d&d 3.5 reach and distances.

[bjoern]

I recall reading somewhere that all diaginall spaces count as 5' for reach. Which is an exception to the rule that every other diagonal counts as 10'.
I guess in a nutshell, at a diagonal, a large creature with 10' reach using a reach weapon can reach 3 or 4 spaces diagonally?

[Khedrac]

Diagonal spaces being 5' is 4th Ed not 3.5

In 3.5 the first diagonal space is 5' and the second 10' then alternating as you have said.

There is one exception to this - and that is for the reach of creatures/characters with 10' reach - and that is they can reach the second diagonal square.
This appears to be to prevent a character with a polearm being unable to attack someone approaching on a diagonal as they would never be 10' away.
Note, this exception only applies to 10' reach, for greater reach the diagonal distance is calculated normally (so 20' reach is needed to threaten the next diagonal square).

[OldTrees1]

There is one exception to this - and that is for the reach of creatures/characters with 10' reach - and that is they can reach the second diagonal square.
This appears to be to prevent a character with a polearm being unable to attack someone approaching on a diagonal as they would never be 10' away.
Note, this exception only applies to 10' reach, for greater reach the diagonal distance is calculated normally (so 20' reach is needed to threaten the next diagonal square).

Citation of this exception? That might be a house rule?

[bjoern]

Diagonal spaces being 5' is 4th Ed not 3.5

In 3.5 the first diagonal space is 5' and the second 10' then alternating as you have said.

There is one exception to this - and that is for the reach of creatures/characters with 10' reach - and that is they can reach the second diagonal square.
This appears to be to prevent a character with a polearm being unable to attack someone approaching on a diagonal as they would never be 10' away.
Note, this exception only applies to 10' reach, for greater reach the diagonal distance is calculated normally (so 20' reach is needed to threaten the next diagonal square).

Only applies to a base 10' reach, or 10' reach after weapons are applied? Because a base 10' reach isn't the same as a 5' reach that has been doubled because of a weapon. One difference being that a base 10' reach can attack adjacent, and a doubled 5' reach can't.

[Khedrac]

Citation of this exception? That might be a house rule?

Reach Weapons
Glaives, guisarmes, lances, longspears, ranseurs, spiked chains, and whips are reach weapons. A reach weapon is a melee weapon that allows its wielder to strike at targets that aren’t adjacent to him or her. Most reach weapons double the wielder’s natural reach, meaning that a typical Small or Medium wielder of such a weapon can attack a creature 10 feet away, but not a creature in an adjacent square. A typical Large character wielding a reach weapon of the appropriate size can attack a creature 15 or 20 feet away, but not adjacent creatures or creatures up to 10 feet away.

Note: Small and Medium creatures wielding reach weapons threaten all squares 10 feet (2 squares) away, even diagonally. (This is an exception to the rule that 2 squares of diagonal distance is measured as 15 feet.)
It is in the equipment section not the combat section. I think the same applies to the PHB but I cannot be bothered to check there too.

Only applies to a base 10' reach, or 10' reach after weapons are applied? Because a base 10' reach isn't the same as a 5' reach that has been doubled because of a weapon. One difference being that a base 10' reach can attack adjacent, and a doubled 5' reach can't.
I was wrong - it is more restrictive that I thought - it explicitly only applies to small and medium creatures wielding reach weapons. So after reach weapon only.
Note it cannot be extrapolated up using specific vs. general as because if you did that then this rule is the most specific and the medium creature with willing deformity: tall and a reach weapon would still only have 10' reach as the 10' rule would override any bonus reach.

[UtahTech]

It is in the equipment section not the combat section. I think the same applies to the PHB but I cannot be bothered to check there too.

I was wrong - it is more restrictive that I thought - it explicitly only applies to small and medium creatures wielding reach weapons. So after reach weapon only.
Note it cannot be extrapolated up using specific vs. general as because if you did that then this rule is the most specific and the medium creature with willing deformity: tall and a reach weapon would still only have 10' reach as the 10' rule would override any bonus reach.

