I seem to remember a rule, most probably an optional one, about moving through obstacles, breaking them as you go, but I'm not sure whether it was, in fact, in D&D 5e. I think it involved something like your Passive Strength score? Something like the "Overrun" optional rule, except it didn't affect the action economy, and was meant to represent how extremely strong characters could routinely run through wooden doors without stopping or anything. Am I misremembering? Was it a different game?
The combat options in the DMG (Action Options) provides for the optional methods for moving through an opponents space, as an action or bonus action via Overrun - Strength(Athletics) or Tumble - Dexterity(Acrobatics), both of which are contested by the opponent. I'm not immediately reminded of any rules or variant rules for breaking through obstacles.
That said, there's nothing stopping you from homebrewing somthing similar to overrun or tumble as a method to also manuver around/through obstacles on the battlefield, within reason.
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“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
As Kaavel said, there doesn't seem to be any rules about moving or shooting through hard obstructions.
Mechanically speaking, the way a character runs through multiple obstacles is by "Attacking" each obstacle along their path. "Strength" alone will not allow a 20-STR, 40lb gnome to barrel their way through a wooden door unless they use their muscles and environment in a deliberate way. However, it would be easy to say that a large creature might not care as much about doors designed for smaller beings.
A Strength-based alternative to Lockpicking (Action, with Bonus Action upgrade) isn't unreasonable, but allowing a character to bypass an arbitrary number of doors in a single turn could cause problems.
In practice, truly flimsy obstacles, like window panes, are relegated to narrative collateral damage. Essentially just crunchy air. A DM could simply treat other objects in a similar fashion as appropriate for their game.
<span;>First of all you sould not discriminate small (light) creatures in all those cases. Although small creatures are usually physically weaker that's not always true in D&D, and although they have less kinetic energy it is also absorbd by a smaller surface area. So if they try to break through something like making a hole in the door their size souldn't matter, but only their strengh and the obstacle.
<span;>Only if they try to push something away from the path, like shoving the whole door and break what holds it in place(like a lock), their wheight should matter. And of course if you whight more than the boulder you need to move it shouldn't be a problem.
<span;>So their are two cases of running through objects, and unless the creature is making an attack against the object it automatically chooses the one without a downside if their is one (and a third one that is about moving aside from the obstacle, and I am not going to write about it). And their are different cases with creatures and it's too complicated to make a method for them.
<span;>In the first case they try to break throgh obstacle like passing and leaving behind holes in doors, wooden walls, glass or ice platforms and hard bushes. <span;>In this case size doesn't matter, they passivly make melee attacks(using only their str modifier and proficiency bonus. Those are not considerd unarmed strijes) against the obstacle and deal bludgening damage to it equel to their strengh modifier, double it if they crit, and double it if they use a ram. <span;> In the free rules their is a chart that tells you approximately what should be the AC of an object according to matirial. But it doesn't always make sende that someone can break through a barriar by just crushing into it again abd again until they get high rolls. Their strengh sould difine more what they can break through by just smashing into it(some characters might have the charger feet witch helps them with that. But unless they do, don't use speed because like whight it doesn't matter and to complicated) and their sould be a difference between matirials that can be carved with a bunch of hits and matirials that don't move at all without a very powerfull hit. A simple solution is giving some barriers a damage reduction stat meaning a number of damage(from a specific damage type) being reduced every time the object takes damage, so although a carvable barrier and a thin wall of stone might have the same amount of hp you cannot just kick the thin wall of stone 30 times because their is a minimus amount of damage needs to be dealt to really damage a hard-matirial wall. <span;>It also workes great if your players try to attack the glass window with wepons(other than rams)/unarmed strikes. If they really spend an action to break through the obstacles it might help them to deal more damage and pass the object's damage reduction. Some steardy matirials might have a lot more slashing/piercing(or even acid, fire, and lightning) damage reduction than bludgening reduction, whlie matirials like glass and ice might have a great amount of bludgening and slashing reduction but no piercing or fire reduction at all. <span;>You don't have to make a mini stat block for every door, just think about it quickly and logicly when your player try to attack them.
<span;>In the second case they try to push away obstacles from their path like small or round rocks or massive bushes or clay-like walls as they run, perhaps without noticing things because of fast pace. And even breaking down(not through) doors. In this case, there is actually a not-so-clear rule about it: "<span;>Push, Drag, or Lift<span;>. You can push, drag, or lift a weight in pounds up to twice your carrying capacity (or 30 times your Strength score). While pushing or dragging weight in excess of your carrying capacity, your speed drops to 5 feet" It makes sense beacause carrying capasity uses both strengh and size and of course if you are already carrying a lot of wheight it's harder to move with it(unlike the whight of the creature itself witch it can naturally move to make kinetic energy without difficulties). So when they try to shove a door open think if it's harder than pushing somthing that wheights their exact remaning carrying capacity. If it is but not harder than pushing twice their carrying capacity they can move only 5 feet more(unless they dash) and stop after the door. If they have time/spend an action you might let them make a strengh check to simple push the obstacle, or an atletics check if they do it by a more complicated like pressing agaist a wall to push themselve against the obstacle, using any kind of lever or diverting the thicket away to temporarliy clear a path. <span;>*I didn't want to cut the brackets but they say "or 30 times your strengh score" beacause most spicies from the player's handbook are medium and it should not apply to all creatures
I think Passive strengh is more to determain how strong you push a door or something similar when you don't think about it. Like to tedermain what is the minimum you can roll on a simple strengh check like walking against wind and water stream, and if you even need To put in some effort.
