Also in yesterday's game, it came up that the lightfoot halfling wanted to hide using another PC's (ally) body as cover. But they also wished to engage a monster, that PC was fighting, in melee combat and utilize their sneak attack ability. I noticed that the rules for passing through enemy and ally squares states that you cannot end your movement in an occupied square (not sure what page in phb). We got into an argument of what ending your movement meant, since movement can be broken up quite a bit. I suggested that the halfling could not stop to hide (in the other PC's square) and attack from that square even if it meant that it moved into another square after. Everyone at the table argued that until all 25 ft. of movement (or the halfling yielded the ended of their turn) was used, movement had not ended. Thoughts?
I would rule the same way as you - although the wording is unclear and it's a DM's call imo. Think about what would happen if you gave monsters the same option. A PC could be attacked by an almost unlimited number of enemies per round.
Your players are correct; there is nothing requiring the halfling to "stop" behind the PC, to Hide. Movement that is broken up between actions or attacks does not, necessarily, equal interrupted movement.
By the same logic, movement doesn't have to be interrupted between turns, thematically; but, the rules are written with this concept as a general understanding, to keep certain things consistant.
So, while the creature's movement doesn't have to "stop" between turns, in a thematic or story related way, the rules are applied as if it does. RAW, movement is treated as a single distance/range per turn (which then stops), unless a more specific rule makes an exception.
Despite what the rules are meant to represent, the game works on turns, and movement starts and stops.
If you move 15', when you end that move you can't be in an occupied square. So in general, there is no stopping in someone elses square and attacking.
Coredump00 wrote:
lawrencehoy wrote:
Rya.Reisender wrote:
Hmm good point on the effectively fighting in part, though the disadvantage should only matter for the creature whose turn it currently is since that creature can't end its turn on that space. So I wouldn't give the medium sized creature that was used to hide behind a disadvantage as well.
Rya.Reisender wrote:
To the OP: You are the DM and sometimes the rules are fuzzy. It's ok if you occasionally make a call that others disagree with, it's going to happen. I try to handle all rules discussions after the game session so as to not interrupt combat. As long as you are consistent and honestly review the rules and admit if you were mistaken (which you were not in this case) it all works out.
As far as attacking while in someone else's space ... I would rule that while you can indeed take actions while moving I probably wouldn't allow it just from a game balance/design standpoint. When I have seen it allowed, the attacker is squeezing and has disadvantage on their role.
I would even go as far as to say that the person whose space you are moving through is also squeezing until the end of their next turn (disadvantage on attacks, advantage to hit) as they dodge out of the way of the halfing running between their legs. Remember that while turns happen sequentially for simplicity, all combat is really happening simultaneously.
I would also rule that the halfing cannot use the the medium creature as cover when they share the square - they are no longer hiding behind someone. They can hide behind someone with a bonus action (assuming the appropriate build) but once they move from behind the creature they no longer have cover.