Player's Handbook: Page 112

Reach Weapons: Glaives, guisarmes, lances, longspears, ranseurs,
spiked chains, and whips are reach weapons. A reach weapon is a
melee weapon that allows its wielder to strike at targets that aren’t
adjacent to him or her. Most reach double the wielder’s natural
reach, meaning that a typical Small or Medium wielder of such a
weapon can attack a creature 10 feet away, but not a creature in an
adjacent square. A typical Large character wielding a reach weapon
of the appropriate size can attack a creature 15 or 20 feet away, but
not adjacent creatures or creatures up to 10 feet away.

Player's Handbook: Page 137

Threatened Squares:You threaten all squares into which you
can make a melee attack, even when it is not your action. Generally,
that means everything in all squares adjacent to your space
(including diagonally). An enemy that takes certain actions while in
a threatened square provokes an attack of opportunity from you. If
you’re unarmed, you don’t normally threaten any squares and thus
can’t make attacks of opportunity (but see Unarmed Attacks, page
139).
Reach Weapons: Most creatures of Medium or smaller size have a
reach of only 5 feet. This means that they can make melee attacks
only against creatures up to 5 feet (1 square) away. However, Small
and Medium creatures wielding reach weapons (such as a longspear)
threaten more squares than a typical creature. For instance, a
longspear-wielding human threatens all squares 10 feet (2 squares)
away, even diagonally. (This is an exception to the rule that 2 squares
of diagonal distance is measured as 15 feet.) In addition, most
creatures larger than Medium have a natural reach of 10 feet or
more; see Big and Little Creatures in Combat, page 149.

Player's Handbook: Page 149

BIG AND LITTLE CREATURES IN COMBAT
Creatures smaller than Small or larger than Medium have special
rules relating to position. This section covers the basics; the
Dungeon Master’s Guide has more information on how to handle
exceptionally big or small creatures. The illustration on the fol-
lowing page depicts creatures of various size categories.
Tiny, Diminutive, and Fine Creatures: Very small creatures
take up less than 1 square of space. This means that more than one
such creature can fit into a single square. For example, a Tiny crea-
ture (such as a cat) typically occupies a space only 2-1/2 feet across,
so four can fit into a single square. Twenty-five Diminutive creatures
or 100 Fine creatures can fit into a single square.
Creatures that take up less than 1 square of space typically have a
natural reach of 0 feet, meaning they can’t reach into adjacent
squares. They must enter an opponent’s square to attack in melee.
This provokes an attack of opportunity from the opponent. You can
attack into your own square if you need to, so you can attack such
creatures normally. Since they have no natural reach, they do not
threaten the squares around them. You can move past them without
provoking attacks of opportunity. They also can’t flank an enemy.
Large, Huge, Gargantuan, and Colossal Creatures: Very large
creatures take up more than 1 square. For instance, an ogre (Large)
takes up a space 10 feet on a side (2 squares wide).
Creatures that take up more than 1 square typically have a natural
reach of 10 feet or more, meaning that they can reach targets even if
they aren’t in adjacent squares. For instance, an ogre can attack
targets up to 10 feet (2 squares) away from it in any direction, even
diagonally. (This is an exception to the rule that 2 squares of
diagonal distance is measured as 15 feet.)
Unlike when someone uses a reach weapon, a creature with
greater than normal natural reach (more than 5 feet) still threatens
squares adjacent to it. A creature with greater than normal
natural reach usually gets an attack of opportunity against
you if you approach it, because you must enter and move within the
range of its reach before you can attack it. (This attack of oppor-
tunity is not provoked if you take a 5-foot step.)
Large or larger creatures using reach weapons can strike up to
double their natural reach but can’t strike at their natural reach or
less. For example, an ogre with a Large longspear could strike
with the longspear at opponents 15 or 20 feet away, but not at
those 5 or 10 feet away.

