Am I being too generous with Moving?

[Mr Adventurer]

So I have been telling my players that you can use some of your movement before, after, and during your Action, and break it up between any Action, Bonus Action, object interactions you do. (Up to maximum amount.)

So, in other words, I've been saying a Barbarian 5 can:

Move 10' to an enemy
Take the Attack action and make one attack (let's say with a Polearm and PAM)
Move another 10' to a new enemy
Make his Extra Attack, ending his Attack action
Move 5'
Use Object Interaction to open a door
Move 5'
Use a Bonus Action to make PAM attack
Move 10' - to get behind cover, say

However, I recently glimpsed a rule that said something like "you can move before or after your action", which implies it's more restrictive than what I've been saying.

What shouldn't I be doing, according to RAW?

[LudicSavant]

Check PHB Page 190: "Breaking Up Your Move"

You can move before and after actions, and between Extra Attacks within an action.

That said there is some RAW wonkiness surrounding the notion of 'atomic actions.' Personally I think it's healthier for the game for actions to not be atomic (e.g. for it to work as you've been running it). It's needlessly complicated and the way it creates restrictions is... weird and unnatural-feeling. Like, you can Attack, Attack, bonus action, then Haste Attack, but not Attack, bonus action, Attack, Haste Attack? It doesn't really make much sense from an in-world perspective, nor does it serve any particular gameplay purpose as far as I can tell. It just seems like wonkiness for the sake of wonkiness.

[sithlordnergal]

You're running it correctly. The book states you can move between attacks and actions. Its not like in 3.5 where you needed to dedicate an entire feat tree to moving and attacking at once.

[HappyDaze]

So I have been telling my players that you can use some of your movement before, after, and during your Action, and break it up between any Action, Bonus Action, object interactions you do. (Up to maximum amount.)

So, in other words, I've been saying a Fighter 5 can:

Move 10' to an enemy
Take the Attack action and make one attack (let's say with a shortsword)
Move another 10' to a new enemy
Make his Extra Attack, ending his Attack action
Move 5'
Use Object Interaction to pick up a dagger from the floor
Move 5'
Use a Bonus Action to make an off-hand attack with that dagger
Move 10' - to get behind cover, say

However, I recently glimpsed a rule that said something like "you can move before or after your action", which implies it's more restrictive than what I've been saying.

What shouldn't I be doing, according to RAW?

That looks fine as long as you have a 40' movement rate.

[Mr Adventurer]

That looks fine as long as you have a 40' movement rate.

Ha! Yes, for a 40' base move character. Thanks for the catch - I had that in mind when writing it but still managed to fluff it up, apparently!

[MaxWilson]

Ha! Yes, for a 40' base move character. Thanks for the catch - I had that in mind when writing it but still managed to fluff it up, apparently!

Oh, I figured you did it on purpose because 5th+ level Barbarians do have a 40' movement rate (unless they are halflings/dwarves/gnomes).

[firelistener]

Sounds like RAW to me, and it's good for players to have the options too. Movement is great because everyone can do it, so players can learn from each other how much better they could do in combat by moving more effectively.

[CheddarChampion]

Move 10' to an enemy
Take the Attack action and make one attack (let's say with a Polearm and PAM)
Move another 10' to a new enemy
Make his Extra Attack, ending his Attack action
Move 5'
Use Object Interaction to open a door
Move 5'
Use a Bonus Action to make PAM attack
Move 10' - to get behind cover, say

As others have said, RAW and functional.

Of course, if it doesn't work for your group you could always change it.
For example if a player takes 2+ minutes for each step then maybe using a different rule is in order.

[JNAProductions]

The most important questions are such:

Are you and your players having fun?
Would you have more fun if you played differently?

If one is yes, you're fine. No need to change.
If two is yes, then think about how to make the game more fun. But honestly, I don't think reverting to earlier ways of having a discrete move action would improve the game.

If you're just asking RAW, then you're also fine. All good.

[Mr Adventurer]

Thanks all - seems I wasn't off base from RAW as I was worried about!

Definitely agree it's a big plus to the game to be able to do it.


Oh, I figured you did it on purpose because 5th+ level Barbarians do have a 40' movement rate (unless they are halflings/dwarves/gnomes).

Sorry - I edited my post after HappyDaze pointed it out. I noted the reason in the OP but didn't mention it in-thread until now!

[Reynaert]

So I have been telling my players that you can use some of your movement before, after, and during your Action, and break it up between any Action, Bonus Action, object interactions you do. (Up to maximum amount.)

So, in other words, I've been saying a Barbarian 5 can:

Move 10' to an enemy
Take the Attack action and make one attack (let's say with a Polearm and PAM)
Move another 10' to a new enemy
Make his Extra Attack, ending his Attack action
Move 5'
Use Object Interaction to open a door
Move 5'
Use a Bonus Action to make PAM attack
Move 10' - to get behind cover, say

However, I recently glimpsed a rule that said something like "you can move before or after your action", which implies it's more restrictive than what I've been saying.

What shouldn't I be doing, according to RAW?

Seems legit. However an unasked (and therefore unanswered) question may be: What *should* you be doing?
Which is: Having all those enemies take Opportunity Attacks on the Barbarian ^^
(Although you may well have been doing that. It's just that it reads a bit like 'wow you can do some OP stuff with your move' between the lines...)

[Monster Manuel]

<SNIP>
Move 5'
Use a Bonus Action to make PAM attack
Move 10' - to get behind cover, say

However, I recently glimpsed a rule that said something like "you can move before or after your action", which implies it's more restrictive than what I've been saying.


I think some of the wonkiness around moving in between actions comes from a Sage Advice update around bonus actions that are triggered by taking a particular action first; the ruling is that the bonus action has to follow the triggering action. And in this case it does, it's just that there's other stuff that happens in between the action and the triggered bonus action (opening a door, moving, etc). In this case, the argument might be that the final PAM bonus action attack can't occur in this part of the sequence of actions, because it's tied to the Attack action at the beginning of the sequence, and that Action has already resolved.

I think you're on the right path here, and I don't think the rules say the triggered action has to happen IMMEDIATELY after the triggering action, just that the Crawford ruling suggests that the bonus can't come BEFORE the action that triggered it. It's fun, and not needlessly complex, and I think the way you;re doing it is right. Just that, if someone were to try and argue against your method, this might be one of the angles they could take to make that argument.