What's an obstacle?


Rules Questions


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I did a ctl-f on the entire CRB, and I can't find a definition of obstacle anywhere. The closest I could find was this, on page 254:

p254 wrote:
A low obstacle (i.e., a wall half your height) provides cover, but only to creatures within 30 feet (six squares). The attacker ignores the cover if he’s closer to the obstacle than his target is.

Several rules interact with obstacles, without ever explaining what they are, but often bringing into doubt how exactly to interpret the above definition in general, which seems to imply you determine the extent to which something is an obstacle relative to a given entity.

For example, when determining if a Bull Rushed or Repositioned opponent must stop moving, do you determine what's an obstacle based on the pushee or the pusher? Both rulings seem to make sense. In either case, how short a wall would be short enough to ignore?

For another, I originally encountered this problem when trying to understand Line weapons, which are stopped by obstacles too hard for them to damage. It seems intuitively nonsensical that an intervening wall half the height of the attacker would do a better job of stopping a line weapon while easier to see, but that seems to be the case - the wall is an obstacle, and it has a very low AC, but if you were to conceal it, the attacker could miss and continue to damage opponents behind the wall. I'm assuming I have a fundamental misunderstanding of what constitutes an obstacle.


1 person marked this as FAQ candidate. 2 people marked this as a favorite.

I think they're just using the English language definition of an obstacle. A normal wall is definitely an obstacle. A chair might be an obstacle, depending on how its made, if it is attached to the ground, etc. A wall made of paper might just be concealment though.

Its really up to the GM, the same as declaring terrain difficult or not. If the GM feels a wall is high enough to impede movement it, then it is. Some people feel a small 1 inch lip should be considered an obstacle/solid object to effects like Black Hole, while others note that hurdlers often run at full speed while jumping over multiple 3 foot or higher obstacles. So it could depend a lot on circumstances.

The GM just needs to make it clear to the players when they indicate terrain on the map. Same as declaring a section of the map difficult terrain or not because of a certain density of brush.


quindraco wrote:
I did a ctl-f on the entire CRB, and I can't find a definition of obstacle anywhere.

Any chance they spelled it wrong?

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