Movement in 5e

[dj-wedge]

During your turn you get 1 action, 1 move, 1 reaction (if applicable) and 1 bonus action (if applicable).

We have been playing for some time and one of my players (Wembley) tends to just move as he wants and when he wants (independent of his actual turn). I pay attention to his icon moving around on the map and he never tries to "move too much", so I have not really been all that concerned by it. In fact it tends to make his turns quicker because he has typically already done his actual movement and he just needs to attack.

It came up last night that one of my other players (Braune, the tank) had only attacked during his turn and not used his move. But he was charged with "holding the line" so that was not unusual.

The actions of several other players eliminated the line our tank was holding against. In essence he was now holding a line against nothing and the remaining enemy were about 20 feet away from him. As soon as this happened, Wembley started demanding that Braune use his move and push the line forward - Even though it was no longer Braune's turn. I was not really feeling like being all rule-mongorish so I was going to let it happen, since I'd been letting Wembley do stuff like this the entire campaign.

But the other party members took umbrage. And a terse discussion took place about the movement rules:


The majority of the party (myself included, but it is my campaign and I have been lenient) maintain that "all of your turn happens on your turn" unless you have a triggered reaction of some type - such as when you Hold and you trigger your turn later in some fashion (which can include an attack and movement, if you have not used such).
Wembley insists that movement is "unlocked from your turn". In fact he claims "this is one of the biggest advances of the latest version of the rules allowing much freer movement than earlier editions."


This particular situation had some implications because there still remained several monsters to take their turns. And not having the tank all up in their grill would alter their action decisions.

What does the peanut gallery claim here? is movement locked to your turn (or held turn)? Or is it free to use anytime during the round?

TIA,
Wedgie

[VenomousFiligree]

Quote from the PHB:

On your turn, you can move a distance up to your speed and take one action

It's quite specific "on your turn"

[Skellan]

Its up to you how you want to run it but raw is you move on your turn. I usually lock tokens so it doesn't get confusing.

[Zacchaeus]

Indeed, movement takes place on your the player's turn. The only thing that can happen outside of his turn is a reaction, and I haven't found anything yet which allows any kind of voluntary movement during a reaction. As Skellen says, lock up the tokens on the map. That way only you can 'authorise' movement. The players can still indicate where they are going to move when it gets to their turn but only when it gets to their turn and you accept the move does the actual movement take place.

[VenomousFiligree]

A ready action allows you to move as a reaction, subject to the trigger being initiated.

[Zacchaeus]

A ready action allows you to move as a reaction, subject to the trigger being initiated.

Sorry, I should read posts before posting. It should have read "involuntary". Even that doesn't really explain what I was trying to say. However we are all agreed that unless the player has specified movement in his 'Ready', then he can't move other than during the movement phase of his turn.

[dj-wedge]

You guys are awesome. Thank you for the timely and thorough responses. I was not aware of a "locking icons" option. I will explore that before my Thursday night session.

[ddavison]

Movement is more fluid now, but it still happens on your turn (as a player) unless you have a reaction or ready action. It is much more fluid because you can now move part of your movement, make an attack and then continue to move. There are also no longer 5' steps needed to shift position and no threatened squares. You can circle around an opponent and only draw an attack of opportunity if you leave their threatened area -- not just for moving within their threatened area like in previous editions.

[someoneinatree]

Movement is more fluid now, but it still happens on your turn (as a player) unless you have a reaction or ready action. It is much more fluid because you can now move part of your movement, make an attack and then continue to move. There are also no longer 5' steps needed to shift position and no threatened squares. You can circle around an opponent and only draw an attack of opportunity if you leave their threatened area -- not just for moving within their threatened area like in previous editions.

Yeah, this. It definitely has a lot more freedom that previous editions (and a freedom that feels more natural too), but it still occurs on your turn... because otherwise the ability to plan tactics becomes impossible.

[Larac]

Oh and as Xorn has said lock your drawing tools as well.

:)

[JohnD]

One drawback to locking tokens is that players loose the ability to change their facing (if you are using the option) and the DM needs to be constantly updating it for each player. With unlocked tokens, players can do this themselves when they finish their turn in each round.