Rules for combat in close quarters

[cfalcon]

What happens if two characters want to block a door together, or otherwise fight side by side?

What if combat is forced on four PCs at the bottom of a 5x5 pit trap?


What happens if the corridor is narrow- 3 feet across, for instance?


I don't know if the stock rules still handle situations like these in 3.5. I'd like to know (a) if they do and (b) if they don't, how do *you* run situations like this / is there a homebrew link?

[Incanur]

The Forgotten Realms Underdark book has rules for combat in confined spaces. In short, big weapons get big penalties while smaller weapons get smaller penalties.

[AslanCross]

What happens if two characters want to block a door together, or otherwise fight side by side?

What if combat is forced on four PCs at the bottom of a 5x5 pit trap?


What happens if the corridor is narrow- 3 feet across, for instance?


I don't know if the stock rules still handle situations like these in 3.5. I'd like to know (a) if they do and (b) if they don't, how do *you* run situations like this / is there a homebrew link?

Squeezing rules:

Squeezing
In some cases, you may have to squeeze into or through an area that isn’t as wide as the space you take up. You can squeeze through or into a space that is at least half as wide as your normal space. Each move into or through a narrow space counts as if it were 2 squares, and while squeezed in a narrow space you take a -4 penalty on attack rolls and a -4 penalty to AC.

When a Large creature (which normally takes up four squares) squeezes into a space that’s one square wide, the creature’s miniature figure occupies two squares, centered on the line between the two squares. For a bigger creature, center the creature likewise in the area it squeezes into.

A creature can squeeze past an opponent while moving but it can’t end its movement in an occupied square.

To squeeze through or into a space less than half your space’s width, you must use the Escape Artist skill. You can’t attack while using Escape Artist to squeeze through or into a narrow space, you take a -4 penalty to AC, and you lose any Dexterity bonus to AC.

[Eldan]

Planewalker made pretty simple ones for fighting in narrow alleys. Basically, you get a penalty based on your weapon size and type:

-1 to your attack roll if your weapon is slashing or bludgeoning.
-1 to your attack roll if your weapon is one-handed.
-1 to your attack roll if your weapon is two-handed.

These stack.

[Incanur]

Realistically, I'm not completely sure what should happen, though larger weapons do indeed become liabilities in confined quarters

[Conners]

If you get too close, you're practically in a grapple already :-/.

[Incanur]

If you get too close, you're practically in a grapple already :-/.

Yeah, definitely. My experience and reasoning also leads me to believe that shields have relative advantage in restricted circumstances. Historically, the sword and shield has often been employed at sieges. The famous Spanish targetiers in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century came out of such a context of close-quarters fighting.

[Conners]

Yeah, you can push the other guy with your shield, then stab at them over/under the edges. Block their attacking arm with your shield, then cohp off the other arm, or so forth.