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The spell Grease does the following:

Slick grease covers the ground in a 10-foot square centered on a point within range and turns it into difficult terrain for the duration. A creature that enters the area or ends its turn there must also succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or fall prone.

Since the affected area is only 10-foot long, can a creature with 10 or more Strength jump over the greased area, thus avoiding both the Dexterity saving throw and the difficult terrain?

For reference, the rules for Long Jump are the following:

When you make a long jump, you cover a number of feet up to your Strength score if you move at least 10 feet on foot immediately before the jump.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Are you asking whether 10 feet is precisely enough distance to jump, and assuming you can just jump over the spell? Or, are you asking whether you can even jump over the spell at all? \$\endgroup\$
    – Exempt-Medic
    Commented Mar 18, 2021 at 7:54

2 Answers 2

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First we need to determine the Grease spells area:

Slick grease covers the ground in a 10-foot square centered on a point within range

Then we need to determine what "enters spell area" means. I did not find clear definition, but if you fly over the area of Grease spell, it'd take a special kind of DM to consider that "entering".

Looking at other spells, Thunderwave clearly specifies an area that is a cube. So I think the normal English meaning of Grease spell's area is quite clear: there is a thin, almost 2-dimensional square layer of slipperiness covering the ground, and to enter it you have to basically touch the ground. If the area of effect had a volume/height, the spell would say so, talking about cube or cylinder.

So, if your feet do not even touch the ground covered by the Grease spell effect, you are not entering it. If you jump completely over it, you won't touch it. So jumping far enough avoids the spell.

Then about STR 10: Strict RAW, with STR 10, you cover only 10', not 10' + one step. If you keep just jumping, you advance 10' per jump, which includes the space taken by your feet. If you kept jumping, you would move forward in 10' increments (well, less for standing jump, but the same principle applies).

When you make a long jump, you cover a number of feet up to your Strength score if you move at least 10 feet on foot immediately before the jump.

So you'd have to either jump from or land at the greasy area, and while you might avoid the difficult terrain (because you don't actually spend movement walking in the grease), you'd at least need to make a DEX saving throw. With this reading, you'd need 1 (or even 2, one at both sides) extra foot, in other words STR 11 (or 12), to avoid the grease completely by jumping.

RAI, hard to say. The rule could be interpreted meaning, you can jump past an obstacle of that many feet, and a DM could reasonably rule it that way. The argument for this interpretation is, that the rules don't say how many extra feet of jump distance you need to get over an obstacle like this, so the reasonable ruling is, that no extra feet are needed.

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    \$\begingroup\$ The argument for RAI is that long jumps in athletic meets are typically measured from a point ahead of the toe (i.e. the launch line), through to the point behind the heel. So, technically, you've actually moved a distance of [10′ + size of shoe] .. which, arguably, is what the word "cover" implies. That said, if a STR 10 character were to attempt this, I might require a DEX check to see if they hit the launch line perfectly (i.e. not be 3″ too early, or 3″ over the line — the former resulting in a messy landing, the latter a fumbled launch). \$\endgroup\$
    – Erics
    Commented Mar 18, 2021 at 7:42
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    \$\begingroup\$ As both a DM and a player, I would understand "cover a number of feet" to mean you can safely clear hazards up to that width, not that you would land a few inches short. If "you can jump 10 feet" doesn't mean you can safely cross a 10-foot pit, that feels like a really cheap shot. \$\endgroup\$
    – Darth Pseudonym
    Commented Mar 19, 2021 at 21:24
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The creature would need a Strength score of 11 and 21 movement speed.

The jumping rules state

When you make a long jump, you cover a number of feet up to your Strength score if you move at least 10 feet on foot immediately before the jump.

And Grease is a 10ft area on the ground. A creature that flies, hovers, jumps, or otherwise is able to avoid the ground can avoid the spell.

Slick grease covers the ground in a 10-foot square

So a creature can jump over Grease if it runs for 10ft and then jumps 11ft over it. If on a grid like the inage below, it then moves an additional 4ft. A DM could argue you'd need to jump the entire 15ft (so requiring a STR score of 15) but that's a ruling that should be discussed beforehand.

enter image description here

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    \$\begingroup\$ Even when using grid rules (which this answer presumes), the rules don't specify that jumping can only occur in atomic 5 foot increments (what if the character only wants to hop over a crack in the sidewalk?). Besides that your answer is valid in the sense that the creature needs a score of at least 11, not 10. \$\endgroup\$
    – Andrendire
    Commented Mar 18, 2021 at 15:56
  • \$\begingroup\$ Wouldn't this logic also imply that you need 15 strength to jump across a 10-foot chasm? \$\endgroup\$
    – Ryan C. Thompson
    Commented Mar 18, 2021 at 18:54
  • \$\begingroup\$ Even on a grid, it seems creature could, on their turn, run 12½', jump 10', and walk 2½' more to end up moving even number of squares on their turn. \$\endgroup\$
    – WakiNadiVellir
    Commented Mar 18, 2021 at 18:55
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    \$\begingroup\$ @RyanC.Thompson When playing on a grid (mostly for combat-related stuff, that is), yes, you'd need a Strength score of 15. If your maximum jumping distance is 10 feet, this means you can only cover the same distance as that chasm's width at most: likely, you'd jump 10 feet and barely reach the other side of said chasm with your hands to grab onto it and find yourself in a precarious situation in need to pull yourself up (or fall down). Outside of combat though, 11 Strength would likely suffice since – normally – you don't apply rules for moving on a grid outside of combat. \$\endgroup\$
    – Kogarashi Kaito
    Commented Mar 18, 2021 at 19:18
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    \$\begingroup\$ Image and reasoning updated. I agree, 11 STR should be enough \$\endgroup\$
    – BlueMoon93
    Commented Mar 19, 2021 at 10:55

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