How does forced movement reduction interact with "destination-oriented" forced movement?

Question

Dwarfs have a forced movement reduction of 1:

Stand Your Ground: When an effect forces you to move — through a pull, a push, or a slide — you can move 1 square less than the effect specifies. This means an effect that normally pulls, pushes, or slides a target 1 square does not force you to move unless you want to.

The Umber Hulk Tunneler (Monster Vault, p. 278) has an attack that reads:

[...] the umber hulk shifts up to 5 squares, pulling the target with it to a square adjacent to it.

The wording certainly suggests that a "pull" is happening. So, which one of these is correct (if any)?

1. The pull can not be reduced by Stand Your Ground.

2. The dwarf can apply his movement reduction ("pull whole distance - 1 square"). Therefore, the dwarf can not be moved at all, because moving the dwarf to a square adjacent to the umber hulk is not possible.

3. The umber hulk moves up to 5 squares, while the dwarf only moves up to 5 squares minus 1. So if the umberhulk moves 5, the dwarf moves 4, not landing adjacent.

Answer 1

First of all, it's important to read the power in question carefully. The power specifies that the umber hulk shifts 5 squares. The number of squares pulled is unspecified.

There are three different ways for a forced movement power to delineate what restrictions apply to it. It can either have a specific distance, a destination square or it can have both.^*

Rules Compendium, pg 212 (my emphasis):

Distance, Specific Destination, or Both: The power or effect that produces forced movement specifies a distance in squares, a specified destination square or both for the movement.
 When a distance is specified, it is a maximum; the creature or effect producing the forced movement can move its target up to that number of squares (or none at all). For instance, a character's power might say, "You slide the target 4 squares (or "up to 4 squares"); both mean the character can move the target up to 4 squares or not move it at all.
 When a destination is specified, it is absolute; the creature or effect must either move the target to that destination or not move it at all. Often a destination is combined with a distance, which means that the target can be moved to the destination only if it is no farther away than the specified distance. For instance, a character's power might say, "You slide the target up to 5 squares to a square adjacent to you (or 5 squares to a square adjacent to you)," both of which mean the character can move the target 5 squares but only if the move ends in a square adjacent to that character.

Second of all, reading and properly understanding Stand Your Ground is important. If a power that specifies that it "pushes 6" is used against a dwarf with Stand Your Ground, it instead reads as "pushes 5". (For more on this, read How does Come and Get it work with forced movement reduction.)

Reducing an unspecified distance by 1 does not make it specified. The destination square remains absolute. Hence, Stand Your Ground cannot reduce the pull from this umber hulk tunneler power.

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_{^*I picked up on this by reading the errata for Footwork Lure.}

Answer 2

This falls back to one of the core principles of D&D 4e, Specific Beats General.

If a specific rule contradicts a general rule, the specific rule wins. (PH 11)

• The Umber Hulk Tunneler ability is definitely a pull.
• After applying more general rule—pulling up to five squares to an adjacent square—we take into account the more specific rule—the dwarf can choose to move one less square, which may not make them adjacent.