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As per the rule on squeezing:

You can squeeze through or into a space that is at least half as wide as your normal space. Each move into or through a narrow space counts as if it were 2 squares, and while squeezed in a narrow space you take a -4 penalty on attack rolls and a -4 penalty to AC.

Let's presume the following layout:

enter image description here

Where O is an ogre, A are PC characters, and XX, YY, and ZZ are the path of an ogre moving "squeezed" to avoid attacks of opportunity to move past the PCs and arrive in the back of the room after spending 60 feet of movement (10 ft per square cost because of squeezing).

Is that movement allowed as per RAW?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Related for Pathfinder: Can a creature choose to squeeze into a space when not forced to do so? \$\endgroup\$ – V2Blast♦ Dec 21 '18 at 5:44
  • \$\begingroup\$ My answer was based on text from d20srd.org/srd/combat/movementPositionAndDistance.htm#squeezing - I tried to check with System Reference Document on WotC site wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/article/srd35 but clicking on the Combat II (Movement, Modifiers, and Special Actions) gives me 404 Not Found so I cannot do it. Thus I deleted it until I can be sure. \$\endgroup\$ – Mołot Dec 21 '18 at 14:01
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    \$\begingroup\$ Out of curiosity, which edition of the PH are you using? (Both of mine (2003 and 2012) in the rules for squeezing on 148 include the phrase Mołot quoted in his (currently deleted) answer.) \$\endgroup\$ – Hey I Can Chan Dec 21 '18 at 14:18
  • \$\begingroup\$ @HeyICanChan Now I'm not sure, should I undelete my answer or not. I only have access to Polish translation of the book, and to SRD that looks down. \$\endgroup\$ – Mołot Dec 21 '18 at 15:02
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Mołot I don't have to agree with that answer to know that the quotation in it is accurate. :-) It's why I was inquiring of the asker what's up. (I may be mistaken, but I though I remembered this happening before in a comment the asker made on another question.) \$\endgroup\$ – Hey I Can Chan Dec 21 '18 at 15:15
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In your question, you omitted the first sentence of the rule:

In some cases, you may have to squeeze into or through an area that isn’t as wide as the space you take up.*

Emphasis mine.

In this case, the area is wider than the ogre, so this rule on squeezing does not apply.

This does not prove that squeezing like you describe is impossible. It only shows that this particular rule does not apply, and other rules about squeezing in the system reference document are either monster specific, or specific to abilities or spellcasting, and do not allow this maneuver. Thus, if the only movement the DM allows is as explicitly allowed in the SRD, squeezing without narrow passage is impossible. If the DM allows movement modes not found in the SRD, then it depends on the sources he chooses and the decisions he makes.

TL;DR

Is that movement allowed as per RAW? - No, it is not.

Is that movement forbidden as per RAW? - No, it is not.

This DM would not allow this, assuming that the rules on movement on a grid during combat describe all allowed moves.

* PHB (2003 and 2012) page 148, as confirmed in comment by Hey I Can Chan

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    \$\begingroup\$ As in previous discussions of this topic, this reading seems to invest a lot of meaning into the unspoken alternative. That is, it seems this answer assumes that the only alternative to the quoted statement is And, in all other cases, you can't squeeze at all… ever… no way, no how. While that's valid, aren't other unspoken alternative equally valid? I mean, what's wrong with an unspoken alternative like In other cases, you may want to squeeze because squeezing is cool or In other cases, you may have to squeeze into or through an area that an opponent threatens or whatever? \$\endgroup\$ – Hey I Can Chan Dec 21 '18 at 13:20
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    \$\begingroup\$ @HeyICanChan I did not write that you can't squeeze, ever. I only said that this rule does not apply. \$\endgroup\$ – Mołot Dec 21 '18 at 13:21
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    \$\begingroup\$ Neither did I. What this answer says is that because the area the ogre is entering is as big as the ogre, the ogre can't opt to squeeze because of the unspoken alternative in all other cases, you can't squeeze at all… ever… no way, no how, and that this is one of those other cases. I'm just asking, really, if there's any give on this fiercely restrictive position. I mean, really, just because the quoted section is true about squeezing in some cases doesn't make it true about squeezing in all cases. \$\endgroup\$ – Hey I Can Chan Dec 21 '18 at 13:28
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    \$\begingroup\$ “may have to in this case” does not imply “cannot do so in another case.” This answer relies on denying the antecedent, a formal logical fallacy. \$\endgroup\$ – KRyan Dec 21 '18 at 22:15
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Molot: The phrase in the 3.5 RAW rules does not states than an AREA must include walls or any sort of physical restraints.. an AREA is defined as a number of 'squares' or 'spaces' only. I am trying to understand what documented rules you are referencing to states that the 'area' that you must squeeze in must be delimited by walls or other type of physical barriers. \$\endgroup\$ – KilrathiSly Jan 6 '19 at 5:34
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This is not prohibited by RAW rules

As indicated several times in many answers the RAW ruling indicates

In some cases, you may have to squeeze into or through an area that isn’t as wide as the space you take up. You can squeeze through or into a space that is at least half as wide as your normal space. Each move into or through a narrow space counts as if it were 2 squares, and while squeezed in a narrow space you take a -4 penalty on attack rolls and a -4 penalty to AC.

As per RAW description

  • An area is a dimension of several squares (such as a 10ft.x10ft. area).
  • The rules do not indicate that an area needs to be delimited by any physical barrier (such as a wall or a creature).
  • The rules do not indicate what is considered a case that you need to squeeze in an are. It can be anything.

So a 5ftx10ft square in the middle of a 40ftx40ft room is considered to be an AREA and a character or npc that wants to squeeze in that area for some reason is not prohibited by the rule. The area is legitimate and any reason for it is allowed by the rules, it can just be "because the creatures feels like doing it".

Conclusion. This might be strange but not prohibited by the rules

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Actually, I know this just got marked as answered, but since all rules sources state the same and this simple fact seems to have been mentioned in the previous answer's comments, I am posting my own answer.

In some cases, you may have to squeeze into or through an area that isn’t as wide as the space you take up. (emphasis mine)

This simple sentence actually states that when the conditions in place may force you to squeeze you may do it using this rule. The fact that it is written with "have to" removes any choice on the player's side. Also, looking at the phb glossary, the word space is defined as such

The amount of floor space a creature requires to fight effectively, expressed as one dimension of a square area (for example, a creature with a space of 10 feet occupies a 10-foot-by-10-foot area on the battle grid).

Floor space required to fight effectively (which means without penalty everywhere in the combat rules) for that creature, indicates that it's the floor area that determines if a creature squeeze or not and I am not sure how a player can choose how big is a floor in a room either.

With all my points above it can't be ruled out that a player can decide when or where to squeeze and squeeze is the only rule that allows you to move in/through a space smaller than your space (floor space not as big as the creature entry's space that is)

I hope my points and answer are clear to the reader, if not please comment so I can fix it.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Like Molot and IcahChan were indicated, the case from 'in some cases" could be simply that the large creature does not want to pass in the threatened squares and possibly be killed. Nothing in the rules seems to indicate that this 'CASE' or circumstance is allowed or not. No one is arguing the requirement the creature needs to fight effectively, we are all agreeing that if the creature is squeezing, it will receive many combat penalties as stated in the rules. \$\endgroup\$ – KilrathiSly Jan 14 '19 at 0:24
  • \$\begingroup\$ I was under the impression that no one else was adding anythinbg to this post so I closed it with what information I obtained from everyone. I will reopen it so you may provide a suitable answer. \$\endgroup\$ – KilrathiSly Jan 14 '19 at 0:26

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