Terrain

Several types of terrain can complicate your movement by slowing you down, damaging you, or endangering you.

Difficult Terrain

Difficult terrain is any terrain that impedes your movement, ranging from particularly rough or unstable surfaces to thick ground cover and countless other impediments. Moving into a square of difficult terrain (or moving 5 feet into or within an area of difficult terrain, if you’re not using a grid) costs an extra 5 feet of movement. Moving into a square of greater difficult terrain instead

Flanking

1. Valeros and Kyra are flanking the ogre because they can draw a line to each other that passes through opposite sides of the ogre’s space. The ogre is flat-footed to them, taking a –2 circumstance penalty to its AC. 2. Merisiel isn’t flanking the ogre because she can’t draw a line to Valeros or Kyra that passes through opposite sides of the ogre’s space, and the ogre is not in Seoni’s reach. 3. The hobgoblin and ogre flank Seoni, since she is within reach for both, and they can draw a line between them that passes through opposite sides of her space. If the ogre didn’t have 10 feet of reach, the two creatures wouldn’t flank her.

2

Valeros

costs 10 additional feet of movement. This additional cost is not increased when moving diagonally. You can’t Step into difficult terrain.

Movement you make while you are jumping ignores the terrain you’re jumping over. Some abilities (such as flight or being incorporeal) allow you to avoid the movement reduction from some types of difficult terrain. Certain other abilities let you ignore difficult terrain on foot; such an ability also allows you to move through greater difficult terrain at the normal movement cost as for difficult terrain, though it wouldn’t let you ignore greater difficult terrain unless the ability specifies otherwise.

Hazardous Terrain

Hazardous terrain damages you whenever you move through it. An acid pool and a pit of burning embers are both examples of hazardous terrain. The amount and type of damage depend on the specific hazardous terrain.

Narrow Surfaces

A narrow surface is so precariously thin that you need to Balance (see Acrobatics on page 240) or risk falling. Even on a success, you are flat-footed on a narrow surface. Each time you are hit by an attack or fail a save on a narrow surface, you must succeed at a Reflex save (with the same DC as the Acrobatics check to Balance) or fall.

Uneven Ground

Uneven ground is an area unsteady enough that you need

Merisiel

Kyra

1

Ogre

3

Seoni

Hobgoblin

to Balance (see Acrobatics on page 240) or risk falling prone and possibly injuring yourself, depending on the specifics of the uneven ground. You are flat-footed on uneven ground. Each time you are hit by an attack or fail a save on uneven ground, you must succeed at a Reflex save (with the same DC as the Acrobatics check to Balance) or fall prone.

Inclines

An incline is an area so steep that you need to Climb using the Athletics skill in order to progress upward. You’re flat-footed when Climbing an incline.