Rules Corner: Movement Outside Turn

The turn order can cause some weird peculiarities that do not relate very well to real life. In real life, you can choose to move back if you see someone moving towards you. In a turn order though, you can only do this by reading an action (and as a result using an action). For this purpose, I'll go over an alternate system that can be used. Fair warning: this changes combat encounters quite substantially and can make things more complicated depending on the version you use.

The Rule

If you have leftover movement after your turn ends, you can use it before the start of your turn (this does not cost a reaction). If you want to use this movement before someone else, the person who waited longest acts first. The person who is currently acting always can react before the movement completes.

This resolution for who acts first is important. Take the situation that a player just killed a goblin and wants to use their remaining 15 feet to get into the face of another goblin. Does the goblin move back after the player moved (potentially being hit by an opportunity attack) or can it move back first? If the player kills a goblin and a different one had 15 left, can it move up to the player or can the player move back?

Alt: Doing this costs a reaction.

Alt 2: Resolve who goes first by rolling a D20 (no modifiers). Highest roll goes first and reroll ties.

Alt 3: Only players have access to this kind of movement (makes it easier for DM to run combat but gives players an advantage).

Example

2 fighters are in a dungeon. The first fighter kills a goblin in front of him using his action. A goblin who acted earlier and had 10 feet remaining decides to fill the gap and move towards the fighter who just killed a goblin. It's the fighter's turn, so he moves back 5 feet when he sees the goblin move forward 5 feet. The goblin moves forward 5 more and the fighter stays where he was. Now they are 5 feet away.

The second fighter kills a goblin as well. The first fighter, seeing an opening, decides to move up using his leftover distance. The goblin, who acted earlier and has waited longer, moves back first.

Why Bother?

It makes fighting quite a bit more dynamic. It also lets you reasonably use movement as a reaction to an enemy without using a ready action. If you prefer the use of a ready action for this instead (making this kind of movement more expensive in terms of action economy), you don't need this rule. However, it does mean that combat becomes more complicated, particularly for the Dungeon Master.