Familiar movement

[Kzach]

I'm sure I read somewhere that tiny creatures can move through other creature's spaces but I can't seem to track down the rules on it. Since I'm playing a mage in an upcoming game, I need to clarify what I can and can't do with my familiar. It's especially important because I plan to take powers that take advantage of the familiar and which require it to move and be positioned for those advantages.

 

[frogged]

Page 205 of the rules compendium, under Occupied Squares:

Enemy: A creature can't enter an enemy's space unless that enemy is helpless or two size categories larger or smaller than it. A creature can end its move in an enemy's space only if the enemy is helpless.

Tiny Creatures: A Tiny creature can enter a larger creature's space and end its move there, regardless of whether the larger creature is an ally or enemy.

 

[Vael]

Rules Compendium, page 201. Up to four individual tiny creatures can share a space and a tiny creature can share the space of larger creatures.

 

[mudlock]

Just remember that exiting a threatened square still provokes an OA, even when you're entering a creature's space.

 

[Havrik Stoneskimmer]

Just remember that exiting a threatened square still provokes an OA, even when you're entering a creature's space.

Does a creature threaten its own space, or only those adjacent to it?

I.e., does a tiny creature provoke an OA by leaving an enemy's space? Perhaps this example is rarely relevant since it will either be using a shift to make that move, or it will provoke when it leaves a square adjacent to the enemy.

What about auras, though? Does a creature's aura affect enemies in its own square?

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Yes, auras have a radius, there's no 'safe area'. I think the generally consistent thing to do is to treat the square a creature is in as 'adjacent' in a loose sense. Even if a tiny creature is in your square, they are still SOME distance from you. Doesn't really make sense that OAs would be impossible within some magical arbitrary '1 square' distance.

And note that moving INTO a creature's space definitely provokes.

 

[Kzach]

And note that moving INTO a creature's space definitely provokes.

Yah, 'cause technically they're 'leaving' an adjacent space to enter the creature's space. That's just lame though and should be errated out.

 

[MarkB]

Yah, 'cause technically they're 'leaving' an adjacent space to enter the creature's space. That's just lame though and should be errated out.

Why is it any more lame than exiting a threatened space in any other direction? Do you deny creatures with threatening reach the option to attack opponents who are moving closer to them?

 

[Kzach]

Because it means they get punished twice.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Because it means they get punished twice.

Yeah, and this might be a problem if there were tiny sized PCs. There aren't though, and in fact AFAIK the only times PCs interact with this rule is familiars, maybe animal companions, maybe figurines, and that's about it, possibly a summons or two. NONE of those things are likely to be primarily melee attacking combat assets, so they rarely have any reason to move into an enemy's space. Not only that but the chances you will be attacked twice are small, enemies get one OA generally, doesn't matter much which range they take it at...

Now, what happens when my tiny creature uses a reach weapon? hehe. See I'm guessing that if you look at it carefully enough, you'll find tons of stupid things that the rules don't quite do well, but they are just not things that matter too much (except for the ones that do of course). If you had parties of tiny PCs running around? You'd need to adjust, but personally in that case I'd just call THEM 'standard' sized and make the monsters bigger, small versions of monsters, whatever fit the story.