Charging to the Side

[Kalthanis]

While charging, it says you have to move directly to the nearest square from which you can attack the enemy. You can't charge if the nearest square is occupied.

How do people handle this?

My group just counts squares. If the charger can get to the target with the least amount of squares of movement, then we say a charge is available. But this sometimes presents some... interesting... charges. Let's say a Fighter and a Warlord are fighting a Gnoll. The Fighter and Warlord are adjacent to each other on a broadside (not corner) of the battlemap, and the Gnoll is in front of the Fighter. Now here comes a Barbarian wanting to Charge, he's a knight's move (chess) behind the fighter, shifted one square over behind the Warlord.

. W . B
G F . .
. . . .

Can the Barbarian charge the Gnoll since it still takes the minimum amount to movement to reach a square he can attack from, even though clearly the Warlord and the Fighter occupy those squares that are technically the Nearest squares the Barbarian can attack from?

Thank you for your help.

 

[ChristopherA]

My interpretation, which I believe is pretty common, is that the barbarian can indeed charge the gnoll. There are three squares equally close to the barbarian, and the barbarian is free to charge into the one that is open. It may look farther away, as if the barbarian is charging "to the side", but that is only because your brain is conditioned to see the map using real-world geometry. D&D uses a non-euclidean geometry in which all three squares are exactly 2 squares away. The barbarian can charge, since he is moving the (equally) fastest path towards the target and stopping in the closest square from which he can attack.


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[Nytmare]

I don't see it as non-Euclidian geometry, as such, but I agree. It's that the map is not an exact representation of where things are in the physical world, just rough descriptions.

 

[Chzbro]

My group plays the same. All of those spaces are 2 squares away from the barbarian and are thus all equally "close."

Personally, I find this to be a good thing in that there are really no questions of subjective interpretation. Just count the squares and you're good. To me, that's worth the occasional sort of sideways looking charge.

 

[Mengu]

Yup, the barbarian can charge as described at our table too. Minimum number of squares is all that's required. Doesn't matter if some of them are rough terrain either.