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Message: <blockquote data-quote="P1NBACK" data-source="post: 5878992" data-attributes="member: 83768">Has no one played B/X? Seriously. It has the best rules for melee. Once you're engaged in melee, you cannot "flee" unless you state defensive movement (which needs to be stated prior to initiative) and requires you to move backward, away from the enemy you were engaged with. If you choose defensive movement, you can do a "withdrawal" or "retreat". Withdrawal just means you move backward slowly and can attack if they follow you. Retreat means you full out run away from them, but you're at -2 AC. So, if you declared defensive movement before you rolled initiative, you might lose initiative and be stuck with -2. If you win initiative, you can run away. Notice there are no rules for moving PAST someone in combat? You cannot do it. So, no need for AoO. To go past someone, you have to move wide around them, avoiding them altogether. So, to defend your Mage, put the Fighter(s) on the front line in front of the Mage. For anyone to get close to the Mage, they have to go through the Fighter first. Once they are engaged, they remain engaged until they A) kill the fighter or B) do defensive movement to get out of there. The only exception could be special maneuvers, like Overrun or Knockdown, that allow an enemy to move past someone. But, those are more difficult to pull off.</blockquote>