A player the other night wanted to run, jump off a wall, flip over the other characters in front of him, land in front of the monster, and attack it — all in one turn. Is that actually doable?
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1\$\begingroup\$ what class and level is this PC, and who else is in the party? That matters. \$\endgroup\$– KorvinStarmastOct 23, 2019 at 0:55
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\$\begingroup\$ Welcome to RPG.SE! Take the tour if you haven't already, and check out the help center for more guidance. \$\endgroup\$– V2BlastOct 23, 2019 at 7:39
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1\$\begingroup\$ Also, are you a player or the DM? \$\endgroup\$– V2BlastOct 23, 2019 at 7:40
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Most of what you're describing is just flavor text. In game terms, your player wants to:
- Move adjacent to the monster (through another character's space)
- Attack the monster
Per PHB page 191, Moving Around Other Creatures:
You can move through a nonhostile creature's space.
Your player can dress it up however they like, but it's basically normal movement as long as all movement is through spaces that are either empty, or contain non-hostile creatures (though the occupied spaces count as difficult terrain).
If the movement moves them out of a hostile creature's reach as they go, they'll be subject to an opportunity attack.
The problem only occurs if they must pass through an opponent's square to reach their target square; AFAICT, the only PHB provided rules for doing so (following the quote above) are:
You can move through a hostile creature's space only if the creature is at least two sizes larger or smaller than you. Remember that another creature's space is difficult terrain for you.
Aside from that, per V2Blast's comment, the DMG (p. 272) offers optional Overrun and Tumble rules, that allow moving through similar sized hostile opponent's spaces based on the result of a contested Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check respectively, and halflings have a special rule (Nimbleness) that allows moving through the space of a creature only one size larger than themselves (with no check required, just like moving through the space of an opponent two sizes larger or smaller). The DM might also allow you to try to jump a short enough opponent (though they'd be well within their rights to give the creature an opportunity attack if you did so) if your strength and movement speed were up to the challenge, but that would be purely a house rule.
To be clear, you must end your move in a free space (no doubling up players in a single square).
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6\$\begingroup\$ @Xero666: If any of it gained them a mechanical benefit, there might be checks or rules governing it. But running is just movement, and jumping (without mechanical effect) is just part of a movement, so really, you're just talking about a move action for the run+jump bit, and your action for the attack. I'll note, if by "run" you mean they can't get there at their basic movement speed (move 30 ft., enemy 60 ft. away), then that means they have to take the Dash action to "run"; unless they can Dash or attack as a bonus action, they won't be able to double move then attack. \$\endgroup\$ Oct 23, 2019 at 0:24
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2\$\begingroup\$ Similarly, if the jumping or flipping was actually necessary, not just flavor text describing what they're doing (which you should generally allow just to make the game more interesting), there are rules covering both of those (limits on distance or height for jumps, see PHB page 182, a Dexterity (Acrobatics) check for a difficult flip, suggested on PHB page 176), but they could both be done as part of a move action (since they are both fundamentally movement after all). \$\endgroup\$ Oct 23, 2019 at 0:27
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3\$\begingroup\$ @Xero666: Well, you're using nonstandard widths here (everyone knows the minimum hallway width is 5 ft!). Was there a space available adjacent to the monster? If so, that's fine. If not, too bad (since you can't end in an occupied space of any kind, nor cross hostile spaces for creatures of similar size). Remember, these are (with rounding) 5'x5' spaces. An actual adult humanoid takes up at most half that space, so if they're cooperating, it's not impossible to let your friend by. But if they're hostile, it's pretty easy to prevent them from passing through. \$\endgroup\$ Oct 23, 2019 at 0:39
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3\$\begingroup\$ @Xero666 as an aside, when a player says "I run at the wall, flip over my allies, and hit the creature like legolas" instead of "I move through my allies squares and attack the creature", then assuming they are a character like legolas (a not like gimli), I'd give them an inspiration :) Sounds like very lively players \$\endgroup\$ Oct 23, 2019 at 5:43
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1\$\begingroup\$ @Xero666 GURPS has 1 second rounds. D&D has 6 second rounds. \$\endgroup\$– YakkOct 23, 2019 at 14:02