Charging with 5' because you ran the previous round?

[Artoomis]

Absolutely not.

Allowing this would change the whole dynamics of how movement is used tactically. A large factor in tactics in 3e is how movement is used and where you end movement in a round.

 

[Vysirez]

At first I was thinking this would be ok. I mean not as a normally used action but just as a once off judgement call.

But then I started to wonder, why didnt he just finish the charge the first round. Was he waiting to see what would happen? was he waiting for a spell to go off. Also why does he want to charge? Why not take a 5' step and get a full attack action. Does he get some special benefit from charging? Some feat/item combo or does he just want the +2 to hit that badly. If he was planning on using a feat/item combo but couldnt get to the enemy the first round he should have at least stopped sooner or thought ahead. Though to be honest my natural impression is to let it go if I believed he had intended to charge and didnt think about the 5' issue.

So now I'm kinda more mixed on how I would call it.

 

[Dash Dannigan]

Absolutely not (2).

The rules are there to prevent abuse, allowing a charge under those circumstances would only allow further abuse by others and thus degrade the gaming experience (as per the reasons already given by other fellow posters). Nay, your fellow gamer has it all wrong and if he "really" was planning a charge he should have thus stated it in the previous round and made the neccessary perparations for it.

I'm guessing he wanted to 5-step in and full-attack but realized the thing he wanted to attack was tough to hit and so made an argument for making a charge to get that extra +2. Though this is just a guess and not meant to be derogatory towards gamer in question

You made the right call painfully. *nod*

 

[Gez]

If a PC on the first round moves about 30' in a straight line, and on the next round (with 5' between himself and his opponent) wants to charge, would you allow it?

He cheats. I may allow it if he was indeed running the previous round, but running implies making 4 times the speed. I.e., if he moved 120 feet the previous round and was still 5 feet to far to attack, I would allow the 5 ft. charge (and he could not take a full attack action).

But 30 feet, it's just a walk (or a double move for an armored dwarf), not a run.

 

[hong]

If a PC on the first round moves about 30' in a straight line, and on the next round (with 5' between himself and his opponent) wants to charge, would you allow it?

I, as DM, said no, but my player insists that he should get the charge because he is continuing on a straight path. I can understand the logic of it from his view, but feel inclined to not allow it, mostly because I think that it is the "official" interpretation regarding charging.

Also, he did not state he was charging the previous round, he just moved straight without attacking. My player has strong feelings about this, and I've offered to inquire here on the boards in an effort to aid our differing viewpoints.

Opinions?

I say no problem. If it's a charge, then it's a standard action and he gets one attack only, at +2 (and -2 AC). Although this won't matter much if his BAB is less than +6 anyway.

The rules are an abstract representation of reality. The map should not be more important than the terrain.