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I seem to remember a rule, most probably an optional one, about moving through obstacles, breaking them as you go, but I'm not sure whether it was, in fact, in D&D 5e. I think it involved something like your Passive Strength score? Something like the "Overrun" optional rule, except it didn't affect the action economy, and was meant to represent how extremely strong characters could routinely run through wooden doors without stopping or anything. Am I misremembering? Was it a different game?
The combat options in the DMG (Action Options) provides for the optional methods for moving through an opponents space, as an action or bonus action via Overrun - Strength(Athletics) or Tumble - Dexterity(Acrobatics), both of which are contested by the opponent. I'm not immediately reminded of any rules or variant rules for breaking through obstacles.
That said, there's nothing stopping you from homebrewing somthing similar to overrun or tumble as a method to also manuver around/through obstacles on the battlefield, within reason.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
As Kaavel said, there doesn't seem to be any rules about moving or shooting through hard obstructions.
Mechanically speaking, the way a character runs through multiple obstacles is by "Attacking" each obstacle along their path. "Strength" alone will not allow a 20-STR, 40lb gnome to barrel their way through a wooden door unless they use their muscles and environment in a deliberate way. However, it would be easy to say that a large creature might not care as much about doors designed for smaller beings.
A Strength-based alternative to Lockpicking (Action, with Bonus Action upgrade) isn't unreasonable, but allowing a character to bypass an arbitrary number of doors in a single turn could cause problems.
In practice, truly flimsy obstacles, like window panes, are relegated to narrative collateral damage. Essentially just crunchy air. A DM could simply treat other objects in a similar fashion as appropriate for their game.
Thanks, I must've been thinking of another game! :D
<span;>First of all you sould not discriminate small (light) creatures in all those cases. Although small creatures are usually physically weaker that's not always true in D&D, and although they have less kinetic energy it is also absorbd by a smaller surface area. So if they try to break through something like making a hole in the door their size souldn't matter, but only their strengh and the obstacle.
<span;>Only if they try to push something away from the path, like shoving the whole door and break what holds it in place(like a lock), their wheight should matter. And of course if you whight more than the boulder you need to move it shouldn't be a problem.
<span;>So their are two cases of running through objects, and unless the creature is making an attack against the object it automatically chooses the one without a downside if their is one (and a third one that is about moving aside from the obstacle, and I am not going to write about it). And their are different cases with creatures and it's too complicated to make a method for them.
<span;>In the first case they try to break throgh obstacle like passing and leaving behind holes in doors, wooden walls, glass or ice platforms and hard bushes.
<span;>In this case size doesn't matter, they passivly make melee attacks(using only their str modifier and proficiency bonus. Those are not considerd unarmed strijes) against the obstacle and deal bludgening damage to it equel to their strengh modifier, double it if they crit, and double it if they use a ram.
<span;> In the free rules their is a chart that tells you approximately what should be the AC of an object according to matirial. But it doesn't always make sende that someone can break through a barriar by just crushing into it again abd again until they get high rolls. Their strengh sould difine more what they can break through by just smashing into it(some characters might have the charger feet witch helps them with that. But unless they do, don't use speed because like whight it doesn't matter and to complicated) and their sould be a difference between matirials that can be carved with a bunch of hits and matirials that don't move at all without a very powerfull hit. A simple solution is giving some barriers a damage reduction stat meaning a number of damage(from a specific damage type) being reduced every time the object takes damage, so although a carvable barrier and a thin wall of stone might have the same amount of hp you cannot just kick the thin wall of stone 30 times because their is a minimus amount of damage needs to be dealt to really damage a hard-matirial wall.
<span;>It also workes great if your players try to attack the glass window with wepons(other than rams)/unarmed strikes. If they really spend an action to break through the obstacles it might help them to deal more damage and pass the object's damage reduction. Some steardy matirials might have a lot more slashing/piercing(or even acid, fire, and lightning) damage reduction than bludgening reduction, whlie matirials like glass and ice might have a great amount of bludgening and slashing reduction but no piercing or fire reduction at all.
<span;>You don't have to make a mini stat block for every door, just think about it quickly and logicly when your player try to attack them.
<span;>In the second case they try to push away obstacles from their path like small or round rocks or massive bushes or clay-like walls as they run, perhaps without noticing things because of fast pace. And even breaking down(not through) doors. In this case, there is actually a not-so-clear rule about it: "<span;>Push, Drag, or Lift<span;>. You can push, drag, or lift a weight in pounds up to twice your carrying capacity (or 30 times your Strength score). While pushing or dragging weight in excess of your carrying capacity, your speed drops to 5 feet" It makes sense beacause carrying capasity uses both strengh and size and of course if you are already carrying a lot of wheight it's harder to move with it(unlike the whight of the creature itself witch it can naturally move to make kinetic energy without difficulties). So when they try to shove a door open think if it's harder than pushing somthing that wheights their exact remaning carrying capacity. If it is but not harder than pushing twice their carrying capacity they can move only 5 feet more(unless they dash) and stop after the door.
If they have time/spend an action you might let them make a strengh check to simple push the obstacle, or an atletics check if they do it by a more complicated like pressing agaist a wall to push themselve against the obstacle, using any kind of lever or diverting the thicket away to temporarliy clear a path.
<span;>*I didn't want to cut the brackets but they say "or 30 times your strengh score" beacause most spicies from the player's handbook are medium and it should not apply to all creatures
I think Passive strengh is more to determain how strong you push a door or something similar when you don't think about it. Like to tedermain what is the minimum you can roll on a simple strengh check like walking against wind and water stream, and if you even need To put in some effort.