Tactical Movement When moving diagonally, the first diagonal move in a turn is treated as a 5-foot distance, then the second is treated as 10 feet. The third diagonal move in that same turn is then 5 feet, the 4th is 10 feet, and so on. To save on awkward calculation for fractions of grids, moving through difficult terrain, stealthy movement, swimming, climbing, or crawling are movements made at half-speed. If a creature has a climb or swim speed, their normal movement speed applies unless other difficult conditions—treacherous rocks or strong currents, for example—apply. A creature without a climb speed attempting to climb difficult terrain has their movement speed reduced by half again. A creature cannot move into a space if it does not have sufficient movement remaining. A tabaxi who climbs a normal tree can easily climb 30 ft in a round and still take an action, as their heritage grants a climb speed of 30 ft. A human climbing that same tree can move at only half-speed, so could climb only 15 ft in a round while also taking an action. That same tabaxi might have a much harder time climbing a sheer cliff with few natural handholds,
Category: House Rules
Reactionary Players can use their reaction only when it is not their turn; the trigger for their reaction must occur during someone else’s turn (including at the beginning of it). For example, a spellsword uses her bonus action to drink a potion of healing, then her action to make a melee on an enemy fighter while they both stand on a high bridge. The fighter uses his reaction to shove the spellsword off the bridge. Since the spellsword has already used her bonus action in her turn, she can’t cast feather fall as a bonus action. However, at the start of the next character’s turn, the spellsword could then use her reaction to cast feather fall well before hitting the ground. Conversely, if the spellsword used her action to cast a fireball against a group of targets but an enemy wizard used his reaction to counterspell her fireball , the spellsword would not be able to use her reaction to counterspell the counterspell, as his counterspell occurred during her turn and she cannot take a reaction until it is no longer her turn (by which point the fireball has already been successfully countered.) Added to House Rules 18 Feb 2024; updated
Made You Look A character can use their bonus action to attempt to distract a single opponent using a Deception skill check vs the opponent’s Insight check. Whether the attempt is successful or not, each subsequent distraction attempt on that same opponent has disadvantage. Once distracted, the player can gain advantage on their attack roll, move out of the opponent’s melee threat range without provoking an opportunity attack, or both. Added to House Rules in 2023.
Facing Cover Some items and spells provide directional cover based on the direction your character is facing. Cover is provided to the full extent of the effect in the areas which are indicated by dark blue. Cover is reduced to half of the full effect in the areas indicated by medium blue, and by half again where indicated by dark blue. If the full effect is only ¾ cover, the medium blue areas provide ¼ cover and the dark blue areas provide no cover. If the full effect is only ½ cover or less, the medium blue and dark blue areas provide no cover. Directional Cover Per the Player’s Handbook, a target with ¾ cover gains a +5 bonus to AC and Dexterity saving throws while a target with ½ cover provides a +2 bonus to AC and Dexterity saving throws. A target with ¼ cover gains +1 AC bonus or +1 bonus to Dexterity saving throws at the target’s discretion. A target with total cover cannot be attacked directly but they can suffer from indirect attacks such as being within an area of effect from any side other than the direction from which they have full cover. Added to
Crit Insurance When making a critical hit, you deal maximum damage from your normal damage die plus whatever you roll for damage; in effect, rather than roll 2d8+3 for a critical hit with a weapon that normally deals 1d8+3—as you would under rules as-written—you roll 1d8+3 and add another 8. A character with the Savage Attacks heritage trait normally rolls an extra damage die when making a critical hit, and would continue to do so, e.g. when rolling damage from a critical hit with a greataxe, roll 2d12 and add 12 + the STR modifier. Added to House Rules in 2023; updated 27 Aug 2024 to clarify language and the Savage Attacks heritage trait.