D&D 5E (2014) Tabaxi Feline Agility Question- How Would You Rule

[Paul Farquhar]

The fact that, if we are looking from a RAW side, the rules have a optimal order of declaration

And in real life it’s optimal to put your underwear on before your trousers. The order in which you do things tends to matter.

 

[AlViking]

And in real life it’s optimal to put your underwear on before your trousers. The order in which you do things tends to matter.

Dang. I knew I was doing something wrong. By the way do you know why I keep getting holes in my socks? I'm really careful when I put them on after I've put on my shoes.

If someone was playing a Tabaxi in a game I was running I'd just let them know that the sequence in which they stood up from prone and declared their feline agility matters. Problem solved ... if it ever happened which is highly unlikely.

 

[billd91]

And in real life it’s optimal to put your underwear on before your trousers. The order in which you do things tends to matter.

Depends. If you're a superhero, it might be better going the other way...

 

[billd91]

If someone was playing a Tabaxi in a game I was running I'd just let them know that the sequence in which they stood up from prone and declared their feline agility matters. Problem solved ... if it ever happened which is highly unlikely.

Yup. As long as the tabaxi player knows the score they're able to make informed choices.

 

[AlViking]

Yup. As long as the tabaxi player knows the score they're able to make informed choices.

It's something I've always done, occasionally remind people of things they can do or options they have. A lot of people are casual players who frequently seem to barely know the rules. In other cases while I may think it's clear what's going on it may not be obvious to the player.

While I'm never going to tell someone how to run their character, I'm also not going to punish them for being unclear about the description of their actions or if they're unaware of some consequence of their action that they should be - things like pointing out they risk an opportunity attack comes up occasionally.

 

[Remathilis]

And in real life it’s optimal to put your underwear on before your trousers. The order in which you do things tends to matter.

There is a difference between the order of actions (move, attack, retreat) and knowing that waiting to use your speed boost at exactly the precise point in the round will net you more speed because you aren't burning it to get up. You're advocating for system mastery, where knowing the rules and metagaming them net you an advantage via rules lawyering. It's bag-of-ratsing the FA speed boost to make your speed slow when it's advantageous and the fast with that's advantageous.

Then again, if you all want players nickel and diming every advantage out of the rules by "ackshullaying" them, go ahead. It's only +15 ft of movement after all. But IMHO its an exploit and should be fixed like coffeelocks and peasant railguns were.

 

[AlViking]

There is a difference between the order of actions (move, attack, retreat) and knowing that waiting to use your speed boost at exactly the precise point in the round will net you more speed because you aren't burning it to get up. You're advocating for system mastery, where knowing the rules and metagaming them net you an advantage via rules lawyering. It's bag-of-ratsing the FA speed boost to make your speed slow when it's advantageous and the fast with that's advantageous.

Then again, if you all want players nickel and diming every advantage out of the rules by "ackshullaying" them, go ahead. It's only +15 ft of movement after all. But IMHO its an exploit and should be fixed like coffeelocks and peasant railguns were.

As others have pointed out, there are plenty of things in the game that require a specific sequence or other small tweaks if you want to maximize efficiency. In addition the odds of something like this really making a difference? Pretty darn close to zero

So as a DM you have two options (without house rules). Either rule that feline agility must apply to all movement and be declared before the move or simply remind the player they can save a bit of movement by using feline agility after they stand. Either way gets rid of the dreaded "gotcha". Personally I'd go with the second option because I don't see a massive exploit and it's fun for the player.

If you want to change the standing movement cost, that's a house rule and not necessarily a bad one. If you want a game were a bit of game expertise gives you a miniscule advantage you need a different game.

 

[SkidAce]

Depends on how good you are at exiting the water.

"Actually, thats a high jump, and the jumping rules state....."

Just kidding...seemed funny.

 

[AlViking]

"Actually, thats a high jump, and the jumping rules state....."

Just kidding...seemed funny.

Actually it's completely different, it's a reverse high jump. I have an errand to run but when I get back I'll explain over several paragraphs why you and the horse you rode in on are not just wrong but inexplicably wrong.

 

[Coroc]

I repeat: horse manure. It’s perfectly natural language for someone to say if they stand up before or after they change speed. And, as pointed out, it’s consistent with how other speed changes, from walking to flying for example, are handled. It’s simply a case of doing things in the order in which they happen.

But Paul, the funny thing is if you read the rules right it does not even give you an advantage. This is by chance because the malus from prone 50% or factor x 1/2 by chance compensates with the buff from FA which is factor x2 and not +15 +30 like the people getting to a result of 45 ft if you just activate the thing after standing up claim all the time.

It is still like you say horse manure, because the rules should be clear at this point. That it mathematically by chance fits does not matter (if you do the computation and precondition right) in this case does not help, it in fact adds to the confusion.

I tried to show the mathematics by asking those who disagree to use their computation method on a total plain normal round which would have resulted in that with their method it would not matter if you moved 15 or stood up from prone you oddly would have a total movement of 45 for the round. But of course i was not successful. Feline Agility works like a haste spell and movement is not the same as speed, basta. Movement ratio aka speed is a movement distance/ round, but movement distance is just a freakin distance and not a speed ffs.

If you alter speed then you alter the distance that you can move, but it is a multiplication and not an addition.

So far i ultimately have to agree to @Remathilis last two posts, and i am tired and done at giving tutoring mathematics within this thread.

Edited for missed word and a slight mathematical error and just leaving this:

FA should be activated always at the beginning of the round to RP mimic that cat like behavior that some posters showed in vivid videos of their home "Tabaxis" and it would also follow the KISS rule keep it stupid simple. Plus, it does not break anything at the table and gives Tabaxis a slight advantage for movement after standing up from prone (double the distance of other races) so it is in no way unfair, and everybody and his grandma would succeed in understanding the rule.