reach and those pesky diagonals...

[Negative Zero]

assuming that you use the optional rule that every other diagonal square is 10' how do you adjudicate the following?

*XXX*
XXXXX
XXOXX
XXXXX
*XXX*

where "O" is a creature with 10' reach, and each "X" and "*" represents a 5' square around said creature, does the "O" creature threaten the squares labled "*"? keeping in mind the above caveat, why do you think so?

~NegZ

 

[Henrix]

Yes, O reaches the * squares on the diagonal, as is evident from much WotC material, examples in Dragon, etc.

O has to be able to reach them as they are mostly within ten feet.
If you check out the section in the DMG on using sgrids, p.67, table 3-10, you'll find that it gives the reach of a large(tall) creature as two squares, with no qualifiers.

If O was not able to reach them, and was, say, a human armed with a long spear, he would not be able to attack diagonally with the spear at all, as he cannot attack the closest five feet.

 

[Mahali]

But strangly enough it doesn't work that way. On the diagonals a 10' reach only gives you one square.

Most house rule otherwise and then some of us also sing on high the praise of hex maps.

 

[dcollins]

From the Main FAQ, v10252002, p. 24 under (oddly) "Goods and Services":

When counting diagonals, the first (and all odd diagonal) is 5
feet and the second (and all even diagonal) is 10 feet. You’d
need a reach of 15 feet to attack 2 diagonals away (but only a
20-foot reach to attack 3 diagonals away). Likewise, if you
move 3 diagonals, your total movement would be 20 feet.

I'm personally not altogether satisfied by this ruling.

And of course there's still another active thread on the same subject: http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30733

 

[Simulacrum]

Hey, ever considered playing without grids and use a simple ruler instead? I play with 1cm or 0,5cm = 5 feet. (you need small avatars)
The good thing about this is it's harder for the players to see how far they can get / attack etc... works 100% perfect without any problems you get when playing with squares.
When you have reach you threaten a perfect 10 foot circle acound you. Everything that touches that circle even slightly is affected.
When mages throw AoE spells they must blindly draw a dot where they want the spell to hit, after that we look where the blast reaches up to. This made fireballs/ cones a lot less effective because you cannot see if it touches all the models you wanted it to touch...thats great! (with cones you mark a point along the middle on the path of effect but the cone itself is drawn after that!)
Using rulers is not allowed until you have declared what you want to do. That also is great because it forces you to use tactical movement instead of 100% sure charging etc..

 

[Goose]

get the Hexagon maps, clears so much up.

 

[Negative Zero]

thanks all for the replies, especially dcollins for the FAQ quote and the link to the other thread, much appreciated.

~NegZ