No More 5-Foot Stepping

[Bagpuss]

I do have a mild dislike for the stop-and-go metagaming that 5-foot steps introduce. IOW, "I'll move to just within the ogre's reach, and then next round take a 5-foot step."

So the Ogre full attacks them and takes a 5-ft step back, then laughs.

Also, I'm mildly unfond of the common tactic of taking a 5-foot step away from an enemy before casting, firing a bow, et cetera. It just seems too artificial, too much like chess, perhaps.

Removing the 5ft step would make the battlefield almost totally static once melee beings rather than just mostly static.

I already feel D&D is far to much, stand there and hit it until it falls for melee characters, removing the 5ft step will make it almost totally that tedious.

 

[comrade raoul]

Here's a simple solution. It's been around for a while and should pacify everyone worried about five-foot steps.

• As a move action, you can make a five-foot step. A five-foot step is just like any other move action, except (a) you can only move five feet; and (b) it doesn't provoke an attack of opportunity.
• You can also take a five-foot step as part of a melee full attack action. Doing so is not an action apart from the (full-round) action you use to perform the attacks. You may take your five-foot step before, after, or between your attacks. Because this is a special option restricted to melee attacks, you may not take a five-foot step if you attacked with a ranged weapon as part of an action, and, similarly, taking a five-foot step precludes you from making ranged attacks as part of the full attack.

Voila.

 

[RangerWickett]

I like it!