were the characters ambushed?
Did they just walk into a room? And how big is the room?
And so on.
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Really depends on how likely the two parties are to believe each other to be hostile. For example, a band of orcs or robbers might not really be recognizable as hostile until 100 feet out. Maybe not until you actually spoke with them at 30 feet or closer.
The dungeon master screen(s) have (official) information for encounter starting distances, typical visual ranges, and typical audible distances.
Sorry for resurrecting an old thread.
It's based on the info inside the DMG.
Really? All of it? Where does it give information on audible distance in the DMG? I’ve looked and come up empty handed.
Huh. I can't find it either.
I smell an afterthought/oversight.