Dungeon Master's Guide: Page 29

Natural Reach: Natural reach is how far a creature can reach
when it fights. The creature threatens the area within that distance
from itself. Remember that when measuring diagonally, every
second square counts as 2 squares. The exception is a creature with
10-foot reach. It threatens targets up to 2 squares away, including a
2-square distance diagonally away from its square. (This is an
exception to the rule that 2 squares of diagonal distance is measured as 15 feet.)
As a general rule, consider creatures to be as tall as their space,
meaning that a creature can reach up a distance equal to its space
plus its reach.

Ask your Dungeon Master or Game Master

It could be said.

"Reach" is measured differently than "Movement."

Colossal Creatures with 30-foot reach:
It threatens targets up to 6 squares away (30 feet), including a
6-square distance diagonally away from its square. (This is an
exception to the rule that 6 squares of diagonal distance is measured as 45 feet.)
It threatens targets up to 6 squares away, including a
6-square distance diagonally away from its square.


If you have a problem with this, you could play on a hexagon grid instead of the square grids. There wouldn't be this issues with the hexagon grid. But then you might have other questions and issues with the flanking and other mechanics of the game.

https://imgs.search.brave.com/3HxD-UPDEKaqiT-hrINgo3zNafMM8rRvNvhjIdGF9nA/rs:fit:860:0:0/g:ce/aHR0cHM6Ly9wcm8u/YXJjZ2lzLmNvbS9l/bi9wcm8tYXBwL2xh/dGVzdC90b29sLXJl/ZmVyZW5jZS9zcGF0/aWFsLXN0YXRpc3Rp/Y3MvR1VJRC0zRUY3/MDBFQi0xRUVGLTQ0/QkItQUIwMi1FRTE3/RjdFMDNGODItd2Vi/LnBuZw

Try not to lose sight of the objective of the game. The whole point is to have fun.
Just talk with your players, or talk with your DM, and see what you all want to do.
Involve everyone in the decision. Get some feedback from the other people or give some feedback.
Ultimately it just comes down to the final decision being made by the DM it is his world.


https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP. CGyzSv_CmR0oXifhWnJYIwHaEF%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=27ecdd6661398f5fd4785eff57a5c8985836d0c45d3a2c 513c85333a691294c4&ipo=images

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP. t1hv8sIY18fPeUk3u-XPdQHaFX%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=11ad67f73bbc9435ff56e1a1b2781e488adf022f57090e a29f3a4af2bbf80268&ipo=images

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP. FSnvQpQvdl-WNBYHMk6vzwAAAA%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=5d2c8ec48d38ddc5229b9d1d3ca15eedb53c746b41dbc2 6dcfc4a46989218c0f&ipo=images

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP. 1ycYQqHsmfRSBqsh7ym5fwAAAA%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=118870e5bf9b38383a6ec7890302a5fc1ac8d24a2af9a3 79724c03f0b0ac2b39&ipo=images


https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP. LBDxIEfbTeiwiMvhuuVKkAHaIV%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=d4b8498174da4c01a8ee252b9d200209f3a5a10388c8a5 327c5e5b6c137c7c13&ipo=images

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP. 5tQpWYqWIkO_nlXgGCDe8gAAAA%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=d47a2e5d03e3231a72fdd2a1fe431c855923d213ca6a94 17b3cf82afb76b36e7&ipo=images

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP. 2wU7V_L0GWvT-Lxvokj_-QHaEa%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=9db141339127564ee26b3717836681f7361ee80d6fc4bf efebec98f90a986513&ipo=images

[Chronos]

As an aside: If you look at those diagrams, especially the larger ones, you see why diagonals alternating counting as 1 and 2 squares is a good rule. Ideally, if we didn't need to make any abstractions for the sake of simplicity, those diagrams should be perfect circles. With a square grid and the one-and-a-half rule, we get those diagrams, which are really, really close to being perfect circles. They're much better circles than you get with hexes, for instance.